The Central Highlands; A Break From the Heat

I was super excited to head to Nha Trang and Da Lat this weekend, the most beautiful beaches and the central highlands respectively, with Traci and some of her extended family. However, the rain barely let up and thus put a huge damper on the trip. We only walked the shores of Nha Trang the evening we arrived, and did all the touristy things in Da Lat on Sunday, the lone dry day. The crew consisted of Traci's mom, aunts, cousins, and us. While it was overwhelming at times not being able to understand most of what they were all saying, they were a riot to travel with. They brought supplies to cook in the hotel rooms and had the driver stop anytime there was good-looking fruit or vegetables being sold on the side of the street.

In a way, it was like "Little Miss Sunshine" getting in and out of the van but with far less dysfunction and a lot more laughter. Since the only English one of the aunts knew was "Number 1," the name of a Vietnamese energy drink, that was her nickname for me throughou. Traci's mom kept calling me "Laura" even though she speaks some English and Traci had told her what my name was. "That'll be your Vietnamese name then," she said, which Traci and I got a kick out of.

Overall, the weather was gloomy and the sites were quite unimpressive. Although I thoroughly enjoyed exploring the Crazy House, nothing else was that captivating. Nevertheless, I took a few hundred pictures. Here are some...

The National Oceanographic Museum:




The view from our hotel in Da Lat:

The family Skype-ing Traci's dad in Texas:

The home of Bao Dai, a past emperor of Viet Nam:


The Crazy House:


Camly Waterfalls Park:


Cho Da Lat (The Da Lat Market):...which we went to at least 5 times in 2 days






Da Lat Flower Park:






Vallee D'Amour:


(Da Lat is famous for its wine ^)

After the long drive back to Sai Gon, it felt good to be "home." It felt even better to get back to the kids at the orphanage.