Another Vietnam - excursion to Dak Lak province. Where can you ride elephants in Vietnam? Elephants in Vietnam: symbolism and use in art and craft
IN traditional cuisine Vietnam mixes the traditions of other countries, but this does not in any way affect its uniqueness and originality. From our article you will learnthe best way to eat in Vietnam.
Specifics of Vietnamese cuisine
The choice of dishes is wide, prices in restaurants and cafes are quite loyal and affordable. It is generally accepted that Vietnamese cuisine is the most budget-friendly, but not because of its simplicity, but because of the cheapness of the ingredients. In addition to traditional food, local chefs serve Asian and European cuisine.
Seafood is very popular, but finding dishes with the types of meat we are familiar with is not at all problematic. Local residents love to eat delicious food and do not welcome restrictions and prohibitions. Real delicacies are dishes with snake, turtle, rat meat and game. At some resorts they prepare ostrich, crocodile, snake, frog and dog meat - a real paradise for lovers of extreme exotics. There is an opinion that the Vietnamese love to eat insects, but this is not true. If you want to eat bugs and larvae, go to Thailand and Cambodia.
The Vietnamese are used to eating in groups, so the tables are set with large plates with several dishes in each. They take out food with chopsticks. This rule does not apply to tourists, so food is served in the usual way for us.
Vietnamese food is not spicy, which is why many tourists like it. Once in this country, you don’t need to immediately dive into local dishes, since they are not familiar to the European body. In order not to harm the gastrointestinal tract, you need to accustom it to new foods gradually. Almost all establishments offer dishes that are familiar to us. Due to the large influx of Russian tourists, catering establishments serving Russian cuisine began to open.
The main ingredient of Vietnamese dishes is rice. There are several dozen types of it in the country, from “classic” (in our understanding) to sticky, black and red. In principle, this is a completely normal phenomenon, since Vietnam is the second country in the world specializing in the cultivation and export of rice. It's logical that local residents They constantly use this product for cooking.
The second popular dish is rice flour noodles. There is also an egg one, but it is not so in demand. It can be thin or thick. It is the main ingredient in Pho soup, fried with meat and vegetables.
Fermented milk products are not popular among the Vietnamese, but they are still sold. The cost is about the same as ours. Local residents prefer tofu, which is why it can often be found in the dishes of local chefs.
Vegetables and herbs are obligatory “participants” of any feast. They are used as components of a cooked dish or as a side dish for meat, fish or rice. Specific aromas are achieved with the help of lemongrass and mint, onion-garlic mixture, fresh ginger bark and soy sauce. Traditional fish sauce is served with almost all dishes/
What to try
Some tourists claim that in comparison with the cuisine of others Asian countries, Vietnamese is quite boring. Her dishes have a sweetish aftertaste, so you have to add salt. There is no “pure” salt; instead, you can “salt” the dish with soy or fish sauces. Even if you are knowledgeable about Asian cuisine, in Vietnam you should definitely try:
Rice with chicken, pork, egg and vegetable additives. This dish is the most affordable and popular and perfectly satisfies hunger. It is rice with additives that you determine yourself. Some cooks fry the rice in a wok.
Pho. A favorite dish of locals. This is the name for a soup with pieces of meat, rice noodles, herbs and sprouted sprouts. It is usually consumed in the morning. There is no single way to prepare this soup, but it always amazes with its pleasant smell and amazing taste. It is extremely rare for tourists to be dissatisfied with this delicacy.
Spring rolls/German This delicious dish was invented in China, but has been considered traditional Vietnamese for several centuries. Is a wrapped rice pancake with fried vegetables and glass vermicelli. At the client's request, seafood and finely chopped meat can be added. The stuffed roll is deep fried until crispy. If you are a vegetarian, the roll will not be fried. Rolls are traditionally eaten with spicy, sweet or sour fish sauce. When ordering spring rolls, check with the waiter what exactly this will be, since some establishments under this name offer fried homemade sausage.
Chao/Tiao. It is a thick rice porridge with finely chopped chicken or beef. Rice is boiled in water until it softens and becomes mushy (chao). Then fish sauce and lemongrass are added to it. Chao should be eaten hot. It helps relieve indigestion.
Boone. They are rice vermicelli in the form of tiny rolls. Each chef can prepare it according to his own recipe, but the taste is always amazing. For example, some add fried pork, others add river snails, and still others add beef.
Banh com. This is the name of a popular Vietnamese dessert in the form of cakes wrapped in banana leaves. To prepare them, sticky rice, coconut and peas are used.
What else to eat and where
If you have money, you will never go hungry. Numerous street eateries, cafes and restaurants offer food to suit every budget. The minimum cost of a dish for one is only 84 rubles. In large Vietnamese cities you can dine at the usual establishments of KFC, Burgerking and McDonalds. A meal of several dishes and a drink will cost at least 280 rubles. The cost of food and drinks depends on the class of the establishment where you eat. In the territory popular resorts food is much more expensive. Remember, a dish with high-quality seafood is an expensive pleasure, so if you find it at a low price, don’t rush to rejoice. Most likely, there will be nothing from seafood there.
Drinks in restaurants and cafes are sold at a small premium. For example, in a store a bottle of beer costs 10 thousand dong, in a cafe – 12 thousand. Agree, quite acceptable.
Since locals do not like to cook at home, there are many different eateries available for them. Here you can eat tasty and inexpensive food. The serving size is simply huge, so it’s better to take one for two. The only negative is the small selection of dishes. Of course, this snack is not for everyone. Few people agree to eat food from not very clean plates, the preparation of which was unlikely to comply with hygienic standards. The Vietnamese are not very squeamish, so it is not scary for them to eat from a bowl that has recently been run over by a rat.
In certain establishments they will cook a snake in front of your eyes. Moreover, the whole process will be accompanied by a fascinating performance. Finding such eateries is difficult because they are “hidden” in remote areas. You'll have to pay a lot for a snake dish, but it's worth it.
In certain Vietnamese areas, rat meat is considered a great delicacy. Therefore, if you want to taste such exotic things, visit the city of Chau Doc. Don't think that locals constantly eat frogs, rats and snakes. The meat of these individuals is very expensive, so few Vietnamese can afford it even in honor of the holiday.
Eating store-bought products is expensive and pointless. As a rule, in small shops the prices for our usual products are very high. But if you find yourself near large chain supermarkets, you can buy everything you need at affordable prices.
If you need an urgent snack, you can buy a crispy baguette stuffed with cheese, vegetables and meat. Baguettes are sold from trays, the price of one is 23 rubles.
What can you drink
In Vietnam you can enjoy not only delicious cuisine, but also drinks.
Coffee
The most popular drink is coffee. He, like the baguette, remained in Vietnamese cuisine from the time when the country was a French colony. In some years, Vietnam overtook Brazil in supplying coffee to other countries. Here you can taste the already familiar Arabica, mocha, Luwak and Robusta. Often establishments offer to taste coffee made from several varieties.
Vietnamese coffee has an amazing aroma. After the first sip you will feel a pleasant chill and freshness. The drink is prepared directly in the cup using a special metal filter. It is placed on a cup, filled with coffee, pressed down and hot water is poured on top. The coffee gradually seeps into the cup. You need to wait 5 minutes for the drink to brew a little and cool down, and you can already drink it. Here it is customary to add ice, condensed milk and even an egg to coffee.
The drink with the latter addition turns out to be very smooth. It is mainly served in the northern part of the country. The coffee just melts in your mouth. First you will feel the sweetish taste of beaten egg yolks with sugar, and only then the strong, pleasantly bitter taste of the coffee itself. The drink can be consumed cold or hot.
Green tea
Vietnamese people love OLONG tea. It is a little expensive, but the price is fully compensated by its amazing taste, aroma and beneficial properties. Artichoke tea is worth trying. It is available in two forms: resin for dissolving in boiling water and ordinary dried leaves.
Sugarcane juice
Popular national drink. Mixed with lime, kumkuwat and tangerine juices. To slightly dilute the thickness of the drink, add ice. The drink must be drunk very quickly. The cane juice itself is also delicious and perfectly quenches thirst. The price of “liquid pleasure” is 7,000 dong. Cane juice is squeezed out using a special machine right in front of you.
Rice vodka
Once in Vietnam, you should definitely try rice vodka. The best one is called Hanoi, after the capital. The strength of the drink varies between 30-40 degrees. It is not recommended to drink rice moonshine on your own, as there is a huge risk of poisoning.
Without fruit you can't go anywhere
Thanks to its unique climate, Vietnam is full of different fruits. We will list only the most exotic ones.
Mango
Vietnamese mangoes are completely different from those sold in our stores. You will feel it after the first bite. The fact is that ripe fruits immediately appear on the shelves of stores and markets. Mangoes ripen in March-July. There are several varieties of this fruit and each of them is delicious in its own way. We recommend trying seedless varieties. Their price is a little higher than others.
Durian
This “royal fruit” is famous for its unusual smell, which not everyone can stand. It is forbidden to eat it in in public places, bring it to the hotel premises and take it on the plane. But if you are resistant to odors, then as a reward you will receive a delicate creamy filling with a pleasant fruity taste.
Jackfruit
Breadfruit. It smells as rich as durian. It is better to buy it already cut, since the whole fruit is sticky and large. It has an original taste. Locals prefer to use it as a side dish for hot dishes.
Sapodilla
It bears fruit constantly, so it is available for sale at any time. Externally similar to kiwi, only brown. The taste is reminiscent of persimmon; there is a hard seed inside. Overripe fruit is very sweet and leaves behind a honey aftertaste.
Now you know what you can pamper yourself with in Vietnam. To avoid spending your entire vacation in your room suffering from gastrointestinal upset, try to consume everything in moderation. Any delicacy is always in abundance here, so there is no need to rush to try everything on the first day. Try to eat a maximum of 2 fruits and 1 exotic dish per day, and then you will have only positive emotions from your vacation.
For most people, Thailand, India and Sri Lanka are associated with elephants. But in Vietnam you can also see and ride elephants. There is even a village here that is famous for its elephant rides. So, in this article we will tell you about where to ride elephants in Vietnam.
Where can you ride elephants in Vietnam?
There are not many elephants left in Vietnam. If earlier wild elephants lived over a fairly large territory, now they live only in a few remote provinces. Scientists predict that by 2021 they may completely disappear.
Nowadays, domesticated animals can be found in several Vietnamese provinces. You can ride elephants in Vietnam, for example, by going on an excursion to Dalat. Here in the park, mahouts work and everyone can ride huge animals, sitting on a wooden structure tied to the backs of elephants.
An elephant, or rather a female elephant, can also be seen in the popular city of Nha Trang. True, for this you will need to go to one of the islands close to the mainland. Lena the elephant is literally a local celebrity. Even adult children are delighted with it. The elephant gives people rides on her trunk!
And finally, the most popular place where you can ride elephants in Vietnam is Dak Lak province. There is a village here where about twenty tamed elephants live. This is where all tourists strive to get. It is interesting that during the high water period of Lake Lak, here you can not only ride elephants on land, but also swim on animals on the water. The elephants majestically and leisurely walk through the village, then swim across the lake and return back. In addition, tourists are attracted by the local residents of Dak Lak province - the Mnong. They build boats from solid tree trunks and elongated houses, drink rice wine using special straws, play gongs, and Mnong women carry their children in homemade slings.
As you can see, when deciding where to ride elephants in Vietnam, the most attractive place is Dak Lak province, but there is one drawback - the province’s remoteness from the main resort areas. Therefore, if you don’t want to travel that far, go to Dalat or the islands near Nha Trang.
Elephants in Vietnam: symbolism and use in art and craft
Elephants have always been considered a symbol of wisdom, dignity and prudence. People admired their invincible power and created skillfully made figurines in the form of elephants and used figurines of these animals in making jewelry. There are sculptures of elephants near some Buddhist and Hindu temples. And now in Vietnam you can buy elephant figurines as souvenirs. It is believed that an elephant whose trunk is turned upward brings good luck to the owners of the house. The main thing is to put it “facing” the window so that it draws her in from the street. But elephants with their trunks down are bought by women who dream of having offspring. The Vietnamese believe that such an elephant figurine will definitely help you have children. In the shops you can also find beautiful bracelets and rings made of various materials, which are decorated with elephant figures. But we do not recommend buying products made from elephant tusks. After all, poachers hunt for rare and expensive material, destroying the already small population of elephants.
Elephants, elephants... They are everywhere in the Vietnamese province of Dak Lak! In villages, tamed animals help with housework and earn real money by giving rides to tourists. IN national parks, of which there are several in Daklak, the elephants still live freely. Until... Until they were caught by hunters. Such as the most famous "king of the elephants" is Ama Kong from a small village in the Buon Don region. Ama died six months ago at the age of 102. He had four wives who bore him his 21st child. A I went hunting for the last time when I was 86 years old., then he returned home, having caught as many as 7 elephants for taming!
To go or not to go to the famous Buon Don? Or is it better to go see Dry Sap waterfalls? We didn’t have much time in Dak Lak, because the program of our trip from the south to the north of Vietnam was very busy. We hesitated until the last moment what to choose and... chose the legend about the elephant hunter. This was a personality covered in a bunch of gossip, fables and legends. Come to the homeland of Ama Kong with us!
Early in the morning we took the bike and rode to the north of Dak Lak province to the Buon Don region.
The first tourist village with elephants is about forty kilometers away. The road is good, we got there quickly. Meet us, Ban Don!
The first village is exclusively touristic. Reminds me of a museum open air Pirogovo in Kyiv. Mnong village longhouses brought from different parts of the province.
There is a historical filling inside. Long dugout boats, dishes, looms. In general, there are enough exhibits to imagine how the Mongongs live. Although, of course, it’s more pleasant to watch all this live on Lake Lac. Remember mine?
A small mnong show is shown here. Ritual songs and dances. Beautiful, cute and absolutely free. Or rather, for a symbolic 30 thousand dong (one and a half dollars) for an entrance ticket to the Ban Don complex.
Here you can ride an elephant. Of course, if you’ve been reading my blog for a long time, then you won’t be surprised by elephants... But Sasha and Arina had a special extreme trek across the mountain river Serepok.
We drove around and wandered around the village. You will definitely be there walk along the hanging bridges. They are quite strong, although the boards still fail in some places.
Here we were finally able to taste traditional Mnong food. This is grilled chicken with salt, chili and lemongrass. Quite mediocre food as the chicken was homemade, small in size and its meat quite tough. But the side dish was amazing. Rice baked in bamboo! Not only does it look great, but it tastes good too. This rice is called Com Lam, if you are in Dak Lak, be sure to try it.
In Ban Don we were also offered a canoe ride on the river and even a swim on some distant beach (costs 200 thousand dong - 10 dollars), but we decided to go further and still find a real elephant village, where real people live, and not scenery for tourists.
We drove along the road, guided by the map. After a couple of kilometers came across national park Yokdon. We stopped by to scout out some interesting things.
It turned out that you need to go on a safari to the park just in the “off season”, i.e. When does it rain in Vietnam - from May to October. Then wild animals come out of the jungle to drink water and are easy to observe. If anyone is interested in national parks, then this is what they offer in Yokdon right on the spot - the price list for tours.
If you drive further from the national park, then after about five kilometers you will reach the famous elephant village of Buon Don. Upon entering the village - elephant hunters cemetery. Quite a sad sight - unkempt graves, garbage, oblivion...
Guru Ama Kong has the highest and most beautiful bas-relief here. Inscriptions in Vietnamese and Thai. Why Thai? Yes because The king of elephants managed to catch two albinos in his life. He gave one to the King of Vietnam, the other to the King of Thailand. Grateful Thais still remember and honor him.
Well, what is this mattress in the photo for? Someone spent the night near the grave and forgot to clean it up? It turns out that it is customary for the Mnong to set up storage boxes on their graves, storing everything that could be useful to the deceased in the other world. Well, Ama Kong must sleep on something! And he will also need elephant tusks there. For what? Don’t ask me... We are also not far from the Mnong pagans. So what are all these glasses of vodka and candy on the graves of our relatives? Who will drink and eat all this?
But let's return to the king. It was only recently that you could see the living king of elephants. Ama Kong died in November 2012. He was 102 years old and all his life he was distinguished not only by his courage (Ama caught and tamed 360 elephants and this is the honest truth!), but also by his masculine strength. He had four wives and 21 children! And for the last time Ama Kong got married when he was already over 80! And he did not marry his grandmother, who was the same age, but a 25-year-old beauty from a neighboring village, with whom he fell in love at first sight.
Now people come to this village in Buon Don not only to ride elephants, of which there are a couple dozen, but also buy a secret potion for male power, which was invented by Ama Kong himself. We didn’t need this remedy; there were already plenty of elephants, too, so we just wandered around the village a little.
An ordinary village, nothing remarkable. Longhouses like the ones we saw at Lac Lake, only the people are more shy. When trying to take a photo, they waved their arms menacingly. Well, tourists got them here, what can you do... This is the price of the glory of the great ancestor.
However, there weren’t very many tourists. So, some Vietnamese military men on an excursion and one family. If Vietnamese manage to ride with six of them on one moped, then it’s easy to climb a huge elephant with such a group!
The village stands on the Serepok River. But the water in it is not very clean. Even local children prefer to talk peacefully in boats rather than splash in the water.
Arinka was already quite fed up with the elephants, and it was already time for nap time, so she had to go back.
For those who go to Buon Don, I will post a map of this village. I think it will be interesting to spend a couple of hours there.
The road home flew by almost unnoticed. We stopped a couple of times. Well, is it possible to drive past such a rarity in the Vietnamese outback! And where did this guy get his Soviet Lada?
Cheerful family. The head of the family looks more like a Russian hillbilly than a mountain mnong.
Results independent trip to Dak Lak:
Total we covered the main attractions of the province on a bike in 3 days. This is about 220 kilometers. The roads are mostly good. Traffic is tolerable if you avoid peak hours. Soon everyone is needed, I will publish all the contacts, addresses and maps needed for an independent trip.
Finance:
I won’t count the first three days in Buon Ma Thuot, in which we came to our senses after moving from Dalat and worked hard (yes, no one canceled work on our trip!). We could spend these days anywhere and this does not apply to useful trips to sights.
So, an independent two-day trip to Lac Lake cost us $140. This includes all expenses for renting a bike and gasoline, food, hotel (750 thousand dong per day - 36 dollars), elephant rides, boat rides, guide services.
Ride a bike for one day in Buon Don - $35: bike rental, gasoline, lunch, elephant ride.
Total - 3 days for 175 dollars.
If we bought a trip from the cheapest agency in Buon Ma Thuot and went to organized tour, then we would have to pay 200 dollars for 2 days! This amount only includes transport, lunch and guide. We would have to pay all other expenses for the hotel, breakfasts and dinners, riding elephants and boats separately, and these are the main expenses. In general, I won’t bore you with details, I’ll just say that Even though we spent that $175, we managed to save about the same amount.
The next post is about the extremely controversial Nha Trang. It’s so hard to figure out how you feel about this city and the people who live here! 10 days in Nha Trang: is it good for us here or not? My opinion changes several times a day... Cham towers and big buddha, hot mineral springs and three restaurants: Russian borscht, Indian masala and French ostrich Parmentier...
Tourists certainly want to include this entertainment in their travel program in Vietnam.
To get pleasure and not disappointment, it is important to immediately decide what exactly you expect from such a walk.
Maximum comfort, minimum extreme
If you want to take a spectacular selfie without leaving your comfort zone, it is better to go to Dalat. There is a well-functioning attraction in Prenn Park - great option for your first close encounter with elephants. Tamed animals are very peaceful and willingly accept treats.
Experienced mahouts lead the elephants along a specific route that takes place in the picturesque surroundings of the park. Riders can admire the local scenery and get a light dose of adrenaline - on some stages of the route with difficult terrain.
Through the jungle and waters
If your soul asks for real extreme sports, go to Daklak. The jungles and parks of this Vietnamese province are home to herds of wild elephants. They are few in number, and tourists only manage to see them during the rainy season - May - October. During this period, wild animals come to watering places and you can watch them.
Local residents catch and tame four-legged giants. Elephants become domestic helpers and bring good income in the tourism business.
Elephant trekking in Dak Lak Province involves traveling by land and water. The land trail ends on the shores of Lake Lak or the mountain river Serepok.
Followed by " water procedures" Under the control of a mahout, an elephant swims its riders across a body of water. It turns out - skating with swimming. The waters of Vietnamese lakes and rivers are not exceptionally transparent, which adds to the extreme.
You can book a horseback ride into the jungle for the whole day. Local guides will offer routes for thrill-seekers - over rough terrain, with visits to colorful Vietnamese villages and exotic fishing.
To Buon Don - for unique experiences and masculine potion
People come to Dak Lak to watch a unique show - the elephant festival, which is held in the Buon Don elephant village in the third lunar month, every two years. To the delight of the spectators, the animals participate in various competitions - swimming, “running” at speed, playing football, pulling weights, throwing logs. Teams of four-legged participants represent nearby villages.
You can ride an elephant in Vietnam not only in popular tourist areas. In the villages of Kon Tum, Dac Nong, Lai Chau, Dien Bien, and Binh Thuan provinces, visitors will be provided with this service at a reasonable price. Some families maintain mini-elephant farms.
The most famous elephant village is Buon Don. Here you can not only see a unique show, but also get acquainted with the life of the legendary hunter Ama Kong.
The brave and dexterous “king of the elephants” caught and raised 360 wild animals. He went hunting for the last time at the age of 86 and brought 7 captive giants to the village. Around the same age, Ama Kong married for the fifth time to a local young beauty of 25 years old.
The secret of Kong's male strength and longevity (he lived for 102 years) is in a miraculous potion that the hunter himself invented. Residents of Buon Don claim that they know the recipe and offer the magic elixir to tourists.
The trip to Dak Lak, the second excursion from Leto that we took, was the most crowded: as many as 13 people gathered. At the same time, everyone was relaxed in communication, so the overall atmosphere of the trip was calm. The guide this time is Denis, a young guy with a well-spoken tongue, but a somewhat weak command of texture. For example, on the way there I asked about the height of Lake Lac above the sea. Denis replied that it was about 50 meters. I was very surprised that with such a low altitude, the area remote from the sea is surrounded on almost all sides by mountains. In reality, the height turned out to be 415 meters. But on the whole, such flaws did not detract from the overall charm of the trip.
Although, if by the word trip we mean the road, then it cannot be called charming. Firstly, the declared comfortable minibus cannot be called such: even on a charter there was much more legroom. For several hours, while my knees rested on the row in front, my legs became very numb. As Denis explained, all minibuses in Vietnam are like this because they are designed for short Asians. Secondly, on the way there and back there was an 800-meter pass, undeclared in the program, with a bunch of serpentines on the approaches. And the driving style of Vietnamese drivers is very peculiar: when entering a turn, they accelerate. As a result, approximately half of the tourists became seasick. It would be a good idea to warn about this in advance, so that you can prepare by taking an anti-sickness pill (since there were no such problems during our travels in the area of Hue and the caves, it never occurred to us that they might be needed later).
Map of our route to Dak Lak on April 3. Red circles – Nha Trang and Lac Lake. The red line is our route by minibus.
Map of our skiing on April 3. The red circle is our Van Long Hotel. The red line is our route by minibus. The green line is our path on the elephant. The blue line is our route by boat.
But enough about the sad stuff! By noon we arrived in a village located on the shore of a lake and checked into almost the only hotel there. There was an elephant right under our window, and behind it there was a view of the muddy waters of Lake Lac. It was a pleasant surprise that Katya and I got best number with panoramic windows, for which they usually require an additional payment of $10. We also laughed that this was compensation for Konstantin’s visit yesterday with suspicions of working as spies. We shouldn't have laughed! Upon returning to Nha Trang, the director of Leto contacted us and said that this room was a gift from him to “make up for the inconvenience caused by his visit.”
The staircase to the second floor, along which we climbed, instead of railings, was surrounded by authentic staircases of the Mnong - local people, which I will talk about in more detail in the next part. The left one with the image of a turtle is intended for men, the right one, with a woman’s breast, is intended for women. While it was not difficult to climb the authentic stairs, going down caused some concerns, so we still used the more standard option.
After lunch, we began the procedure of feeding the elephants with bananas and sugar cane, during which we had the opportunity to pet the largest land animal of our time. It's funny that elephants often put a piece of reed behind their tusk, eating it later.
An elephant eats sugar cane.
Then our group was divided in half: one part went boating, while we went elephant riding; later we switched places. The elephant is boarded from a special platform about two meters high. The driver is placed on the neck, and 2 passengers are placed on the bench on the back.
The process of moving an elephant from the passenger seat.
First, we drove for half a kilometer along an asphalt road, then the elephant got off it and, mixing the coastal mud, entered the waters of Lake Lak.
Our elephant walked along the bottom like this all the way, but the smaller one moved further away from the shore and swam with its riders. At the lake I temporarily swapped places with the driver. I liked riding on an elephant’s neck much more: you don’t get tossed from side to side, but the main thing is that you feel giant muscles moving under you. And the elephant itself is pleasantly warm and rough to the touch. My childhood dream of riding this beast has come true! But it was sad to realize that there are almost no wild elephants left in Vietnam, they do not breed in captivity, and in a few decades such an opportunity will no longer exist.
After riding the elephants, we went to the boats. I had never ridden a dugout before. Well, he rocks such boats! Any movement immediately causes chatter. It is interesting that the boatmen used poles near the shore, and already at depth they began to use oars - one per boat.
Hill with the former country residence of the emperor.
Having ridden around, we went to the Mnong village, which I will tell you about in the next part, as well as about the ethnic show. I didn’t want to spread the pictures of the lake and elephants across the posts.
After visiting the village, we had time until dinner, and in addition to the program, we drove along a winding spiral road to a nearby hill, where the emperor once built his country residence. Now the building, abandoned for a long time, has been restored and is partly used as a hotel (there are few rooms in it, and the rating on Booking is only 6.6), and partly as a museum.
On the second day, in the morning everything was filled with smoke, and I decided that there was a strong fire somewhere. But after a couple of hours, the smoke cleared, and Denis explained that the cause of the smoke was the morning burning of garbage grass in the surrounding settlements. By the way, this morning was the coldest time of the entire trip - I was frankly frozen in my jacket, even walking at a brisk pace. But just a couple of hours after sunrise it quickly became warmer.
Bunches of bananas outside the hotel restaurant. You can feed the elephants and chew them yourself.
Even the previous evening, we bought fresh black peppercorns from a store behind the hotel. Yes, we can’t find one like this anywhere. Previously, I did not even know that a significant part of the pepper sold here is fake. Dried papaya grains flavored with cayenne pepper are often passed off as peppercorns, and under the guise of ground pepper, anything can be. Some kind of test for whether a pepper is real or not is water: real peppers sink, but papaya berries and various debris float, as it should be with any such substance. By the way, Vietnam produces 45% of the world's black pepper.
And on the morning of the second day we had a tasting of coffee and cocoa. There were two varieties of coffee: Arabica and elephant. Elephant coffee is similar to Luwak, but instead of marten, the beans are passed through the digestive tract of an elephant, where they lose their bitterness, undergo fermentation, after which they are harvested, washed and sold. Unlike Nha Trang, where there are a lot of fakes, and coffee is often heavily flavored with flavorings and poured with oil to make the beans shine, here the goods were real. Arabica, of course, was much cheaper: 250 thousand dong per kilogram versus 1 million for elephant coffee (625 and 2,500 rubles, respectively). But already in Hanoi, the price of elephant coffee will reach up to 250 dollars (15,000 rubles) per kilogram. By the way, Vietnam is either still in second place in coffee exports, or, having overtaken Brazil, has come to first.
