Nha Trang to Lak Lake

Last night I was apparently a little tired. It was around 8:00 when I was reading to the kids about Abraham in Genesis 25. When we started asking and answering questions I went downhill fast. They claim my last words were "Then...Abraham...went down the waterside." I did sleep very well until 3:30. If I keep this sleep time shift up I will be back on Mountain Daylight before I get home.

This morning we connected with a guide who would accompany us for the next two nights as we headed West into the mountains to Lak Lake for a night, Boun Ma Thout for the next then ending in Da Lat. Here is our tour route, got it?

We first stopped just North of the city and he pointed out a barren mountain side that was defoliated with Agent Orange to remove all cover that the Viet Cong would use when attacking Nha Trang.

I did not realize that Nha Trang was a major base of training and operations for the American troops. Among the units training there were the Navy Seals and their legacy lives on as Nha Trang is the diving capital of Vietnam.

Next stop a fishing village and market. The market was in full swing as all of the fishing vessels had come in from their overnight shift. The stench was pretty thick and Riley was in continuous gag mode at the smell, but I honestly think she is getting better. Just imagine hundreds of years of fish gut stench in pools like this.

PARENTAL GUIDANCE SUGGESTED For the below paragraph -

The fisherman use handcrafted circular bamboo boats to get to their mooring. We visited a man making these on the edge of the harbor and our guide narrated the process. When he first described the filler used to close the gaps in the bamboo weave he said "They use the cow $hit to fill the hole." I was thinking that was a pretty rough way to say it. Then he said it about a dozen more times. "The cow $hit this, the cow $hit that, the cow $hit the other thing". Dude, ixsna with the hit$a. I recall the first Spanish I learned was the swear words maybe this guy was the same way. He never spoke like that again the whole day. He either really liked the word or did not understand its proper, albeit very limited, application.

We went next to a brick making factory and were part of a Quantum experiment. Patti, the kids, and myself witnessed a total breakdown in the production line. We do not know if our observation caused the breakdown or if it would have happened anyway. We are inclined to think that it was very much the former as the women running the line started gawking at Tara and Riley and were not paying any attention to the unfolding disaster. I watched the whole pile up occur and tried to get their attention. Then I gave up and just took a picture of it. They should come out in two nice straight lines like you will see in the image gallery.

Truck stop lunch today. Chicken, coconut rice and killer fish sauce. Eet Mor Garlic!

After our lunch at the truck stop, Tara and I wandered around so I could get a picture of these interesting looking vehicles that were part two-wheeled tractor, part pickup truck. The tractor part was for the farm and the pickup part for the city(see image in Phrase Association 10).

After our photo op, Tara and I found the cheapest pre-package ice cream yet $0.80 for two. While I stepped out to look around the kids dove into the ice cream.  When I came back I found the cups abandoned after only one bite. It was a heinous crime against ice cream. Our guide said "It is made out of deer urine." I said "What?". "Deer urine" he repeated. Apparently, that three syllable sound is the designator for a pungent fruit, not an animal waste product.

As we we driving down the road we made a quick stop to view the biggest mass of butterflies any one of us had ever seen. I have a video posted in today's album, not sure how it will work.

We arrived at our accommodations in Lak Lake and the kids instantly found the bamboo seat swing. Lak Lake is a town up in the mountains at about 1500 feet and on a large lake. We were staying at Lak Lake Resort. Pretty fancy!

As we readied ourselves for dinner we noticed a full on bug invasion creeping under our door. The kids freaked out, I was a little disturbed as well. There were dozens of bugs, Patti thinks there were thousands, I guess she qualifies as freaked out too.  This is just one corner of the action.

Not to worry, Gordon showed up as the coup de gras throwing Tara completely over the edge. Tara cried out "This is like camping, only worse!" I cannot help but agree.  We all love camping, when we have a nylon barrier and a zipper.  When we were walking through town looking for the food market I spotted a box of electric bug swatters that were shaped like tennis rackets and had a built in LED light.  Now that would have been a great deal at any price.

They had a slow burn of some vegetation behind our villa and the air conditioning sucked it right in for that authentic campfire smell to round out the experience. We ventured to dinner to find essentially an open air dining space that had critters that were free to come and go. A dozen geckos, insects of all kinds and some flying thing. At first I thought there was bat in there, but it's flight was too smooth so I next thought bird, but the final identification was the biggest moth I have ever seen. Oh, and this personal record beetle for me.

We told our guide about our situation and he asked us if we had the light on. It was dark, of course we had the lights on! He said turn them off :-). Right now I am sitting in the dark save for the pale light of my iPad.

I am seriously wondering what is going to happen over night. We are out of here at 7:30 tomorrow morning and I have never been happier to wake the kids up early. This could be a very long few hours if anything creeps into anyone's bed.

All images in the 2014 Lak Lake album.