March 14, 2004

I'm moving to Dalat

Dalat, Vietnam

Where do you go for adventure sports? Rocky Mountains? New Zealand? No, Vietnam of course. Dalat, to be precise.

Actually, Dalat's big claim to fame is as a honeymoon destination for Vietnamese couples. You can tell by the big fibreglass swans floating on the lake. But it has a dark side offering mountain-biking, trekking and abseiling to the backpacker fraternity. I decided on the canyoning trip. Heck, at a bargain 248000 dong, why not!

The day started out with a few practice abseils down a short cliff. I was joined by Mike and Erika with Diep and Thun acting as guides. Diep was very experienced and gave us all a great sense of confidence. Thun was still learning the ropes a little, so to speak.

We practiced going straight down the cliff, then getting back up if we slipped or flipped upside down, then stopping half-way and going hands-free. Shouldn't really need all those safety techniques I'm thinking. Oh boy, was I to learn.

First real abseil was a comfortable 18m. Long enough for a couple of good bounces off the rock. Lots of fun. We then started to get deeper in the canyon and the next drop was 16m right beside a waterfall. Nice.

We stopped for a very tasty lunch, after which Diep and Thun began handing out plastic bags and rubber bands. This was to waterproof our gear for the next stage of the trip. "Oh, a bit of water splashing", I thought as I wrapped three or four plastic bags around my camera gear.

Goods secured we walk across to the next bit of the stream, and Diep jumps straight in! Beckoning us to follow. A bit concerned about my backpack I dive in face first and keep it mostly above water. This is to prove a fruitless endeavor as Diep emphasised when he gathered us all in a small circle and had us repeat after him, "Now... we... get... WET!". Oh boy, he wasn't kidding.

I soon abandoned my anxiety about the backpack, the triple-plastic bag technique was remarkably effective, and was diving headlong into every body of water I could find. A fantastic natural rock-slide kept our attention for quite a while. I think I swallowed way too much water though.

With the light-hearted pursuits out of the way it was back to the serious stuff, in a big way. The next abseil was a 25m drop in a waterfall. We started to recognise what we were in for as we watched Diep and Thun rig a complicated set of ropes that would allow the abseil rope to descend right in the middle of the waterfall. Looking at the slippery rocks we could see now why we practiced all the safety techniques before.

Soon enough all was ready, Thun went to the bottom to steady the ropes and Diep stayed up top to man the safety rope and give us last minute instructions. Mike was first over, to give Erika some more confidence, and handled the drop with ease. Erika was next and, after a bit of initial apprehension, also got down safely. Then it was my turn. I'd spent most of the previous few minutes unwrapping and rewrapping my camera from all it's plastic bags so I could get some shots of Mike and Erika. As such, I hadn't thought too much about the actual abseil.

I carefully made my way across the rocks at the top of the falls and allowed Diep to rig me up. Then, all things prepared, I started to inch my way over the lip of the falls. The water flow wasn't too strong here but it was enough to push your feet and made the descent quite tricky. Before long the rock face was vertical and I was pushing right out horizontally, the water now pounding down on top of me. I bounced out a couple of times as I let myself down. The feeling was amazing. The noise and the crush of the water was all around but the ropes and the harness were secure and I could steadily bounce down to the pool below. I reached the bottom and swam across to Thun and the security of a rock emerging from the water, exhilarated for the experience.

Just so we didn't get complacent after our success on the waterfall, for the next abseil Diep left the rope a little short, "Just a couple of feet", he said, so we could drop off at the end. I was first cab off the rank this time and, as I edged over the lip of the waterfall and start the 10m descent, I noticed that it was a bit more than a couple of feet. Nothing for it now though, down I went and dropped off the bottom, yelling like a Texan at a rodeo.

The last drop, whilst only 16m, was perhaps the most exciting. Again the view from the top was limited, I tried to form a picture in my head from Diep's description of what we'd have to do. My imagination wasn't up to the reality.

The drop was beside a waterfall running in to a narrow chasm. As I descended the dry rockface I bounced out a few times in the flow of the fall. "One hand", called Diep, and remembering my practice I took my upper hand off the rope. "No hands!", calls Diep. I wrap the lower rope around my leg to put tension on the figure 8 descender and take both hands off the rope, bouncing off the rock with my legs and into the waterfall. This is fun!

Finally, I lowered a little more then did a freefall drop in to the water. But this time I was hitting the rush of water as it shot out of the small chasm into the pool beyond. Dropping from the rope I shot out along with it, totally exhilarated.

As we all rested on a rock on the edge of the pool. Packing up and preparing for the climb out of the canyon, I was convinced I should stop my travels, abandon my career, and stay right here in Dalat canyoning everyday with Diep and his team. It was fantastic.

Posted by David at March 14, 2004 12:27 AM