So we may be broke, but the best things in life are free: nature, friends, and a fine challenge – like climbing a fucking waterfall in the Thai jungle!

I’ve done some pretty crazy things in my life, mostly in the last year (swim with sharks, teach English to Korean kindergartners, jump from moving trains, drink milk a day after the expiration date, etc).  I have a predilection  towards finding myself in situations where I hear that little voice in my head saying “Freddie, what are you thinking? What are you trying to prove?” and this I have learned is just my mind’s way of alerting me to the fact that I am about to have a great story to tell if I survive. Just the other night I almost plummeted to my death into a raging river but luckily just landed on a muddy ledge. God, thanks for that one.  Why would I attempt to hike a mountain in the dark with no flashlight while wearing Chuck Taylors you ask?  Two words. Inti Raymi. This summer solstice festival is a huge deal for the indigenous people in Otavalo that have been celebrating this holiest of holy festivals since their Incan forefathers ruled the Andean region centuries ago.  They celebrate this event once a year with a riot of folk music, a fermented drink called Chicha, house parties and bathing in the waterfall at midnight on this special night- the waters are supposed to give one the necessary energy and vitality to dance all night honoring the Sun God for the following 5 nights.

Traveling around Ecuador the past few months I have been treated to some pretty impressive sights, think snow capped volcanoes, waking in a tent atop the Andes mountains, wild orchids growing in cloud forests, deserted beaches, pristine colonial architecture, guinea pigs roasting on a spit, but the reason that I risked life and limb to get the Peguche Waterfalls precisely at midnight, was just what my subconscious was trying to tell me all along with its repeated warnings that  clearly went unheeded.  After a slippery hour long hike in relative darkness, only couple of flashlights and the big beautiful moon served to illuminate our pilgrimage  over the handful of bridges that consisted of nothing more than some logs and boards haphazardly placed along the way.  The “bridges” went over river rapids, over drainage ditches and irrigation canals and ranged anywhere  from 15- to 20 feet in length.  I don’t know how we did it in the dark, I still don’t know how the fear didn’t throw me off balance, but the support of my friends and constant prayers to God saying  “God, if I can survive this, I will NEVER do this again!” , helped me make it across every time.  It felt like we were in the Ecuadorean version of “Stand by Me” .  Then after an hour of wandering lost in the woods we finally heard the roar of the waterfalls.

We found the trail that took us to the waterfall and were greeted with a huge crowd of revelers in basking in the moonlight, some in various states on undress as they took the chilly plunge into the waters, some watched, bands of musicians provided the perfect score as the shadows from the fires set up around the area danced in unison with us all. The sight, sounds and energy of the night were more than my limited vocabulary can capture in this blog post but I can assure that the Sun God smiled down upon us that night at Peguche Waterfall.

Dalat was a welcome escape from Saigon. Cool and quiet, it’s no surprise that this relatively small town is a big draw for tourists, both foreign and Vietnamese. It’s known for its flowers and berries (SO good), its aura of love, and some fairly bizarre and cheesy attractions…

Let’s start with the flowers. Dalat has a flower festival annually on the solar new year which is a big draw, but the rest of the year they feature all kinds of beautiful flowers in the Dalat Flower Garden. Maybe I’m preparing for the day when I’m a grandma, but I quite enjoyed this. They grow everything from Birds of Paradise to orchids to snapdragons. The cheesiness came in with the entertaining topiary (they actually add cutout teeth and eyes to the animals) and statues of hill-tribe people. Jen and I took full advantage, of course.

Then there’s the Crazy House. It was designed by a Vietnamese woman with a PhD in Architecture who wanted to encourage people to reconnect with nature. The house itself is hard to describe – there are ladders and tunnels and walkways which seem to go nowhere. For a price you can stay in one of the rooms, but rest assured that waking up in a bizarre place like this would make you feel like you’re Alice and you’ve followed the rabbit down the rabbit hole. Highlights included evil-looking kangaroos, mirrors over every bed and an entryway that looked like a vulva.

Last stop was the Valley of Love. Jen and I took a romantic motorbike ride north to check this one out, and it did not disappoint. Love-themed statues and photo ops were everywhere. The icing on the cake was when we rented out a swan paddle boat for a jaunt around the lake. I was so inspired that I almost proposed.

In addition to all those very romantic sights, Dalat also boasts some mediocre waterfalls where Vietnamese men dress up as cowboys (??) and charge you to take their photo with their horse. All this makes for a pretty entertaining couple of days, and a welcome relief from the big city.