HELLO!! it’s Brook here, and I’m going to write to you about this amazing first week of student directed travel…
We started our journey in Ha Tien, where we crossed the border from Cambodia into Vietnam, officially acknowledging Topher and Julia as our new students, and Paige and Karenna as our new leaders. The ride itself to the border was uneventful, aside from the lovely rain shower that cooled us down. Soon after we arrived into Vietnam, we took a lovely 9 hour overnight bus ride into Can Tho. It was more luxurious than any of us expected, with deluxe, bed-styled seats with a complimentary water bottle and blanket. We were spoiled as usual, but entirely grateful. When the sleepy 9 hours came to an end, we found our way to Enjoy Dalat Hostal; a lovely dwelling filled with traveling backpackers, friendly staff, and plush cheetah-print single beds. It’s always a great time when we all get to room together in a dorm, and have one or two laugh attacks when the sun goes down. On that morning of arrival, we explored the French-influenced town of Dalat, a city 1500 meters high that looks like a cross between Vietnam and the French Alps. Dalat may have been my favorite place yet with its clear mountainous air and incredible natural beauty. On that first day we toured a striking fantasy house designed by the daughter of an independence war hero. “Crazy House” was like a real life Tim Burton movie. On our way to 3000 dong ice cream, we were stopped by a few local Vietnamese women selling their hand-made silk paintings. None of us could resist their artistic talents and we bought at least one painting for close to 2 dollars. Quite the deal in America, but pretty average for Southeast Asia. We later visited a hill top pagoda by a beautiful cable car ride overlooking the pine forest. The cool air felt so wonderful after living in a constant sweat the last two months.
The next morning started at 7:00, with us all piling into the van that would take us to the massive, thundering waterfalls that we would canyon, slide, and swim down. I will post about our experience at the waterfall canyon shortly!!!