Our transfer to Da Lat from Nha Trang was rather longer than anticipated yesterday when we got held up in a road closure while road maintenance was effected. We opted for the newer highway between the two cities but with it being new, erosion in the hilly sections has been taking a toll and crews were out yesterday setting off controlled rockslides that then had to be cleared from the road surface.
We were stranded with many other foreign motorcyclists, huddled in the shade of a single overhanging tree. The locals showed their superior preparation by unfurling hammocks and taking refuge in a small glade of trees just down the slope from the stoppage. Adam and I had each packed a litre of water in the morning but this was barely sufficient to survive the wait in the baking sun. I nibbled on a baguette while Adam continued his fast in an attempt to cure whatever it is that is ailing him.
After four hours, the highway was reopened and this set off a flurry of activity as those on motorbikes geared up to retake the road while drivers of passenger vehicles which had been running the whole time to maintain air conditioning, jostled through the herd and sought to gain the head of the queue. The mass of vehicles rounded one switch back and then was stopped again, and here chaos took hold. Trucks, buses and cars filled both lanes of the two-lane highway surging up into the pass, only to meet oncoming traffic similarly arrayed.
And here we had an advantage on the motorcycles - we were able to thread our way through the sea of large vehicles while the two flag guys marched up and down waving their batons futilely in attempt to get traffic flowing again. We climbed away from the coast and into the clouds, emerging in the central highlands, a landscape that is new to us in Vietnam. Gone are the rubber plantations and rice paddies, we are now surrounded by coffee plantations and stands of tall pines.
Da Lat is evenly temperate year round and we were delighted to don sweaters yesterday evening when we walked out to replenish our supplies of bottled water. The city is surrounded by fields of greenhouses, stretching to the very edges of the hillside cemeteries, and occupying any patch of bare ground.
Adam never whinges so it has been tough to know how sick he has been feeling but his paleness yesterday evening was a bit ominous. I am delighted that he has regained some colour today and has begun eating again - perhaps tempted by the delicious mangoes available in these parts. I have been impressed by the giant hydrangeas lining the sidewalks of the main boulevards.
