dragonfruit, silkworms, and other random observations

i must lead a very sheltered life. at least when it comes to produce. although i had heard of a dragon fruit (thanks, vitaminwater), i had never actually seen one before this trip. since arriving in Vietnam, i have become an addict. first, it's got this awesome whole classy punk color scheme going on, with the hot pink skin, green thorny spikes, white insides, and black seeds . if betsey johnson designed fruit, this would be it. The taste is equally perfect: somewhere between a mild kiwi and a watermelon. sweet but not syrupy, tart but never bitter. lastly - the all-important convenience factor. Digestible seeds, no pit, and a skin that peels off cleanly in 10 seconds or less. perfection.**

**eat responsibly. one 1-kg dragonfruit per day is plenty. trust me on this one.

after the downpours of nha trang, Rich and I grabbed the next flight out to Dalat, the "city of flowers" and the most popular honeymoon spot for the Vietnamese. The valley supposedly has a much cooler, more moderate climate than the north or the coastal towns. The difference was lost on us for the first day thanks to another 12 hours of rain. The second day, we found a private guide willing to give us a 1/2 day whirlwind tour of the countryside. flower farms, silk manufacturing, and an amazing vietnamese feast awaited us....

Flowers being gathered and packaged for the motorcycle ride to town, where they will be trucked out to Saigon or Nha Trang.
I now understand why silk costs so much more than lovely polyester. silkworms are bred by local families by fattening them up with mulberry leaves. Once the silkworms begin cocoon-izing (my word), the families sell them to these silk factories, where they are put on large wooden racks. All day and all night, the silkworms spit out their precious thread until they're thoroughly encased in a cozy white cocoon. Then, the factory workers (mostly women) throw the slumbering silkworms (or maybe they're moths at this point?) into vats of boiling water, and they try to unwind the threads onto large spools. the women are paid by how many full spools they complete daily.

here's a silkworm doing his thing....

I was sick and unable to smell anything all day. Rich said that was a good thing in this case...

We capped off our tour with a true vietnamese feast, some in-restaurant fishing off the deck of the restaurant, and then a short flight (prop plane -- eeks!) to HCMC/Saigon.