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Later we stopped at a second
waterfall, Krong Kma on our way to Lak Lake. The lake is
a peaceful & charming, resting beyond the Jun
Village, without any commercialisation. The boat ride on
the lake is by the long thin dug-out canoes used by the
local people. We were given a life jacket to wear before
climbing into the boat as the lake is quite deep. A
local young man rowed us out onto the peaceful water. A
group of naked young children were splashing about
happily at the waters edge. The only sound we could hear
was the oars entering and leaving the water. No one
spoke & no one wanted to break the silence. Large
birds took off from amongst the water plants, there were
dragonflies following us ding and swooping across the
boat. A few fishing boats were waiting patiently to net
their fish. It was a most pleasurable & memorable
boat ride in this setting of natural beauty.
Afterwards, a cold drink in the
village shop sitting among the local people was very
welcome. Cham showed us around the village of the Mnong
community with it's famous longhouses. That night we
stayed in a longhouse near the lake. The accommodation
consists of communal longhouses where we stayed, but
there are also individual rooms in a low building by the
lakeside. The longhouse is built on stilts, a wooden
ladder climbing up to the platform. There were plastic
slippers provided by the door to wear inside the hut.
One inside a long room was provided with comfortable
mattresses on the wooden floor with mosquito nets. We
were all going to sleep alongside each other just like
the local people. The toilet facilities were outside in
a separate block. These arrangements are admittedly
quite basic, but for those who don't want to 'rough-it'
there are individual rooms with en-suite bathroom
facilities built in for hire. My advice is to take your
shower before dark then you will miss invasion of flying
ants attracted by the lights. The insects were only
noticable as the rainy season had begun, normally there
is no problem.
As dark falls the only entertainment
is to gather round in the little waterside
bar/restaurant. The open wooden deck is actually a
floating platform a thatched roof. A tiny counter serves
drinks & a small kitchen will serve some simple
dishes. The sound of insects filled the air. Crickets
were flying around and being eaten by the dog! I drank
my Saigon beer & swallowed my deep fried fish under
the flying insects. I climbed back to the longhouse
& went to sleep on the mosquito-net covered mattress
fully clothed at 9 o'clock. I was woken many times
during the night by the sound of the geckos close by. It
was a long rather restless night.
The sound of the birds woke me at
dawn. As I sat down at the same waterside restaurant for
breakfast I came to appreciate the beauty of this place.
The lake is so beautiful in the rising sun. The water
lilies are shinning on the calm water, the hills are
beginning to emerge from the background mists. Suddenly
the insects of the previous night seemed a long time
ago.
We drove back to Buon Ma Thuot to
check in at the best hotel in town, the Thang Loi hotel.
As this is not an area well developed for tourism,
deluxe hotels are non-existent, but the goernment-run
hotel is nevertheless comfortable and spotlessly clean.
Lunch at the Quan Ngon restaurant in town today was the
best food I had had in this region. The sauté 'Pergularia
Minor' with Mushrooms & the dry boiled eel were
outstandingly good. The rest of the programme today was
a visit to the museum of ethnology & the Ede tribal
village in Ako Dhong followed by an elephant ride in Don
village after lunch.
The elephant ride was the high point
of the day. We sat on the little wooden 'howdah' on top
of a huge 60-year old elephant. The 'mahout' was a
little skinny old man perched on the neck of the
elephant, using his feet tostroke and kick the
elephant's ears depending which way he wanted the animal
to go. We rode through rivers & the dense jungle.
The most amazing part was crossing the river. The deep
water was rising to just below the elephant's head in
some places. The elephant's trunk was busy testing under
the water to feel the way forward. It was exciting as
well as a bit frightening but I was told that the
elephants never make a mistake.
Next day we transferred to Kodong for
an afternoon trekking through four villages. Before we
sat off Cham recommended we buy some candy &
balloons in the market to give to the village children.
The minority people are very poor, and a little candy or
a balloon is enough to make the children very happy. I
brought four bags of balloons & candy, and gave it
all away, bringing a happy face to all the children. I
wondered whether the children in our world would be
happy with just a balloon or a sweet? A sudden tropical
rainstorm caught us out, soaking us from head to toe.
The highlands are known for wetness but the rain came
down like a waterfall, turning the paths to muddy
rivers. That night we stayed in another longhouse in
Decop village drinking rice wine. Because of the heavy
rain the traditional Bahmar Gong dance had been
cancelled, so the old caretaker of the longhouse &
his son joined us for the rice wine drinking and story
telling. It was a good evening, pure local culture &
very entertaining.
Driving up towards Kontum to visiting
Dakro & Pleiku city, we checked in for our overnight
stay at the Pleiko hotel, another government run
establishment that is clean & comfortable with very
spacious rooms.
The following day we flew back to HCM
& checked in at the Asian hotel. We found this 2-3
star hotel exceptionally good for its class, the room,
the décor, the reception & the breakfast in the
restaurant were excellent. The hotel is also perfectly
located in the in the main tourist area of HCM with a
new grand department store just opened next door. We
spent the day in HCM, moving to the Oscar Hotel for the
night.
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