As I was walking around downtown
Da Lat, I picked up a flyer about an Easy Rider tour taking travelers on a
motorcycle exploration of the countryside. I’m not one to easily shell money on
tour packages, but I figured I can easily sightsee the outskirts of Da Lat as a
passenger on the back of a Vietnamese Dennis Hopper. I couldn’t text the number as I don’t have
any local sim card. Fortunately, my hostel—Da Lat Homestay—offers the same
tour. Along with the other guests, who all turned out to be Israelis, I signed
up for the Easy Rider the next day.
Easy Riding through the Countryside
Da Lat sits 4,900 feet above sea
level in the southern part of Vietnam’s central highlands, giving it a cool
climate most of the year. I found the December morning wind chill of about 14 °C
too cold to embrace especially aboard a speeding motorcycle. However, as soon
as we rolled smoothly over the snaking roads of the mountainside and the
colorful sunflower fields and terraced coffee farms greeted my sight, I became
unbothered by the cold.
We stopped by at various coffee,
tea plantations, a handmade noodle factory, the Elephant falls, a couple of
temples, a mushroom farm throughout the day. As fascinating as our pit-stops
were, Pongour Waterfalls is hands down, the highlight of the day.
As someone who have seen some of
the best waterfalls in the Philippines, the idea of visiting a new one still
excites me. Although the spilling waters of Pongour is of chocolate-colored contrasting
the glass-like streams from the waterfalls back home, its tall and wide
chiseled walls bless it with an edgy appearance.
Impenetrable Water Shutters of Pongour
Like a ticket booth shutting its
window at the strike of closing time, the multi-level cascades of Pongour
waterfalls drops like curtains over its nature-fashioned wall spread lengthily
like a theater stage.
Along the small gaps of the
rampaging fresh water, one can see the wall glistening with golden hue while
being kissed by the sheen of the sun. The rest of the wall appear to be covered
by draperies as if preventing the exposure of the impressive chiseled-job by
Mother Nature.
Since swimming and even taking a
dip is currently not allowed, I opted to take a sit on a large boulder and
stared intently at the whole span of Pongour Waterfalls. As I listen to the
sound of the flowing waters, I imagine a harmonic orchestra playing a melodious
score as the curtains of Pongour Waterfalls drops one after the another,
letting us, the audience, feel its hydraulic power and mesmerize at its sheer
beauty.
