The road down from Dalat was simply spectacular. It was so cold in Dalat that everyone was wearing winter jackets. Of course the Vietnamese were still wearing flipflops, but some of them wore socks with their flipflops, a real fashion statement. The road stayed in the high country for quite a while with a view of rolling hills as far as you could see. At one point I saw smoke ahead on the road, a not uncommon sight since they are always burning things on the side of the road. But when I got there, it was not smoke. It was the clouds drifting over the mountaintops. Shortly after that the road descended in switchbacks. It reminded me of the Old Priest Road we used to take to Yosemite before they built the new road. In fact, that section of the road reminded me a lot of Yosemite with rock boulders and even random waterfalls. I checked with Chien and the US never dropped napalm here. Whew! This is countryside too beautiful to destroy.
The road descended into lowlands with orchards and farms. Then it leveled out and there were the greenest rice paddies on both sides of the road dotted with workers and white ibises. We really did nothing else today except ride, but I didn't want it to end. Just incredible views the whole way.
The last ten kilometers had traffic as we approached Nha Trang, but even that doesn't bother me. Besides, I still have Tom running interference for me. I'll be staying here in Nha Trang for a few days for a "vacation."
No comments:
Post a Comment