Di Linh --> Da Lat - Day 5

It's cool up in the mountains so today we actually had to wear pants and jackets while riding from Di Linh. no wonder, this place is around 1200 meters above sea level. I woke up very early in the morning because it was so cold in the hotel room, they only had a very thin cover to sleep with. luckily after tomorrow we are heading "lower" and will get warmer as we drive now.
Our first stop today was a mushroom farm where they grow fungus on these bags that have been fertilized so that the mushroom will grow fast. Growing these mushrooms is fairly easy and from 1 kilos you can get about $1,5 which is a pretty good deal. Looked funny with row after row of these shrooms, Mario would have been a happy man here!
The next stop was not far away, just a 30 minute ride and we reached the biggest chicken in Vietnam...The story behind it is pretty long...

Basically, there were two neighbouring tribes. They didnt get on well so they didnt really have inter-tribal marriages. Once apon a time, a guy and a girl from each tribe fell in love. In these Matriarchal societies, the guy's family pays a dowry to the girl's family. Because the guys family was against the marriage between the two lovers they told the girls family that the dowry would be a chicken with 9 spurs. Normal roosters have 6 spurs (3 on each leg) so a chicken with 9 does not exist.

In order to marry her love, the girl went off into the jungle to find such a rooster and dies in the jungle. After a while the guy went into the jungle to search for his love. He searched and searched, but also died.

Today, reminded by the story of the two Romeo and Juliet tribe members, the two peoples are allowed to get married. The large concrete chicken is there to remind the people that true love knows no boundaries ------- all together now..... 'AAAAAWWWWWHHHHH'

They made the chicken hollow so that you could climb into it but let me tell you, it's VERY VERY narrow inside! I tried to stick my head out of it's mouth but no way! My chest is way too big to pass the iron bars that have been put there, but I did manage to get half way out. Took a long time to get up there because I had to climb through this very narrow "throat" of the chicken which took some time because there was nothing to hold unto. If i would have slipped i would have fallen a good 2 meter down BANG into the concrete...But luckily those years of tree climbing as a kid sorted it out.

Something came out of the chicken...

After that there were countless of beautiful scenery's by the mountains and everything was pretty much eye candy...
After a long drive we arrive at Da Lat...It is also a mountain village and we are still wearing jackets here. Maybe that for the best too because we got so much sun yesterday and got a few red spots here and there. 2 crabs on a bikes...

Just outside downtown they had build a "Crazy House" which certainly is one of the most awesome looking houses in Vietnam, if not in the world! The owner and architect is a woman who did half of her studies in different parts of China and then masters and doctors in Moscow. You can rent a room here for 30-80 dollars a night, depending on the size etc. In the daytime it's sort of a exhibition where everyone can come and watch. The entrance tickets go from around $1,5

The whole thing is like a Alice in Wonderland

Da Lat has a really beautiful Pagoda with a temple next to it which is around 30 m high. The details on the temple are spectacular! This is a Buddhist temple so when entering please remember to take off your shoes!


In the Pagoda they have Vietnams biggest bell, people put a lot of wishes and prayers on it!

This 30 meter statue is completely made out of dried flowers...the work it took to make this is incredible!!

Da Lat also has the first train station built in Vietnam by the French when they occupied this place and made it into a colony. It was built in the 1930s and still stands here, they even have the original steam train here which James was trying to operate...