Datanla Waterfalls

Dalat, December 30^th 2009

Up to now, I've never seen waterfall as beautiful as Datanla's. I gasp to the sight of it. But let’s start from the beginning: entrance ticket. It was 10.000 VND/person. Until the 9^th day of our trip in Vietnam, I did not find any ticket at least half chic as the entrance tickets I bought in Japan more than 10 years ago. However, speaking of a ticket box, this is the cutest ticket box I’ve ever seen!

Until I return to Indonesia, I had always thought it was a form of 2 cups – thinking that Vietnam loves coffee as much as I do. But later on when I uploaded the pics on Facebook, Wiwik commented that it’s a flower basket. Still thinking of coffee, I deliberately objected to that. Wiwik did not give up. She sent me a photo of some people near the waterfall wearing traditional clothes. They had flower baskets exactly like this on their backs. I had to agree.

To get to the Datanla Waterfall, you can either hike or get on a pipe coaster which winds through like this. Too bad I forgot to make a close up shot of the  pipe coaster itself. Anyway, there’s a shot taken by Wiwik. It might help give a better image of what the pipe coaster had look like. You can control your speed with the handle under your seat. We all had fun on this pipe coaster and we all regretted when the ride was finished. “We want more!”

To take a ride on this pipe coaster, you have to add another 35.000 VND for a return ride each person. I don’t remember how much it was for a one ride. On the way back we realized how upward steep the path was, and so rejoiced that we had made the right decision. Pots and pots of flowers accompanied our ride. I made a stop here to take a picture of the colorful winding path. The moment I pressed my shutter button, I heard a hard whistle blow behind me. Oh! It seems we were not allowed to stop because it might jam the other rider behind. Oh, well. Bye, bye, Beautiful! I see that safety is taken with great care here.

This is a small part of the waterfall.

And this is a much bigger part of it. Psssttt… one of my masterpieces as well ;-)

A photographer was conducting this couple in traditional costums to pose for his shot. The ethnic house somewhat resembles the ones in Indonesia. A Vietnamese friend I met in deviantART said that these are traditional clothes from the Highland people, Tay Nguyen. Although not so visible, there’s a flower basket on the woman’s back. That’s the flower basket that to me looked like a cup.

Off the roller coaster, we took a break at the restaurant where we had lunch. I and Gabe bought ice cream. I don't remember what she ordered for. I only remember that she did not order for coffee but got a small glass of coffee. We knew at once that it would not be an easy thing to explain (in English) that we did not order for coffee. So I just took the coffee and paid for it. Coffee, I love you!