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Where it's at
Dalat is situated on a plateau in the central highlands
at an altitude of almost 5000 ft and has a population of 130,000.
To the north are the volcanic peaks of the Lang Biang Mountains
rising to 2,400m. The town itself is in a beautiful setting
by a lake and surrounded by rolling countryside which is probably
why the French chose it as a hill station where hot and flustered
expats could escape the stifling lowland heat of Saigon. Thanks
to a tacit agreement between Hanoi and Saigon during the war
the city was not bombed and remains much as it was half a
century ago.
Our journey path (as featured in Treks in a Wild World)
The Treks crew leave the highlands of the North and catch
a plane to Dalat, one of the most beautiful cities
in Vietnam and a reminder of colonial grandness. From there
it's a trek through medicinal rainforests , then a bike ride
along a section of the Ho Chi Minh trail, to join the
elephant training Mnong tribe.
Lak Lake is surrounded by Mnong villages and
early morning mists hang above the calm waters and mingle
with the smoke from the longhouses. The lake can be explored
by canoes which have been painstakingly hollowed out from
tree trunks. One can stay overnight at Buon Juin -
a Mnong village - where it is possible to watch the working
elephants take their evening wallow in the lake. The Northern
mountains of Vietnam represent the country at its most wild
and inaccessible. It contains some of its most awe-inspiring
scenery and a fascinating mosaic of hill tribes.
Did you know?
- Over 30 Hill tribes inhabit the northeasth area. Some such
as the Odu, Romam and Brau are in serious danger
of becoming extinct. The area is also one of Vietnam's most
biologically important areas and new species are still being
discovered in the rainforests. Medicinal plants flourish.
- Dalat is a city in the European sense with a cathedral,
a university and a royal history.
- The countryside surrounding Dalat is extremely fertile
and a large variety of fruit and vegetables flourish in the
cool mountain air, many of which are grown by the minorities.
If you visit the market early morning it is a great
opportunity to see them - especially subdivisions of the Khor
- Tola, Baja, Lat, Nop and Ta Nhau. Many are extremely shy.
The Khor sell custard apples whose leaves are crushed
and then infused with hot water as a cure for malaria. Enormous
carrots and marrows are for sale as well as fabulous flowers.
You will also see people selling brown furry animal-like objects.
These are cu ly and they are made from fern fibres
which are used in traditional medicine to stop wounds bleeding.
- Dalat, the 'city of love' has always been a mecca for Vietnamese
honeymooners.
- It wasn't just the French who chose to chill out in Dalat.
Vietnam's last Emporer Bao Dai had a summer palace
here that made a great base for hunting trips in the surrounding
countryside.
- A favourite past time of the locals is chewing betelnut
- a stimulant that colours teeth red, makes them fall out,
but makes you feel very lightheaded!
Ho Chi Minh trail
Route 27 out of Dalat follows the old Ho Chi Minh Trail
- the Viet Cong's secret supply route linking the north
and south. It was mostly a network of footpaths under the
protective canopy of the jungle. The US bombed the living
daylights out of the trail in a hopeless attempt to shut it
down. The total tonnage of bombs dropped on the trail was
greater than all the bombs dropped in WW2. They also dumped
defoliants such as Agent Orange in an attempt to expose the
trail.
· The last battle of the American war was fought in
this area in March 1975.The road from Dalat to the above villages
follows the old Ho Chi Minh trail and its easy to figure out
why it was so tough for the Americans to spot the trail. Tucked
high and deep in the Central highlands rugged and beautiful
Truong Son Mountains, the road meanders with seemingly impassable
switchbacks. It taxes the imagination to see how the Viet
Cong were able to get anything down it, much less themselves.
There is a thriving industry in re-cycled war scrap metal
in Vietnam, particularly along the trail. The metal is principally
sold to Japan where it is turned into cars which are then
shipped to….you guessed it…the United States.
Tribes
Montagnards Hill Tribes
The central highlands of Vietnam are home to a number of Hill
Tribes that are descended from Malayo-Polynesians
and Khmer. These are the aboriginal Indochinese
people. They are commonly known as montagnards - a
term coined by the French meaning mountain people. The Vietnamese
know them as Moi which means savage. They refer to
themselves as 'dega' which mean first people.
One of the most tragic and little known consequences of the
Vietnam war was the decimation and destruction it brought
to the montagnards of the central highlands. By the war's
end 85% of their villages were either in ruins or abandoned.
Over 200,000 mountain people died. The montagnards were recruited
and trained by the CIA and US army to fight against the Viet
Cong. This loyalty to the US has not endeared them to the
communist government in power since 1975 and there have been
accusations of severe 'cultural leveling' in this area. The
montagnards have not been given access to medicine and have
had their lands taken away from them. The Government has banned
the teaching of their languages and forced them to marry Vietnamese
in order to dilute and destroy their cultural heritage. It
is feared by some that within 20 years their unique culture
will have been totally wiped out.
The Mnong Tribe
The Shamanistic-Anamanistic Mnong tribe have been famed
elephant catchers for hundreds of years and although
elephant populations are declining they still use them for
their traditional role of dragging logs in the forest. The
Mnong culture is closely linked to elephants. For instance
they believe that drinking elephant urine has medicinal properties
and so not a drop is wasted!
The Mnong live in houses built on stilts and like to drink
alcohol from communal jars using pipes. Matriarchy is observed
and the children take the family name of the mother. They
believe in the existence of many spirits which are related
to their life. One such spirit is mother rice which holds
a special role. The Mnong file their teeth before marriage.
Nature
Yok Don National Park is home to the rarely seen Asian
Tiger, leopards, wild elephants and buffalo.
It is also home to the rare white elephant.
70 miles north of Lak Lake is another option for elephant
antics - Ban Don village which lies in close proximity
to Yok Don National Park. This village has a long tradition
of taming the forest's elephants and you can visit the tomb
of Khun Ju-Nop, known as the king elephant catcher
who died in 1924. Each man in the village has a nickname according
to the number of elephants he has caught. In Darlac
there are 500 elephants which have been domesticated and are
used to hunt wild ones. Visitors to the village will often
be invited to drink from a communal jar and following copious
rice wine there is likely to be an impromptu musical performance
using gongs. The Mnong live in stilt long houses - inside
many things hang from the walls to dry - food such as frog,
lizard and snake. After a birth in the family the placenta
will be hung up to dry which is considered a powerful remedy
for rheumatic problems.
Elephant facts
- The tip of an elephant's trunk is 10 times as sensitive
as your fingertips. The trunk has over 100,000 muscles in
it - the human body has just 639 in total. Elephants produce
enough methane gas every day to fuel a car for 20 hours. In
its lifetime the average elephant walks the equivalent of
14 times around the planet. At night elephants cover them
selves in mud to protect them from insects (and wash it off
in morning).
- The Mnong tribe are famous for catching and taming
wild elephants which are then used as beasts of burden. All
Mnong have a nickname according to how many elephants he has
caught.
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- The night before a hunt the Mnong cannot have sex
- The Mnong perform a ritual with the special rope used to
catch the elephant.
- Fewer than 100 elephants are remaining in the wild. Once
trained, an elephant lives up to 40 years with its trainer. |
