Mountain Men

Saturday was a really different and incredible experience, though I find myself starting every blog post saying that. Today, however, was very different, and very immersive.

The morning started out with a choice between two things: we could either hike up the mountain of Lang Biang, or we could take a jeep car up. Now, as a former athlete, you would think that I would chose the former. However, the altitude, a chest cold, and my fatigue embarrassingly kept me from hiking. But in any case, I was not disappointed traveling up the mountain via jeep. It was still an adventurous journey. The driver whipped up the mountain, twisting and turning throughout. Since a few of us got up the mountain in just a half hour, we had time to wait at the top of the mountain, where we could see all of Da Lat. Needless to say I did not regret not hiking. It also started pouring during their hike too, which only made me happier to be in the comfort of a restaurant, reading a book, overlooking the mountains.

Once it was time to return from the top of the mountain, we descended via jeep again, this time it was a little bit scarier, as it was rainy, muddy, and the driver did not seem to take that into consideration when driving.

Once we got to the bottom of the mountain, we were dropped off at the Long House, a home for an ethnic minority in Da Lat. There, we were given lunch around a fire, and then the family let us all nap for a few hours, something I never thought I would appreciate so much.

Once we woke up, the fire was warm on my face and I felt well rested. The home was extremely cozy and very cultural. It was made of all wood, with symbols and pieces of their culture hung everywhere. Soon after, one of the Native people of the culture, the Kahoe culture, spoke to us about his culture, and then they put on a drum performance for us, where we also got up to sing and dance.

All of the people will in their native clothing, and they were all so happy to show us their culture, how to dance, what their lives mean, and also have us drink their sacred rice wine. It was an extremely humbling and eye opening evening, as they were so willing to show us their culture, and we were so happy to learn. This has been one of my favorite parts of the trip so far. The people were so open to us, and we tried our best to learn their culture as well, though we probably embarrassed ourselves. They then prepared us a delicious meal of buffalo meat, hot pot, chicken, and pulled pork, an amazing end to a long day. Being able to immerse ourselves into this group without feeling intrusive was such a privilege we were so lucky to have.