No, not Rochester, NY! Da Lat Vietnam!  This modest sized city of about 250,000 sits at 5,000 feet in the Central Highlands not far from Saigon,  9 hours by road,  35 minutes by airplane. It is in the region the Montagnards call home. It was established by the French about 120 years ago as an escape from the intense heat and humidity of Saigon.  More recently people discovered the climate is perfect to grow flowers year round.  Most are grown in greenhouses to protect them from the heavy rains in July and August, not to keep them warm or shield them from the sun.  There are 25,000 greenhouses covering the valley floors and hillsides today. 

As we arrived we saw signs for the opening of the biennial flower show,  the next day. Pictures cannot do it justice.  Every roadway,  sidewalk,  building was covered with and lined with flowers.  The medians of the roadways were rose gardens.  The hills were ablaze in the glory of so many different flowers and colors that it is difficult to describe.  I have taken hundres of photos and will eventually post some,  but .  .  We asked our tour guide to change the plan for a city tour to a visit to the show grounds,  it cost $1 dollar for entry. If you are mad about flowers and love to travel start making plans now for last week in December 2015. The hotels are booked solid and prices have been doubled and tripled,  but do see it. 

Special note to a friend:  Henry Hamlin,  have you been here to see the bonsai?  They are marvelous, not just at the show where there was a competition,  but at Truc Lam Zen Buddhist Pagoda which we reached by cable car.  There are many examples of bonsia permanently displayed there.

This is also a great time of year to visit Vietnam,  even Saigon’s weather is moderate – mid 80s.

Speaking of cameras.  Murphy has friends.  No sooner did my camera “self repair” then the next day Carol’s Nikon felt left out and gave her the same lens error message on her mid range lens.  The telephoto works fine,  so far.  Out came the new little Canon and Carol has been shooting with that for the last two days. 

Back to the folks and flu racing through the group.  Carol and I have been unscathed so far.  I have to believe that the flu shots we got last September were the “right” ones.  People are recovering and there don’t seem to be any new victims. This may be an interesting night.  Or room “has a window” as promised by OAT, but it is a narrow slot of a Window that admits some light and the crowing of a rooster nearby in the middle of Saigon.  It turns out Windows are a valuable commodity in Vietnam.  The French tax structure here before 1954 taxed property on the width of the property on the road.  Thus it is most common to see houses that are 10 to 12 feet wide, several stories tall and 30 to 50 feet deep.  They have common walls so as not to waste space that is taxed,  hence no side Windows on many buildings.  Even hotels are built this way in the more moderate price range. This tax structure had been retained by the Communist government and so has the resulting architecture.

I have wandered over many subjects in this post.  My comments about the government and politics have been limited,  I know.  Tomorrow we visit the Cu Chi Tunnel, a major construction by the Viet Cong that served as their base near Saigon during the war.  We will also meet with VC veterans and have a chance to talk with them.  Later when I can gather my thoughts more coherently,  I expect to write about the nature of government in Vietnam and try to sort the propaganda from the truth (whatever that may be). For one example we were permitted to enter a mountain village of relocated mountain people,  but only with a government provided guide.  Everyone seemed happy and reasonably well off,  but I have no idea what I was not permitted to see,  if anything.