A Man Named Culture

In Dalat I had a great day mountain biking through the hills, pine forests, and farms just outside of the city with a fun young guide named Hoa, whose name I was never quite able to pronounce correctly. You see, in Vietnamese, there are six different tones; thus a single syllable can be pronounced six different ways (ascending, descending, etc.) and has at least six different meanings.



In the photo, my guide explains the different tones and meanings of the syllable "Hoa", and the diacritical marks which designate each tone when written. While I was barely able to distinguish the sounds of each tone, their importance became quite clear when he explained that "Hoa" can mean "flower", "peace", "fire", "equal", "paint", "disappear", and finally the true meaning of his name, "culture". Exactly what I needed, a guide named Culture.




The biking was perfect, beginning with some challenging ascents on single track trails while climbing a small mountain, then several km of screaming downhill rushes, and capped off by cycling back into the city on a hilly and curvy sealed road through the strawberry and coffee farms. More please!