Wednesday 5th August 2015
This morning I was up early as I had booked a day trip to go
canyoning which is basically just abseiling down waterfalls. I was up and ready
for breakfast by 7am and then a van came to pick a group of us up at around
7.30am for a full day out on the river.
Altogether there were 15 people on the trip which was an ok
size defiantly wouldn’t have wanted it to be any bigger. It took about an hour
to drive to the start point where we enjoyed 3km of rafting. We split into two
boats and off we went. Although it was a laugh the river really was too low for
this to be taken seriously. The rapids are only grade 1-2 which is extremely
easy but more than that the river was so low our boat was consistently stranded
on rocks.
We had a few close calls where we almost tipped but this
wouldn’t have been an issue at all as the river was only waist deep in its
deepest points and a few times when the raft was really stuck on a rock and the
guide got out to push the water was only ankle deep. But like I say it was a
bit of a laugh (even if we did all almost suffer black eyes from low hanging
electrical wires, bridges and trees)
Once the rafting was completed we had to wait for the other
group who spent even more time stuck on rocks then we did. Once everyone had
arrived we gave back our paddles and were given harnesses and carabineers as
well as belay devices (to add to the life jackets, helmets and gloves that we
already wore) we then piled into two jeeps and set off down a horrible bumpy
dirt track where the driver alternated between driving like the next rally car
champion and a grandma.
We got to the spot where we spend most of the day and walked
a few hundred metres to a tree where we were to learn the basics of abseiling.
The practice run was no higher than 1.5m which made it a bit of a lousy place
as it wasn’t high enough to really allow you to get the feeling of the positons
but as I have abseiled many times before I felt pretty comfortable after my
first go and didn’t bother with another attempt.
After only about 10 minutes everyone was happy to get stuck
in to the real thing. It seemed we had all be told different things to expect and
most of us were a bit shocked to find that the first abseil would be 30m high.
It was a ‘dry abseil’ meaning that there was no waterfall but we still ended up
in the river.
Getting to the start point of the abseil was probably the
worst part about it as it was steep and slippery and narrow with barely enough
space for the five people who came down first. I happened to be second which
was good as I didn’t want to hang about waiting. As soon as I was clipped in I
dropped myself over the edge and started down.
The first section we had to walk ourselves backwards which
was pretty easy and once I got the hang of really leaning back I felt pretty
confident. About half way there was an overhang which is where we had to start jumping
which is pretty fun. Before I knew it I was waist deep in the river at the
bottom scrambling over to the side to wait for the rest of the group.
Once everyone was down we spent some time sliding down a
natural waterslide in which my foot got caught and I was chucked upside down
under the water the shock of that as well as the cold knocked the wind out of
me but as soon as I had paddled back over to the rocks I was fine.
We all hauled ourselves out of the water and took turns
jumping from a rock into the river it was only about 4m high so wasn’t really
scary at all. By this stage we were all pretty cold but we jumped back into the
river for a group photo and then swam over to the bank got out and walked to
the waterfall.
We sat and had lunch looking at this huge thundering 30m
waterfall and wondering how the heck we were meant to come down it. We watched
as the guide set up the ropes and then came down himself. He is a strong guy
and even he was struggling against the current.
Lunch was actually a little feast and by the time it was
over we all felt ready for a nap but that also might have been because we were
so cold!
Eventually it was time to head up the waterfall we had to
wade across the river which meant getting back in the freezing cold water and
then climbing up the very slippery rocks alongside of the falls. On this side
the water looked even more powerful and we were all quite nervous.
Unfortunately I ended up right near then end which wasn’t
ideal as I saw so many people slip and fall and wipe out in the waterfall but
all made it down (except for one girl who came back up after a few steps and
did a much less powerful abseil as she wasn’t strong enough to move her feet
against the current) by the time it was my turn I was a nervous wreck but I sucked
it up and waded into the waterfall.
I had a few hairy moments when I lost my footing and fell
once but thankfully it was out of the most powerful stream and I landed on my
butt with my head above the water. After taking a few breaths to compose myself
I went further. A few steps later my foot was trapped in between two rocks and
after managing to pry it loose I then lost my footing and slammed it into
another rock causing me great pain. Thankfully I was through the worst and made
my way gingerly to the bottom where I joined the others.
We waded back across the river and watched the last few
people before heading back up to the jeep. My foot was in agony and I had to
limp up but got to the top feeling pleased I had done it. We had to ride in the
jeeps a fair distance back to the van where we got changed into dry clothes and
continued back to town.
We arrived back at the hostel around 5pm feeling pretty
knackered I had a hot shower and then walked to the bus ticket place to sort
out my next bus then it was back to the hostel to chill out for a while until
dinner which was another family style dinner but this time with rather a lot
more guests. We had Vietnamese rice paper rolls which were delicious.
After dinner we all sat about chatting and what not until late
when it was decided to be bedtime
Thursday 6th August 2015
This morning I didn’t want to wake up I had a bad sleep and
was feeling tired and grumpy but I hauled myself out of bed and had a fun day.
I started off with breakfast in the hostel and saying goodbye to new friends
before renting a scooter for the day to buzz about on.
I started out stopping for some petrol and then it was about
a 20minute ride to Linh Phuoc Pagoda. The entire thing is tiled in a mosaic of
broken earthenware and it looks stunning its huge with one section going up
seven floors which you can climb up to and look at the different Buddha seated
on each level as well as take in stunning views of the countryside.
There is also a huge standing Buddha as well as two prayer
halls full of beautiful ornamentation and then two big exhibition halls with
beautiful carved wood and huge carved rock pieces. There is also the weirdest
little ‘fun house’ attraction which I think is meant to be the levels of hell
but it’s all in Vietnamese so I wasn’t sure it’s pretty dark down there and
full of paper mache creatures and scenes of torture it was weird and a little
bit disturbing but also very funny
After taking a quick bathroom break in which I afterwards
realised was the men’s I was back on the road heading about 25minutes to
Datanla Falls. This place although beautiful is a bit of a money making scam,
first you pay an entrance fee which at 10.000VND wasn’t much (less than USD $1)
but then inside there was a roller coaster to get down to the falls which of
course I went on because why would you not???
But little did I know that once down there was another
waterfall you could go to but it could only be accessed by lift. Had I known
that I would have spent my VND going to see the thing that I came to see
instead of playing on the roller coaster but no matter I saw the main fall and
walked as far as I could to see the big one and then headed back to my scooter
to carry on my merry journey
Next I was heading to Truc Lam Pagoda but on the way stopped
off at Ho Tuyen Lam Lake to take a picture since it looked pretty stunning
there wasn’t much lakeside except for some touristy shops and a few stalls
selling boat rides but I passed on them and kept going up the hill.
Truc Lam Pagoda is also a working monastery and is very
peaceful and beautiful the grounds are amazing full of Bonsai trees and flowers
everywhere as well as immaculate lawns and beautiful views. I spent quite some
time walking around the grounds as well as visiting the many prayer halls.
Back at my scooter I headed back towards town driving into
dark stormy clouds. Firstly I popped into the post office and got a bunch of
stamps and to post my last batch of postcards. It was a bit of a mission to
find and the stamps were more expensive than in HCMC so who knows if the other
ones will arrive!
I went from there around the Dalat Lake to the flower park
admission was a bit more than it should be but the place was pretty nice with
vibrant colours everywhere, bushes cut into bizarre shapes and a ton of bonsai
trees! As well as a garden centre a rose nursery and if you walked all the way
to the back a lake full of rubbish and a sinking rusty barge. The water
features in the park really let it down as they were so polluted. The other
lake was full of slime and smelt pretty bad.
At the end of my visit the clouds really rolled in and I turned
to see a wall of rain moving towards me so walked briskly for cover in a shop
that sold tea. None of the staff seemed to mind me sitting in the corner at one
of their tasting tables until the rain passed.
When it eased off I made my way towards the golden Buddha statue
but I couldn’t find it and the rain was getting on again so I abandoned further
sightseeing and went back to the hostel it was 5pm and id been out since about
9.30am so I felt like I’d made a decent go of it.
Back at the hostel I had a shower to dry off and then went
and got some food at a nearby vegetarian restaurant then went back to the
hostel where I uploaded some photos before our “family dinner” the food was
incredible as was the company and after eating (and checking out in advance for
the early morning) I was social for a while before heading up to pack up my
stuff and get some sleep.
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