A novice with novel hair

At peace in Vietnam

DALAT     It was cold so I went into a Vietnamese restaurant for coffee.  The waiter, Cuong, was delightful.  He was truly one of the funniest people I'd ever met.   I stayed in the restaurant laughing over two hours.  When Cuong was out of stories, someone said that she'd give him a prize if he had another.  He did, but when he pulled the prize out of the bag, he said it was a stinky prize and returned it.  He didn't like the handiwipes.

Cuong made arrangements to give a motorcycle tour around Dalat.  The journey to the different areas was wonderful.  Most of our destinations were tacky tourist traps.  You had to pay to enter and all there was to see were flower gardens, souvenir shops, and cowboys.  Fortunately, no admittance was over a dollar.  I did remember reading about the Valley of Love in The Lonely Planet.  I thought, "That sure is a place I don't ever want to go to!"  Well, it was part of Cuong's tour.

Three places (out of around ten) were great.  The first place had a pagoda with a picturesque white Buddha.  After that we visited several places not needed -- Preen Waterfall, Love Valley, Dalat University, Minh Tam Hotel, and an orchid garden.  But, the last two sights were so good! One was a monastery -- not a tourist trap at all. The novices' heads were shorn except for one long lock on the forehead.  Then, we went to Dalat's main pagoda, Linh Son Pagoda.  It was rather simple on the inside but so calming and peaceful.