Elephants, elephants ... In the Vietnamese province of Daklak, they are everywhere! In the villages, tamed animals help with the household and earn live money by rolling tourists. IN national parks, of which there are several in Daklak, elephants are still living freely. Until ... Until the hunters caught them. Such as the most famous "king of elephants" - Ama Kong from a small village in the Buon Don area... Ama died six months ago at 102 years old. He had four wives who gave birth to his 21st child. A last went hunting at 86, 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 look at the 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 is very rich. We hesitated to the last what to choose and ... we chose the legend about the elephant hunter. It was a person covered with a bunch of gossip, fables and legends. Let's go 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 forty kilometers away. The road is good, they drove off quickly. Meet us, Ban Don!
The first village is exclusively tourist. Reminds of a museum under open air Pirogovo in Kiev. Brought from different corners provinces village long houses of the mongong.
Inside there is a historical filling. Long dugout boats, dishes, weaving looms. In general, there are enough exhibits to imagine how the mnong people live. Although, of course, it is more pleasant to watch all this live on Lake Lak. Remember mine?
A small mongong show is shown here. Ritual dance songs. Nice, cute and absolutely free. Rather, for a symbolic 30 thousand dongs (one and a half dollars) for entrance ticket to the Ban Don complex.
Here you can also ride an elephant. Of course, if you have been reading my blog for a long time, then elephants will not surprise you ... But Sasha and Arina had a special extreme trek through the mountain river Serepok.
We rode, wandered around the village. You will be there, be sure walk the suspension bridges... They are quite strong, although in some places the boards still fall through.
Here we were finally able to taste traditional food mongong. This is grilled chicken with salt, chili and lemongrass. Quite mediocre food as the chicken was homemade, small in size and rather tough. But the side dish was amazing. Rice baked in bamboo!It not only looks great, but also delicious. This rice is called Com Lam, if you are in Daklak, be sure to try it.
In Ban Don, we were also offered to ride a canoe on the river and even swim on some distant beach (it costs 200 thousand dongs - 10 dollars), but we decided to go further and still find a real elephant village, where real people live, and not decorations for tourists.
We drove along the road, guided by the map. After a couple of kilometers stumbled upon national park Yokdon... We stopped by to explore interesting things.
It turned out that you need to go on a safari to the park just in the "off-season", ie. when it rains in Vietnam - from May to October. Then wild animals come out of the jungle to watering places and are easy to watch. If anyone is interested in national parks, then this is what Yokdon offers right on the spot - the price for tours.
If you go further from the national park, then in about five kilometers you will find the famous elephant village Buon Don. At the entrance to the village - elephant hunter cemetery... A rather sad sight - unkempt graves, garbage, oblivion ...
Guru Ama Kong has the tallest 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 among the mongongs it is customary to arrange clothing piggy banks on the graves, to store everything that may be useful to the deceased in the other world. Well, Ama Kong must sleep on something! He also needs elephant tusks there. What for? Don't ask me ... We, too, are not far from the pagans of the Mnong. That's what all these glasses of vodka and sweets on the graves of our relatives are all about? Who will drink and eat all this?
But back to the king. It was possible to see a living king of elephants quite recently. Ama Kong died in November 2012. He was 102 years old and all his life he was distinguished not only by courage (Ama caught and tamed 360 elephants and this is the truth!), But also by 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 a grandmother of 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 of dozen, but also buy a secret potion for male strength, which Ama Kong himself invented. We didn't need this remedy, elephants were already in abundance, so we just wandered around the village a little.
An ordinary village, nothing remarkable. Long houses, like we saw at Lake Lak, only people are more shy. When trying to take a photo, they waved their hands threateningly... Well, tourists got them here, what to do ... Here it is - the price of the glory of the great ancestor.
However, there weren't very many tourists. So, some Vietnamese military on excursions and one family. If viets manage to ride the same moped with six of them, then it's easy to climb onto a huge elephant with such a company!
The village stands on the Serepok River. But the water in it is not very clean. Even the local kids prefer to talk peacefully in boats rather than splashing around in the water.
Arinka was already fed up with the elephants, and the time for daytime sleep had long since come, so I had to go back.
For those who will go to Buon Don, I will lay out a map of this village. I think it will be interesting to spend a couple of hours there.
The road home flew almost unnoticed. We stopped a couple of times. Well, how can you drive past such a rarity in the Vietnamese outback! And where did this guy get a Soviet Zhiguli?
Cheerful family. The head of the family looks more like a Russian redneck than a mountain monga.
Outcome independent trip to Daklak:
Total we covered the main attractions of the province by bike in 3 days... It is about 220 kilometers. The roads are mostly good. Traffic is tolerable if you don't get into rush hours. Soon everyone is needed, I will publish all the contacts, addresses and maps necessary for an independent trip.
Finance:
I will not 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 the work on our trip!). We could spend these days anywhere and to useful trips sightseeing is not the case.
So, independent two day trip Lake Lak cost us $ 140... This includes all expenses for renting a bike and gasoline, food, hotel (750 thousand dongs per day - $ 36), elephant riding, boat, guide services.
Ride a bike for a day in Buon Don - $ 35: bike rental, gasoline, lunch, elephant riding.
Total - 3 days for $ 175.
If we were to buy a trip from the cheapest agency in Buon Ma Thuot and go to organized tourthen we would have to pay $ 200 for 2 days! This amount includes only transport, meals and a guide. All other expenses for the hotel, breakfasts and dinners, riding elephants and boats, we would have to pay separately, and these are the main expenses. In general, I will not bore you with details, I will just say that although we spent that $ 175, we managed to save about the same.
In the next post - 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 the big Buddha, hot mineral springs and three restaurants: Russian borscht, Indian masala and French ostrich Parmentier ...
From here to the border with Cambodia, only a few hours of walking. The road trampled by elephants makes a sharp turn so as not to leave Vietnamese territory. Luxurious thickets of bamboo, a plant typical of these places, amaze with its diversity. Here is the yellow color of all shades, and the delicate green of newly hatched shoots, and the brown warmth of thick trunks - some of them reach the height of a four-story building. It is difficult to move along the path - everything is overgrown with dense bushes; its hard thorns like iron claws scratch mercilessly - our hands were aching from these wounds for a long time afterwards.
We pass one more of the rivulets - during this period they are rather shallow - and we see a small cemetery. Silent guards are placed along the edges of it - wooden sculptures in the form of stylized figurines of animals, in particular, an elephant. The sparkling white buffalo skull, which is designed to ward off evil spirits, like other symbols, says that the place is holy. And several large amphoras dug into the ground containing offerings for the gods indicate that people live somewhere nearby - in some vessels we see fresh fruit. And so it is: another ten minutes' journey, and our whole caravan, elephants and people, enters a small village built on piles - much to the surprise of its inhabitants.
Zyaray is one of the 54 minorities living in Vietnam. For many centuries they have preserved their pristine way of life intact. They succeed due to the fact that they live in hard-to-reach places of the Vietnamese jungle, and all the repeated attempts to "Vietnamese" these tribes, which were taking power, ended in failure. Men are low stature, their skin resembles ambergris in its color. All clothing consists of a loincloth. Women walk with a naked torso. As soon as our expedition entered the territory of the village, locals they surrounded the unusual guests with curiosity - only the children kept at a distance, afraid to approach people of an unprecedented race. This is understandable: the route of our expedition on elephants runs through a zone prohibited for foreigners. Zyarai do not speak Vietnamese and therefore we need a local to Vietnamese translator. We brought it from Pleiku. He quickly talks about something with an elderly man, who seems to be the head of the village.
Then another translator - from Vietnamese to Russian - Vao - tells us: we are welcome in the village. And it confirms what we have already read in the eyes of the inhabitants around us: we are the first white people to set foot on the territory where they live.
Little by little we learn that this small nation, which settled here two thousand years ago, has always refused to participate in military conflicts. Yes, they supplied food to the Viet Cong, but only because they forced them to. In general, they have good contacts with other tribes that inhabit the plain outside the jungle. Zyarai offer them tobacco, medicinal plants, copper and other forest products, while they themselves receive metal products and agricultural tools in exchange.
The head of the village invites us to his modest bamboo hut. It's dark inside, smells of smoke, but the eyes soon get used to it. In the corner there is a fireplace made of stones and everything you need to cook food, a fairly large set of knives of the most different sizes, tools for hunting and next to the hearth - mats for rest. The inside of the hut is pleasantly cool. We came here in winter, but if at night the temperature is rather low, then in the daytime it is replaced by intolerable heat.
The owner of the house pushes towards us a vessel filled with "jiu ge" - an alcoholic drink made from fermented rice. We drink in turn, using a single rice straw. Traditionally, this drink is served during annual festivities and other celebrations, or when a completely unfamiliar guest appears. Meanwhile, one of the women prepares rice, which is then served along with chunks of chicken and nyuok-mum sauce, made from fish and vegetables. The translator gives us the words of the owner, who is very upset that he cannot treat us to snake meat, frog legs and monkey brains - the favorite delicacies of the zyaray.
Alberto, the youngest member of our expedition, doesn't actually drink, but he sips from time to time. And rightly so: this drink is much less hazardous to health than, for example, river water... Likewise, Igor, who at first was not very supportive of this rice distillation product, now drinks it with pleasure.
The vessel with the straw has already made several circles, and the mistress of the house is becoming very cheerful. At some point, in a fit of loud laughter, she demonstrates to everyone her front teeth, which have been ground down almost to the base, the stumps of which are painted black. The sight is truly awful. It is impossible to guess how old this woman is. And when she talks about her age, that she got married, when there, in the valley, bombs were still falling from the sky - it's hard to believe.
I smile to hide my feelings and try to take some pictures ... I learn that the tradition of piercing the earlobes and inserting bamboo sticks into the holes, as well as grinding and painting teeth black are all part of a ritual that means entering adulthood.
Our Xuan, a girl of rare grace and beauty, who is a third year student at the University of Hanoi, shakes her head and for the second time expresses surprise in her broken Russian language - until now she simply could not imagine that such a life exists in her country. From time to time she curiously asks the owner about something, but each time instead of an answer she gets only a smile and a shake of his head - he clearly does not understand what he is being told about.
I could never have imagined that in Vietnam, on the threshold of 2000, I would meet with representatives of primitive tribes, whose life is marked by the most extreme simplicity. The local hunters use the same crossbows and poisoned arrows, and the fishermen use the same nets and traps that their ancestors used. The forest satisfies all of their needs, with few exceptions. They get everything here - from materials for building houses to game and fruits. For example, some kind of mats are made from the bark of some plants, which are placed under baskets that are fixed on the backs of elephants. The same bark yields threads from which coarse fabrics are woven.
The next day gave us a unique sight: we witnessed a cruel ritual. Buffalo breeding is common among many tribes in this region - but not so much for work and not for meat, but for sacrifices. The buffalo is considered the most expensive gift.
With the first rays of the morning dawn, a feeling of something solemn spreads in the air. The day is sunny, the sky is the color of dark azure. The ceremony starts around noon. In the middle of the village, several thick bamboo trunks are dug into the ground, tightly tied together. From above, each trunk is richly decorated. A buffalo is tied to the trunks - a powerful animal with huge horns, weighing at least three tons. Calling cries, the beat of drums, the beating of the sacred gong, the roar of an animal - all this mixed into one wild, unimaginable whirlwind of sounds. The buffalo, distraught with fear, rushes violently, trying to free himself. The music and screams gradually subside, the buffalo stands rooted to the spot, flaring his nostrils - he feels the approaching death. Two men, holding sharply sharpened knives with exorbitantly long handles in their hands, sneak up on the animal and in two precisely calculated movements instantly cut the tendons of its front legs. Letting out a terrible cry, the buffalo falls to his knees, and then a hail of arrows falls on him - the shooters carefully aim so as not to get into vital places. General exaltation, screams - and the unfortunate victim dies in terrible agony. It is a great day for the villagers, but for us it is just a terrible, shuddering performance. Zyarai believe that the more the sacrificed buffalo suffers, the better: the farther the evil spirits, the cause of all misfortunes, will leave the village. The holiday ends with a hearty meal - and all this happens a stone's throw from the area drenched in blood.
Life is divided into two stages, as it were. For ten months they work for rice fields, cultivate sweet potatoes, maize, other crops, cassava, tobacco, and spend two months building and repairing their huts, making pottery, weaving baskets and knocking down a canoe after knocking down a large tree. They also celebrate weddings. From time to time, men go hunting and, as a rule, bring a deer or antelope.
I ask if there are tigers here - I heard about them when I traveled around Cambodia many months ago and wandered into places located not far from here. I am told that a few years ago, in a village a day's journey from here, a tiger killed a girl. She was gathering firewood and moved very close to home. “But we decided we weren't going to hunt him,” says a man whose back is lavishly decorated with tattoos, mostly geometric designs.
The next day we leave this extraordinary oasis, which opened up a completely different world for us. Our obedient elephants are moving forward, and it seems that they are moving very slowly, but when Igor jumps to the ground to take a few pictures, he then has to run to catch up with us. The huge baskets in which we sit are not very comfortable for long journeys, and I remember with regret camel saddles - compared to these baskets, they seem to be just down pillows.
Evening comes, the full moon appears - here it seems just huge. We relax by the fire, stretched out in hammocks suspended from bamboo trunks. Every day, fatigue accumulates more and more, but nevertheless we continue our journey, which brings us all new impressions. We are isolated from the whole world, we are surrounded by dangers, we have to overcome a lot of difficulties. Myriads of insects, poisonous snakes, mosquitoes - and malaria too, an unbearable climate ... So what!
"All this is nothing compared to the splendor of the magnificent nature, so amazing, so diverse - it is here that a person feels how small and weak he is," I wrote in my diary.
With the chirping of crickets, Quang, an official from Hanoi who travels with us, recounts that the jungles of Vietnam were the theater of bloody battles. 27 years ago, as a boy, he participated in the attack on the American base in Pleiku, two days' walk from where we are. Quang came along the "Ho Chi Minh Trail", which ran along the border through Laos and Cambodia. 8 American soldiers and at least 200 Vietnamese were killed in that battle at Pleiku. On the same day, the Pentagon launched retaliatory attacks on targets in North Vietnam. This was the beginning of the US involvement in a war that lasted ten years.
"Of those who fought with me in those days," says Kuang, "only one of every five returned home."
Our journey ends in Shuza, a village located at the very edge of civilization, by road number 14 that leads from Pleiku to Dalat, a resort founded by the French. We survived unforgettable dayson a journey similar to the great expeditions of the past. We are sad to part with our elephant friends - irreplaceable companions on this journey, patient, stubborn and funny giants.
Jacek Palkiewicz, Italian traveler. Translated from Italian by Lyudmila Filatova
In Dak Lak province, you can ride real wild elephants. Or rather, not to ride, but to swim across the lake, sitting on its back. This has been one of the brightest impressions of the past few months.
It always seemed to me that heartless people ride on elephants. I especially felt sorry for the elephants on which the obese tourists perch. And even the fact that elephants in Asia have long been used in battles did not comfort me. Therefore, earlier I did not even have a desire to climb on this cute animal. But swimming on an elephant is a completely different story. At this point I could not resist in any way!
Dak Lak province is famous for exactly elephant rides on the lake. At least this is the most common excursion in its vicinity. You can get there only by bike, well, or by tourist bus... But still, it's better to go on your own. Firstly, it is much more interesting, and secondly, it is much cheaper!
Where is the "rental" of wild elephants
To ride the elephants, you will have to overcome a dozen kilometers. We left at 7 am and rode the bike for about an hour. The road was almost clear, which seemed very strange to me. Usually life in Vietnam is already in full swing at this early hour.
Where to buy tickets
- Tickets for this interesting entertainment can be bought at the reception at the LAK hotel. The staff can barely speak English, but you can still communicate with them with the help of gestures.
LAK Hotel Ticket Price: $ 35
Hotel "LAK" on the world map is marked at the end of the article
- If you drive past LAK, you can save $ 10, since the elephant rental is actually a few kilometers from the hotel. They already sell tickets from the first person - for $ 25. According to the Vietnamese who worked there, the LAK hotel rents their elephants at a higher cost.
Ticket Price: $ 25
Working hours: you can ride elephants at any daytime
Walk duration: hour
"Elephant rental" on the world map is marked at the end of the article
How to ride an elephant
We got a wonderful, smart and cautious elephant named Iho, who turned 44 not so long ago. For elephants, this is quite a respectable age, so I was calm for our safety. Still, an adult elephant will not do stupid things. Iho, among other things, is also cute, and, he himself knows about it. And as soon as I took out the camera, he immediately began to pose for me.
Iho was born with one tusk. See how he loves bananas! By the way, Iho is a prudent and thrifty elephant - he took bananas in his trunk with him on the path. Still not the first day of swimming.
Lesson one: a matter of habit
Iho, like all elephants, walks very imposingly. From the bottom, it may seem that nothing is easier than climbing on an elephant, relaxing and enjoying a walk. But it was not there. Despite the seat being securely attached to the back, I felt like I was participating in a rodeo. And as much as I like elephants and Iho in particular, I still don't understand why all people are constantly trying to climb on them?
Lesson two: don't bother the elephant eating
On the way to Lake Iho I decided to have a snack. Once again I am amazed at the strength of the elephant! It's hard for me to pick a twig from a bush, but he grabbed a whole armful with his trunk! We stood for about 10 minutes, apparently by a very tasty tree, afraid to move. What if Iho will be angry that we are rushing him and will jump into the lake instead of going?
Lesson three: feel the Asian exotic!
Riding an elephant on the lake is a real adventure. Sure, it's a little scary to trust such a large animal, but Iho looked like a very reliable friend. Only on the lake I felt the beauty of what was happening!
Lesson Four: Drive Boldly!
Finally, I got the reins of the elephant! I moved from back to head, so to speak, at full speed. True, I could not let go of the seat handle. It was very, very scary! Moreover, Iho apparently realized that some kind of movement was taking place on his back, and at that moment, when I nevertheless sat on my head, he began to snort, wag his trunk and even stamped his foot. And if you consider that all this happens in the water, then everything looks even more dangerous. But, danger is my middle name, so I sat at the head of the elephant for about 5 minutes until my hand finally went numb.
A specially trained person did it much better. According to my observations, for balance it is necessary to tightly hold the legs behind the ears of the elephant. But this is easier said than done.
Lesson five: swim like an elephant!
Iho swims great! Against the background of overland movement, it seemed that he was not swimming, but standing still. It was betrayed only by the approach of the coast and the smooth movement of the legs. Yes, and Iho himself was extremely happy to be in the water. As if water is his element. And yes, we finally stopped shaking.
After this trip, I began to treat elephants in a different way and greatly respect these smart and strong animals. It is very interesting to observe his movements, see how he behaves in nature and even understand his character. And yet I will not ride elephants anymore. It seems to me that their place is in the wild jungle, and not under the priests of tourists.
In Vietnam, there are elephants of the species Asian elephant (lat.Elephas maximus) of the elephant family (lat.Elephantidae). It is the largest animal in Asia. On Earth, they are superior in size to the species of the Bush Elephant and the Forest Elephant, which live in Africa.
In total, the species The Asian elephant has 4 subspecies: Indian, Sri Lankan, Sumatran, Bornean. Some scientists tend to consider elephants from Vietnam and Laos as a separate, fifth subspecies.
Elephant for riding tourists in the city of Dalat during a short break
An elephant parade in the ancient capital of Vietnam, the city of Hue. Drawing, 19th century. Elephants were used by armies in Vietnam until the mid-20th century.
Elephants are considered highly intelligent animals. They recognize themselves in the mirror, use some objects as primitive tools, and have a good memory.
One of the features of the elephant's body, along with the trunk, is its large ears. Asian elephants have smaller numbers than African elephants. But they are still disproportionately large in relation to the skull and the whole body when compared to the ears of other animals in the jungle.
Back in 1877, the American zoologist Allen drew attention to the relationship between climate and body structure of related mammals. The colder the climate, the less protruding body parts they have in relation to its overall size. The warmer the climate, the longer the ears, tails and legs. This is due to heat transfer. Active heat transfer occurs through the tails, ears and limbs. Where it is hot, the protruding parts help to quickly transfer heat to the atmosphere. Very large animals need this most of all, since they generate a lot of heat inside. Thus, huge ears are simply vital for elephants.
There are very few wild elephants left in Vietnam. In the 20th century, the area of \u200b\u200btheir distribution in Vietnam was wide: from the borders with China in the north, almost to Ho Chi Minh City in the south (they were not found in the Mekong Delta). Back in the early 80s of the 20th century, there were about two thousand of them throughout the country. By 2010, a little more than a hundred individuals remained, living in ten herds. The area disintegrated into habitats. The largest outbreaks remained in three provinces: Nghe An, Dong Nai and Dak Lak. The last province has the largest number of individuals - about 50.
Vietnamese elephants live in subtropical and tropical forests (jungles). They prefer light forests with dense undergrowth of shrubs and bamboo. Farmers' fields are constantly reclaiming more land from the jungle. Elephants become more aggressive because their ability to get food is narrowed and poachers attack them more often. In response, elephants sometimes enter the farmers' fields and trample the plantings. Those individuals that are in captivity and are used in various spheres of human activity also often show aggression.
Poachers hunt elephants, in addition to pursuing the goal of getting tusks, also because of the belief that jewelry made of elephant's tail hair brings good luck.
Domesticated elephants
In previous years, domesticated elephants were used in the economy in Vietnam as well as in other countries: for logging and for transporting heavy loads. Currently - only in the field of tourism and entertainment.
In the Vietnamese army, elephants have been a weapon of war for centuries. In the 15th century, they helped the Vietnamese army repel the Mongol invasion. The last use of elephants was during the Vietnam War, moreover, by both opposing sides - northerners and southerners. The northerners transported military supplies to them, and the southerners carried out patrols in the jungle. This was probably the last military use of elephants in all of history.
Closest place to popular resortswhere tourists can see elephants and ride them is the city of Dalat. These elephants are, of course, in captivity. They are intensively exploited, so the animals are quickly depleted and die. In captivity, they do not leave offspring because they only need remote, uninhabited places to mate. Due to its large mass, an elephant requires 300 kg of grass and several hundred liters of water per day. In the jungle, elephants can find themselves so much food. And the drovers who exploit the elephants for tourists cannot provide the animals with sufficient and adequate food. Elephants need jungle plant foods that they have consumed for millions of years. It contains more necessary biological substances and microelements for them than the gruel that the owners feed them.
The Dak Lak Province hosts an elephant festival every two years, with elephant races, elephant football and other attractions. At other times, tourists simply ride them, and even over long distances.
Since about 2000 in the highlands of the southern and central Vietnam many families began to keep elephants in their households in larger numbers than in previous years. Mostly, this is done by representatives of national minorities living in this region. Many families have 5-10 elephants in their household. Elephants are loyal to people. As a rule, they recognize human supremacy.
Domesticated elephants are considered family members by national minorities. People in these communities take care of sick individuals, although it is quite expensive.
Occasionally, tamed elephants have offspring. The owners release a couple of elephants into the jungle for 1-2 months to establish offspring. After all, a female during pregnancy should not kneel in order to load cargo or passengers on her back. After giving birth, it cannot be used intensively for 3-5 years. At the same time, the elephants are trying to squeeze the maximum profit. For example, a tourist pays $ 25-30 for one hour of skiing. Therefore, only a few owners even temporarily release their elephants to mate.
The trip to Daklak, the second excursion from Leto that we took, was the most crowded: there were as many as 13 people. At the same time, all as one were relaxed in communication, because the general atmosphere of the trip was calm. The guide this time is Denis - a young guy with a well-hung tongue, but somewhat weak in texture. For example, on the way there, I asked about the height of Lake Lak above the sea. Denis replied that it was about 50 meters. I was very surprised that at such a low altitude, the area far from the sea is surrounded by mountains on almost all sides. In reality, the height turned out to be 415 meters. But in general, such flaws did not diminish the overall charm of the trip.
Although, if by the word trip we mean exactly the road, then it cannot be called charming in any way. Firstly, the declared comfortable minibus cannot be called that: even in the charter there was a lot more legroom. For several hours, while the knees rested against the row in front, the legs became very numb. As Denis explained, all minibuses in Vietnam are like that, as they are designed for short Asians. Secondly, on the way there and back, there was an 800-meter pass, not declared 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, about half of the tourists were seasick. It would not be superfluous to warn about this in advance, so that you could prepare by drinking a pill for motion sickness (because during the journeys in the Hue area and caves there were no such problems, it never occurred to us that they might be needed later).
Map of our way to Daklak on April 3rd. Red circles - Nha Trang and Lak Lake. The red line is our way by minibus.
Map of our skiing on April 3rd. The red circle is our Van Long hotel. The red line is our way by minibus. The green line is our elephant ride. The blue line is our boat trip.
But enough about sad things! By noon we arrived at a village located on the shore of the lake and settled in almost the only hotel there. An elephant stood right under our window, and behind it was a view of the murky waters of Lake Lak. It was a pleasant surprise that Katya and I got best number with panoramic windows, for which they usually require an additional $ 10 payment. We also laughed that this was compensation for the yesterday's visit of Konstantin with suspicions of working as spies. In vain they laughed! Upon returning to Nha Trang, the director of Leto contacted us and said that this number 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 a railing, was surrounded by authentic staircases of the mongong - the 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 female breast, - respectively for women. If it was not difficult to climb the authentic stairs, then the descent caused some concerns, so we still used a more standard option.
After lunch, we proceeded to feed the elephants with bananas and sugarcane, during which we could stroke the largest land animal of our time. It's funny that elephants often put a piece of cane behind a tusk, eating it later.
The elephant is eating sugar cane.
Then our group was divided in half: one part went boating, we went to the elephants; later we switched places. Landing on the elephant is made 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 a passenger seat.
First, we drove about half a kilometer along the asphalt road, then the elephant got off it and, stirring 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 farther from the coast and swam with its riders. On the lake, I changed places with the driver for a while. I liked the ride on an elephant's neck a lot more: it doesn't talk about you from side to side, but the main thing is that you feel how giant muscles move under you. And the elephant itself is pleasantly warm and rough to the touch. A childhood dream to ride 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 there will be no such opportunity.
After riding the elephants, we went to the boats. I've never had to ride a dugout before. Well, he rocks such boats! Any movement immediately causes bumpiness. Interestingly, near the coast, boatmen used poles, and already at a depth they began to use oars - one per boat.
A hill with the former suburban residence of the emperor.
After skating, we went to the mongong village, which I will talk about in the next part, as well as about the ethnic show. I didn't want to smear pictures of the lake and elephants on the posts.
After visiting the village, we had time until dinner, and beyond the program we drove along a spiraling 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 the Booking is only 6.6), and partly as a museum.
On the second day in the morning everything was covered with smoke, and I decided that somewhere there was a strong fire. But after a couple of hours the smoke cleared away, and Denis explained that the reason for the smoke was the morning burning of trash grass in the surrounding settlements. By the way, this morning was the coldest time of the entire trip - I frankly froze in my jacket, even walking at a brisk pace. But within a couple of hours after sunrise it quickly warmed up.
Banana bunches outside the hotel restaurant. You can feed the elephants and chew yourself.
In the evening of the previous day, we bought fresh black peppercorns in a shop behind the hotel. Yes: we can't find such a thing anywhere. I didn’t know before that a significant part of the pepper we sell is fake. Dried papaya grains flavored with cayenne pepper are often passed off as peas, and under the guise of ground, anything can be. Some kind of test for whether or not a real pepper is water: a real pepper sinks, and papaya berries and various debris float, as it should be with any similar substance. By the way, Vietnam produces 45% of the world's total black pepper.
And on the morning of the second day we had a coffee and cocoa tasting. There were two varieties of coffee: arabica and elephant. Elephant coffee is an analogue of luwak, but instead of marten, the grains are passed through the elephant's digestive tract, where they lose their bitterness, undergo fermentation, after which they are harvested, washed and sold. Unlike Nha Trang, where there are many fakes, and coffee is often actively flavored and poured with oil to make the beans shine, here the goods were real. Arabica, of course, was much cheaper: 250 thousand dongs per kilogram against 1 million for elephant coffee (625 and 2500 rubles, respectively). But already in Hanoi, the price of elephant coffee will go up to $ 250 (15,000 rubles) per kilogram. By the way, Vietnam is either still in second place in terms of coffee exports, or, having overtaken Brazil, came out on top.
