I picked Dalat, after having thought of some possible destinations where I can go for a quick getaway and without having to worry about getting a visa. (Yes it is not easy at all for Vietnamese when you need to travel overseas). All what I wanted was to have some peace and quiet. I guess I had enough of stress from work, home, relationships and myself these days. Dalat was simply a perfect choice for me at that point because 1) It was a place that I had never been and noone knew me; 2) A place which is absolutely peaceful and quiet; 3) It offers the best weather in Vietnam (for me); 4) Vietnam Airlines offered me a great deal for my round trip tickets. I purchased the tickets right away, 10 days before the trip and it was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. So welcome to Camellia to the City of Eternal Spring.
I took a Vietnam Airlines’ regular flight from Hanoi – Dalat at 01:45PM on a Wednesday afternoon. I know this is not very relevant but I am quite impressed with the fact that we have free wifi and free drinking water at Noibai airport now. I think they might probably need better recycling and trash station but it will take time to improve anyway. It didn’t take me so long on the 1.5 hours flight, just in time I finished reading the Buddhist Tales: The Price Goodspeaker, one of the most recent books I’ve read. I’ve been reading quite a bit of Buddhist tales lately and I must say that I have learned so many good lessons. Yeah I was so excited. Not the first time I travel alone but this time was a bit different…
I took a taxi from Lien Khuong Airport to Zen Cafe. It took me about 45 minutes to get there and just like what I had imagined, I did not get disappointed at all. I found Zen Cafe on TripAdvisor. I am sure many people would easily fall into the ‘trap’ just by hearing the name and also a very good rating too. But I must admit that Zen Cafe was a real good trap though so I do consider myself very lucky. The cafe is managed by Axel, a native German and Mai Dung, Vietnamese, obviously. They were and are simply one of the best couples that I have met in my entire life.
A few days before my trip, I sent an email to Axel to ask if they still have accomodation available. I know it would not be easy for such location to have room available for me at that stage, considering they don’t have many rooms (like 3 guest rooms?) and it was very close to public holiday. I was looking for alternatives at the same time and almost made my booking at another resort. It was an absolutely stroke of luck for me I must say, I left my wallet with my credit card at somewhere I can’t remember (Yeah I know, I’m talking about my wallet and my credit card) so it was not possible for me to make the transaction. Axel got back to me with an email and just like what I had thought, his rooms were sold out! But, yes, but, “we have since some weeks new and nice bungalows nearby in a quiet valley with a wonderful view. We offer you this accommodation for a special rate for these days… Take a look please to the pictures and let me know your idea…”
I was like, YES. Yes. yes please! Axel dropped me at the Zen Valley, after about half an hour spending on a quick chat at Zen Cafe. Amongst all the beautiful bungalows that they have, Axel was too nice to let me decide ANY room that I feel most comfortable with. So I chose this one, not necessarily the most spacious one which I didn’t really need but it was the most suitable accommodation for me on this vacation:
The sun was going down very quickly and I managed to head up to Zen Cafe after having my shower. At Zen Cafe I met couples of new people with all different nationalities: German; American; one mixed Chinese – Vietnamese and myself 100% Vietnamese. We decided to share a cab and make our way to the night market. Although I never liked going to the markets but come on, I told myself : “You’re on holiday so let’s just enjoy!”
To be continued…
Camellia Dinh's World 