I made the most of both the last chance to lie-in and the free breakfast before we all went out about 11am. The taxi was not till 2pm so we went to try out the cable car and see Da lat for one last time, this time from the sky. Simon & Adam had finished the project and were now continuing with their RTW trip. They are both really good lads and it will be a shame to see them go, the four of us had really got on well the last 2 weeks. This mean only Emma & I are remaining from the 10 that were here when it all began.

  The journey back to Ho Chi Minh was not too bad and I read or slept the whole way. We arrived just in time for a quick meal before we jumped into the Taxi to My Tho. Swinging by the guesthosue we picked up our 3 new housemates. Emma & Katie, both 23 and from Kirklevington in North Yorkshire and Sam (27) from Shrewsbury. The girls are doing teaching in My Tho and Sam is with Emma & I on the building project. They are all only doing 2 weeks and will probably be replaced by more people when they do leave. I was too tired to be sociable and slept most of the way home.

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  The hotels inclusive breakfast provided the perfect start to the day and when the Easy Riders arrived at 8:30 to pick us up we were itching to get going. I was feeling much better today but Adam had gotten worse so there would only be three of us for the day. The first stop was the dragon Pagoda only minutes from the hotel. The colourful statues made for some good photos but as far as temples go it was not all that great. The next stop was 10 minutes outside of Da lat so we really got to enjoy the bike ride and the scenery. From this stop we walked a few minutes to the peak of a hill to get a beautiful view and a brief sample of complete silence! Back on the bikes and soon we were at a huge concentration of greenhouses. According to our rider/guide who's english was really good, flowers are grown here and exported to the entire country. not only that he claimed once clipped they replenished in only 3 days, I was dubious?!

  We then got to sit back and enjoy the ride for a while before arriving at a silk farm. Inside were hundreds of silk worms, all supposedly capable of producing 1000m of silk each, remarkable if true! I was surprised to hear that the eggs are imported from China & Japan as they provide better quality. Our guide explained the complete process that occurred from a small egg to the cocoons we saw. Only up the road we visited the silk factory where these cocoons are then boiled to release the worms which are then sold at market as food. The silk is then fed through 3 different machines to complete the process. Outside unsurprisingly you could buy various silk items and I bought my first present of the holiday for one lucky person!

The highlight of the tour was the stop at elephant falls which would be our final one before lunch. The journey there took us via some tea and coffee plantations which proved quite interesting. We were made to wait just a little longer for the falls by stopping at a mushroom farm. Here they bound up dust from the rubber plants with the stalks of mushrooms and then hung them inside a covered area and waited for the mushrooms to grow from within the seal. The explanation we received from the man at the farm was patchy at best so I've have tried to explain to the best of my knowledge.

  The waterfalls were by no means a dissapointment but were nothing spectacular. It was as we were about to turn around to make the walk back when we saw a group of 4 Vietnamese tourists squeeze through a small gap in the rock at the side of the falls. I had heard rumours you could get behind the falls but could not see how it was possible till then. Following, Simon & I climbed thorugh and into a small cave with a path leading behind the falls. The sheer force of the water stopped anyone going very far under but even just at the edge it was a worthwhile soaking! I took 10 minutes to sit out on the steps of the pagoda to dry off beofre lunch.

  The easy riders took us to a cafe where we had a lovely feast and a drink for a whole pound! Whilst here we got into a conversation with a couple of girls at the next table and upon seeing they had eaten none of the food I asked why. To our horror they said that they had all ready eaten at the restuarant next door that sold only Dog! I will try almost anything once but I would never knowlingly eat dog meat! The sites of the tour were now over but the fun was not, it was a enjoyable 30 minutes back on the bike along the mountain roads.

  Again referring to the Lonley Planet we chose a resturant near the hotel and were the first custmers of the evening. The waiter was very friendly and even put the Man Utd game on for Adam on mute in the background. By the time we had finished the meal every other toursit in Da lat must have come thorugh the doors. We were surrounded by westerners, the downside of Lonely Planet. Making our escape we found an empty bar near by with a pool table. Mojitos were not on the cocktail menu but the owner didnt hesitate to make us some. His abilty unfortunately did not equal his generosity as his Mojitos tasted like mouthwash. In true Vietnamese style we were in bed for 11pm.

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My luck must have been taken with them as I proceeded to loose a massive 20,000  (70p) playing cards with the young kids who live selling things along the streets. About 1am My and her friend joined Adam & I in GO2 to watch the decisive Champions League semi-final between Liverpool & Chelsea. Despite having to continuously ask the dancing transvestites to move slightly to the left the coverage was good. As was the timing of Drogba's decisive goal, 3:55am. A quick dash to the hotel for our bags and we were in our 4am taxi on route to Da Lat. 
  I slept the entire journey and awoke around 9am. I don't think the taxi driver had ever been there before and it took an age to get to the hotel we had picked out from the LP. Unfortunately they only had one room, which was painfully nice. Not wanting to spend all day trailing the streets to find somewhere we settled on a very basic but cheap hotel in a good spot right by the market. Si & I shared and Emma & Adam had the room above.
  The rain had held of so far so we headed out to find some lunch only to get caught in a massive down pour. Luckily not far from the hotel we popped back for our waterproof gear and braved the conditions. The place we chose turned out to be great but the stomach cramps I had been having the last couple of days prevented me enjoying the food. I decided to go back and have a nap in the hope it would pass.
  When I awoke Si informed me that Emma & Adam had moved to the free room in the Dreams hotel we had tried earlier as their room was so disgusting. Granted it was a little worse than ours. I was feeling better so jumped at the idea of heading to a basement bar of a swanky hotel where it was happy hour. We successfully navigated our way across Da Lat and were impressed with what we found. 'Larry's Bar' was attached to the nicest hotel and golf course in Vietnam and amazingly beers were only 65p between 5-7. A few games of pool later Emma joined us leaving the poorly Adam in bed. Our plan of going for dinner almost fell through as we walked back through the town everywhere was closing. We luckily found a spot not far from the hotel and I got a really nice chicken & noodle dish and a glass of wine for less than 2pounds! We did however have to listen to the owners life story but the food made it bearable. Being the gentlemen we are Simon & I walked Emma home before retiring for the evening.

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 Simon & I were up and out for 9am in search of a better hotel to stay at for the next two nights. We were in luck as the dreams hotel the other guys were in had a sister hotel just down the road and they had a free room for a reasonable $25 a night. Once in we hit a recommended breakfast cafe but were a little disappointed with the quality of the food. From here I really don't know where the day went. Da Lat is  beautiful town up in the mountains and really unlike anything I've seen in Vietnam so far. This being said the real beauty is in the surrounding countryside so how we wasted a day in the town itself I don't know.

  The previous night we had spotted an advert for a buffet at Larry's Bar so around 6ish we headed over there. The food was very western but good non the less. My stomach however was still cramping with every morsel i ate so I decided to leave the guys to it. Just outside the bar i caught a motorbike taxi and within minutes was back at the hotel. We have got a tour booked with easy-rider to explore the countryside tomorrow so hopefully my early night will sort me out.

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I planned and booked my trip to Da Lat through a tourist office, Sinh Café, in district 1, Pham Ngu Lao in Saigon.
We left early in the mornings in an air conditioned bus. It was really cold... O_O.
I was so excited. I so love to travel. I hope no ones gonna ever invent a teleporter for real! We'd miss out on so much!  Whether I travel by bus, boat, motorbike, car, plane, ship, train, bus, camel, muli, horse... let me see the sky, let me see my surroundings. I will never loose my awe for god's creation.

Yeah and that's how I spent my time on the bus staring out of the window, trying not to blink too much so I wouldn't miss out on anything haha.
I actually met quite a few ppl from everywhere who came along. Some were also from Germany, Korea, Japan and so on. But I gotta admit that I was way too excited about the country's beauty to chat too much. I kept switching seats to the right and left and pressed my face against the window. The streets are trappy so I kept bumping my head lol. We had a few stops but all in all it took us about 6 to 7 hours to arrive.
The last few hours were amazing, we drove higher and higher on narrow mountain roads... the sight was breathetaking... I was so into it.
I have to mention here that I am obsessed over height... the higher the better lol.  We stopped in the mountains for a break... I was overhelmed by the peace, the silence... the beauty. I wanted to stand there at the edge of the world forever... I always seek solitude in those moments. I can be quite companiable, I mix well. But I am moreover the loner, the "I want to do it alone" type. I do not fear solitude I embrace it as much as precious time spend with others.

Finally we arrived. I checked in my hotel. It was quite near to everywhere, the room was clean and all in all good. All that I needed. No air con but u won't need that in Da Lat, it's rather cold up in the mountains.
I checked out the city with a friend. We rent a bike for two. lol that was so fun. I was at the market and bought some real good stuff. While it's hard to get winter clothes in Saigon, Da Lat's a paradise. The pullovers that I bought were cheap and the quality was top. Couldn't buy better ones in Germany. And the bargaining was much easier than in Saigon. Outside of the market hall is another market on the streets where ppl sell stuff for very low rates. But the funniest thing ever is how they scream to get ppls' attention. THREE PULLOVERS 10.000 DONG !!! BUY 3 GET ONE FREE!!! and stuff like that. But they keep saying it like a prayer. Sounds very funny and uhm up to a point extremely annoying lol.
I ate strange stuff at a strange place. lol luckily I wasn't ill afterwards. But I always try to eat where the locals eat, my stomachs quite robust and withstands almost everything. I know it because I've always tried all the crazy stuff. Yeah I might end up in hospital one day with that attitude I know. :D However we rode back at night through the rain in rainjackets... or rather trash bags haha.
A lot of people don't like to travel in the rainy seasons. I like both. I love to just go through rain as if it was normal.
One night there were two kids begging for money. i gave them some and they followed me. It was raining and I was wearing that jacket again. The girl kept begging and they already got quite a lot out of me... I can hardly withstand a childs charme. :)
The lil boy kept pulling my arms. lol afterwards I noticed that there was a big hole in my jacket where I kept my camera. But luckily it was tied around my wrist. Well i would have not cared that much. But I might woulda looked up for that boy to get back my memory card haha.

I spent the rest of my days exploring the mountains, a few waterfall places, valleys, beautiful lakes, temples and villages. I do not want to miss this feeling no more... How can one not get addicted to the world? How can one decide to stand still after seeing such things I wonder?
Well as for me I have no choice no more.

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Bin eigentlich in Lak Lake ein Stueck noerdlich von Da Lat, aber da wird von Google-Maps die Markierung falsch gesetzt...

Nach dem Fruehstueck vor dem Hotel mit Hinh (28, verheiratet) getroffen. Haben meine Sachen auf seinem nagelneuen Motorrad verstaut und uns auf den Weg zur Seilbahn gemacht, zu der ich eigentlich gestern schon wollte. Hatte etwas spektakulaereres erwartet, was die Hoehe angeht, da alle Reisefuehrer das so eindrucksvoll beschreiben. Aber wie gesagt...die Gegend hat was von Schwarzwald. Den Sommerpalast von Bao Dai hab ich mir gespart, nachdem ich ihn von aussen gesehen hab. Anschliessend sind wir mit kurzen Zwischenstops bei einer Blumenzucht zu einem Cafe bei dem man bewundern konnte, wie die Leute hier Reiswein machen (hab ich schon erwaehnt, das zu allem was kein Bier ist, aber Alkohol, Wein gesagt wird...auch wenns ein Schnaps ist?) und Pilze zuechten. Da haben wir den Kaffee probiert, der hier in Huelle und Fuelle angebaut wird (Vietnam ist in diesem Jahr Kaffeeexporteur Nummer 1 in der Welt, weil in Suedamerika die Ernte schlecht war.), und eine Passionsfrucht gegessen. Dieses Cafe sowie die naechsten Stops, eine Seidenfabrik, in der man den Prozess von der Raupe bis zum Stoff verfolgen konnte, und der Elefantenwasserfall gehoerten offensichtlich zum Standardprogramm aller Ausfluegler aus Dalat. Auf jeden Fall war das halbe Hotel da und die Haelfte aller anderen Hotels. War troztedem sehr schoen und interessant.

Nach dem Wasserfall wars Zeit fuers Mittagessen. Da Hinhs Familie auf dem Weg Richtung Lak Lake wohnt, hat er uns da zum Mittagessen eingeladen. War sehr lecker und auf jeden Fall authentischer als in den Strassenrestaurants fuer die Tagesausfluegler. Haben nach dem Essen ein bisschen Gitarre gespielt und sind dann weiter nach Norden. Gegen 14 Uhr hat es angefangen zu regnen, ca 14:05 Uhr war ich trotz Regenjacke nass bis auf die Knochen. Dummerweise war eine ganze Weile keine Moeglichkeit sich unterzustellen. Eine halbe Stunde spaeter waren wir dann in dem Dorf in dem Hinhs Frau als Lehrerin arbeitet. Die haben wir auf einen kurzen Kaffee getroffen und sind dann pitschnass weiter, als der Regen nachgelassen hat. Ca eine Stunde spaeter war ich wieder halbwegs trocken. Bis auf meine Schuhe...die hab ich spaeter ausgezogen, hinten ans Motorrad gebunden und die Nacht ueber vor einem Ventilator trocknen lassen.

Wenn man durchs zentrale Hochland faehrt kommt man hauptsaechlich an Kaffeeplantagen vorbei und ab und zu durch ein Dorf, wo einem von den Einwohnern zugewunken wird. Habe fleissig zurueckgewunken. Haette auch gern mal angehalten, aber wir waren spaet dran und wenn man nur kurz auf einen Tee bleiben moechte kann gut ein Nachmittag draus werden. Kurz vor Sonnenuntergang haben wir das Jun Village am Lak Lake erreicht. Ein Dorf, das von der Minoritaet der Mnong bewohnt wird, die beruehmt sind fuer die Zucht von Elefanten und ihre Langhaeuser. Das Dorf liegt direkt am See der traditionell mit Elefanten durchquert wird. Ein Sonnenuntergang mit einem Elefant, der direkt vor einem aus dem See steigt ist mal was anderes. Leider hab ich mich mit einer deutschen Touristengruppe verquatscht, so dass ich nicht zum fotografieren gekommen bin.

Wir haben unsere Sachen in eines dieser Langhaueser geschafft, in dem wir uebernachten wollten. Ein Langhaus steht auf Stelzen, um die Tiere (Hunde, Schweine, Huehner, Enten, Elefanten...und alle rennen durcheinander unter den Haeusern durch) fern zu halten, und besteht aus genau einem Raum. Der Teil zu der Familie, die eigentlich da wohnte, war durch einen Vorhang abgetrennt. Hinh und ich hatten den groesseren Teil. Vor dem Schlafen gabs in der Kneipe am Dorfanfang etwas zu essen. Ich war zwar noch satt vom Mittag, aber der Fisch und die Fruehingsroellchen waren sehr lecker. Waehrend ich so am essen war kam Hinhs bester Freund Diem mit seinem Tourist Marc aus Australien. Wir haben die beiden vormittags schon oft getroffen. Diem hat sich als erstes zwei Huehnchen ausgesucht, diese vor Marcs Kamera geschlachtet und lecker mariniert. Dann kam das Fleisch in kleinen Stueckchen auf dem Tischgrill und der Rest (Koepfe, Fuesse und Innereien) in eine Suppe, die es nach dem Fleisch zu essen gab. Insgesamt hab ich an dem Abend 4 Stunden am Stueck gegessen.

Hab dann seelig geschlafen, nachdem Oropax mich von Hundegebell und Hinhs schnarchen befreit hat.

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Bin um 9 aufgestanden, hatte Banane auf Brot zum Fruehstueck. Wenn das Fruehstueck inklusive ist, faellt das immer ein bisschen merkwuerdig und mickrig aus. Macht aber nix. Bin dann gemuetlich durch Da Lat spaziert, hab die Sonne und die frische Luft genossen und mich sehr darueber gefreut nicht nach den ersten zehn Schritten schon voellig durchgeschwitzt zu sein. Seit ein paar Tagen hat hier die Regenzeit begonnen. Das bedeutet, dass vormittags Sonnenschein und strahlendblauer Himmel ist und ab Mittags relativ zuegig alles zuzieht und es dann anfaengt bis gegen 17 Uhr zu regnen. Danach ist wieder trocken. Angeblich regnet es hier nie Vormittags.

Das alles weiss ich von Hinh, einem Easy Rider (so nennen sich Vietnamesen aus Da Lat, die Motorradtouren mit Touristen machen) dem ich auf dem Weg zum Markt in die  Faenge geraten bin. Da ich sowieso mit dem Motorrad weiter nach Norden wollte, kam mir das nicht ungelegen. Ich hatte mich gestern Abend schon in Reisebueros erkundigt und konnte so ganz gut vergleichen. Hinh ist zwar etwas teuerer, dafuer nett und witzig. Nach dem ersten Gespraech mit ihm bin ich weiter alleine durch die Stadt, habe mir den Markt und den See angesehen und war gerade auf dem Weg etwas zu essen, als er mir zufaellig(?) ueber den Weg fuhr. Er meinte, wir koennten zusammen etwas essen und er erzaehlt mir mehr ueber die Tour. Bin dann mit ihm Sommeroellchen essen gewesen bis es anfing zu regnen. Dann waren wir noch zusammen bei den Leuten, die seine Homepage basteln und mit denen er Abends was essen gehen wollte. Ich wurde dann bei der Gelegenheit gleich dazu eingeladen.
(Dieser Abschnitt enthaelt ca 4 mal zu oft das Wort "essen". Formulier ich um, wenn ich zu Hause bin...)

War danach wieder allein unterwegs um im Internet zu schauen, was die Leute ueber Easy Rider Touren sagen und habe alle bisher gemachten Bilder auf eine DVD brennen lassen. Hinh hat mich abends zum essen abgeholt. Es gab Hase, Meeresfruechte, Frosch und Feuertopf (hab in einem Nebensatz erwaehnt, dass ich den ganz gerne mag, was dazu fuehrte, dass sie den gleich bestellt haben). Da in dem Restaurant offensichtlich nicht so oft Touristen gesehen werden (wie ueberhaupt in Da Lat wenn man bedenkt, dass von den jaehrlich 4 Millionen auslaendischer Touristen in Vietnam hoechsten 100000 hier her finden), durfte ich mich mit diversen Leuten an den Nachbartischen fototgrafieren lassen und Reiswein mit ihnen trinken. War ein sehr lustiger Abend.

Ab morgen werd ich mit Hinh und seinem Motorrad (das sich per Fernbedienung starten laesst) fuer 5 Tage durch das zentrale Hochland bis nach Hoi An fahren. Melde mich spaetestens da wieder.

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Ausgeschlafen. Ins Meer gehuepft. Fruehstueck. Sachen gepackt. Ausgecheckt. In der Haengematte auf den Bus gewartet.

Der Bus war klein und das erste mal war es technisch unmoeglich meine Beine hinter einen Sitz zu bekommen. Zum Glueck war der Bus nicht zu voll, so dass ich mich halbwegs ausbreiten konnte. War gar nicht so unbequem. Ich haette auch schlafen koennen, wenn der Busfahrer nicht am Stueck haette hupen muessen. In Vietnam wird viel gehupt. Z.B. vor einer Kurve oder wenn man ueberholen will oder man an Leuten vorbeifaehrt von denen man nicht sicher ist ob sie den deutlich roehrenden Busmotor auch hoehren. Meistens wird genau dann gehupt, wenn man eh schon direkt neben diesem armen Menschen ist, damit dieser sich erst recht zu Tode erschreckt. Ok...ich unterstelle dem allem noch eine gute Absicht und einen Sinn. Aber unser Busfahrer hat es fertig gebracht an Stellen zu hupen wo weit und breit kein Mensch zu sehen war...auf gerader Strecke. Und wenn wir in ein Dorf gekommen sind, hat er von Ortsschild zu Ortsschild durchgehupt. Auch wenn niemand auf der Strasse war...wahrscheinlich um genau das zu verhindern. Leider war die Hupe so laut, dass ich Otto Sander, Charles Bukowski lesend, in meinem MP3-Player auf voller Lautstaerke kaum verstanden habe.
Die Bremse hat er nur einmal benutzt um vor dem Hotel anzuhalten...

Trotz allem war die Fahrt von 0 auf 1500 m ueber dem Meer nach Da Lat ziemlich schoen. Zwischendurch bin ich mir vorgekommen wie im Schwarzwald. Da Lat selbst ist ganz anders als alles was ich bisher hier gesehen habe. Vom Klima und Baustil eher europaeisch. Bei meinem abendlichen Stadtrundgang, bei dem ich mich wie ueblich verlaufen habe, wurde ich erst nach einer halben Stunde angequatscht ob ich ein Motorradtaxi braeuchte. Man koennte schon fast von mangelnder Aufmerksamkeit sprechen. Hab dann zurueck ins Zentrum gefunden und in der Saigon Nite Bar, wo ich mich eigentlich bei anderen Reisenden nach Easy Rider Erfahrung erkundigen wollte, mit dem einzigen anwesenden Gaesten, einem aelteren kanadischem Paerchen, ueber Vietnam und Sinn und Unsinn von Jagd unterhalten.
Auf dem Weg ins Hotel gabs noch eine Gute-Nacht-Pho.

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An interesting journey up to Da Lat containing 2 more flat tires and a fallen tree which we had to off road our way around. It's cold here. Too cold. We're leaving today. We have upgraded the carbs on our little bonus (should get 45 Ks to the litre rather than 30), bought a nice leather tank bag and replaced our shitty little foot pump with an even smaller hand pump - as reccommended by a friendly Easy rider, Mr. Thai. Also bought some better waterproofs and warm jackets. It's mad how the climate is so different here, only 300K's (ish) North of Saigon.

Da Lat could be a really nice place if, a) the weather was better, and b) it wasn't so fake. It's one of those towns where most things are heavily geared towords tourism, but it's all done in true Vietnamese fashion, ie. crapply! We went to the 'Valley of Love' yesterday... hmm. nice! Also, the 'Crazy House'... hmm. crazy!

Heading further North today, up to Lak Lake where we plan to camp once again. Then West, over to the Cambodian border.

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If anyone tells you that Vietnam is a nice place to go, don't believe them for a second. 

we've had nothing but trouble from the majority of Vietnamese people since we've come here. They have absolutely no qualms in lying, cheating, abusing each other and being generally rotten faced and grumpy. They are so unlike the Cambodians and Thais it's quite difficult to imagine they were once all the same territory and people. I can honestly say that there has been very little of my time so far in Vietnam that I have enjoyed. We have been screwed over by bus companys, taxi drivers, cyclo drivers, restaurant staff you name it. It's getting to the point where I just can't wait to leave this country and never come back. I don't think I have EVER felt this much dislike for a country I've visited before.  

anyhow.. I'm going to start where my last post left off.. 

we spent our last day in Phnom Penh working at the New Cambodian Children's Life Association (NCCLA), a NGO Orphanage near the riverside. The kids were fantastic and the owners were overjoyed with our donation. We've got heaps of photos and the kids are delightful. All the boys are named after Football players (Viduka, Beckham, Seedane (Zidane), Sine etc.. ) and the girls after popstars and sports stars(Jessica, Anna, Rebecca etc..).. They all choose their own "Famous" English names so that they all can aspire to greatness.. I had a young runaway named Allen attach himself to me.. He's 9 and was working in the town dump sorting through trash so that he could find food for himself when they "adopted" him. He then ran away again a few weeks later (back to the dumps).. he's doing really well now though. He doesn't speak much English at all like the other kids, so hedidn't really understand me, but we sat and coloured together, played rooftop soccer against James and Viduka and made me a beaded bracelet.. :) He was a sweet kid.. Viduka was is a little scamp of a 5 year old and is vicious with his slingshot, and the girls were a barrel of laughs! At one point I looked up from my colouring and drawing to see two of them tying up one of the boys with a couple of skipping ropes and dragging him around the room.. hehe!

anyhow.. after we said goodbye (the kids were rehearsing their Apsara dancing after lunch), we went to visit Kantha Bhopa IV NGO hospital where James donated his extra insulin and whit gave blood, which was pretty awesome.. when we get home, we're planning on organising a charity quiz night to raise money for both NCCLA and Kantha Bhopa so they can continue their work.. So please come along when it happens. The condition of the country is truly shocking. After KB, we visited the Royal Palace, which I wasn't too impressed by. Okay, so the architecture was magnificent and it was decorated beautifully, but after seeing so much poverty and personal and national suffering it seems beyond my how the Royal family can justify that kind of opulence when 65% of their population lives below the poverty line and have to sell their young daughters into prostitution so that the rest of the family can eat. It's just ridiculous!

The next day we travelled to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City), to that was a dud day. took about hours to get there. Pretty enough visually, but the people are generally sourfaced, unfriendly, unhelpful, dishonest and a bit odd. There are exceptions of course an d we've similarly met some very lovely Vietnamese, but unfortunately they've been in the minority. the countryside is very pretty though. 

Saturday we wandered the city trying to find something that was open,but being Tet (New Year)nearly everything was closed and the traffic was only marginally less chaotic that it's going to be when we get back to Saigon. We hired a couple of Cyclos around the city which was great fun until the drivers tried to rip us off something chronic (pushing the price up to something like US$30, about 300% the price should have been). We also met up with mum and dad that evening and the next day.. Oh, and James got offered a massage complete with a free blow job whilst Moto'ing back into the city to cash some cheques! some dodgy little backstreet joint whose businesscards were all handwritten.

We also visited the noodlehouse where the Tet Offensive of 1968 was being planned. The guy who runs the joint was a Viet Cong sympathiser and let them plan it in his back room.. apparently US troops and some enemy general entered the store whilst the offensive was being planned and they were all shitting themselves out back. Turns out they just wanted soup and buggered off, completely oblivious to the fact that the offensive that changed the face of the war was being planned only meters above them! The Noodle soup (Peace soup) was fabulous! best food we've had whilst in Vietnam (which isn't a stretch as they keep serving us badly cooked western bastardisations of Vietnamese food).

WE're now in Da Lat which is a Highland French Colonial town, and again, visually quite lovely, though the people are often making me want to punch them in the face. James had an interesting experience on the bus coming over here.. it was overcrowded (and very late) and one of the two bus drivers developed a partiality to James who had to sit at the front next to the driver. the whole 9.5 hour trip over here he was patting J's knee and face and at around 4pm actually sat on his lap for a particularly bumpy//windy stretch of road. Needless to say James was livid and ready to push this guy off the bus. And they guy seemed to completely ignore James' frequent bouts of angry. I managed to score a bruised wrist from this guy who tried to grab me and wrapt my hands around J's neck.. And then he nicked off with Whit's camera and attempted to take photos of my err.. midsection.. I ran away very quickly. The man was just a fucking creep and we were glad to be shot of him. Unfortunately, this is the same bus companywe're having to put up with again this afternoon.. fuckers, the lot of them. The worst thing about it is that I'm starting to get the thought that perhaps the Americans were right to not trust the Vietnamese. We've only met a very few very genuinely helpful and nice locals whilst here, and sadly the bad far outweight the good in terms ofwhat we're going to remember of this place..

so yeah.. Da Lat is visually nice enough. We took a tour of the place yesterday.. basically a meditiation centre, a waterfall with a taboggan-type mini rollercoaster down to the bottom of the waterfall (so much fun!), a dragon temple, a very uninspiring Summer Palace of the last Emperor, a Crazy house (not a psyche place.. one with whacky architecture) and an embroidery gallery.

We're not impressed at all with anyone here. We confirmed our tickets yesterday with the bus company to go back to Saigon but they apparently didn't have any room on the 7am bus and didn't tell us until 10 minutes before we're meant to leave. So we walked to the company and had a huge fight with the manager about it who made all sorts of excuses ("My man has only been working for 3 days, he didn't remember what I told himblah blah"), and got incredibly angry at us (apparently for the sheer nerve of getting angry with him it seems). I told him that as manager he is responsible for his employees and with a new staff member, he is responsible for that staff member's mistakes. We missed the bus, and were told that we could get on the 1pm bus. So here we are, after waiting for another 5 hours for the 1pm bus, only to be told at 12.55 that the bus won't be here until 3pm. needless to say weare not impressed at all, and are planning on making a huge complaint at the Saigon office, as well as writing to LP about them.

Today we're supposedly meant to get back to Saigon (Though at this rate we might not get there until after midnight). Then to Cu chi caves, the shooting range (we're dead set on shooting AK-47s and lobbing hand grenades!) negotiating the markets, buying more coffee (OMG! SO much awesome coffee!! :D) and jetsetting back to Perth before we all end up with a permanent hatred for thiswrteched place.

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• book a tour with Mr. Vu's adventure travel www.vutouradventure.com
• hire a bike $8 for city, $10 outskirts per day
• sleeping $4-12
• Minibus Nha Trang - Dalat, $5 stop off at Thap Cham
• Minibus Dalat - HCMC, $5

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Another day of scenery that I hope some of the photos do justice to, it was also really good to be able to chat to a Vietnamese person, I was learning all sorts of interesting tidbits.  For instance be careful of restaurants that say Thit Cho or Thit Cay outside, both basically indicate that there aren't like to be many canines walking around in the area :)

I guess the only negative of the trip, and I mention it only so people know if they plan to do the same, is that your butt does get damn sore sitting on that bike for 5 hours.  There's only so many positions you can contort to for relief, but I still wouldn't let that put you off doing it.

Felt the temperature drop even further on the approach to Dalat; this was a lot more built up than I'd expected but we stayed in local place out of the tourist zone which was good.  Just made for a longer walk to meet up with friends, during which we got pissed down on, but it was kind of refreshing so we walked on (and Vietnamese people shielded us with umbrellas at times to break it up).  Had a great curry dinner at a local cafe type with plastic charis strewn around, as Son tried to explain the rules of a Vietnamese game show that was on.  It seemed to involve borrowing money from the government and your village being happy but I didn't quite grasp it :)

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I decided to visit Da Lat after finding a complimentary copy of the Vietnam Airlines in-flight magazine aboard the night train from Ha Noi to Hue.  I read an article about abseiling and rock climbing in the area and realised that it would make a great change from the sunny beaches i'd been visiting for the past 3 weeks.

I travelled down from Nha Trang with James on a coach.  It took about 2 hours longer than the bus company had told us, but it wasn't too bad.  We drove south along the coast from Nha Trang for 3 or 4 hours, then headed inland and snaked, left and right, up into the mountains for the next 3 or 4.  We saw some amazing scenery on the way up to Da Lat.  The plains seem to stretch for hundreds of miles before being abruptly stopped by huge, forest covered mountains.  As well as the awe inspiring scenery, we saw a guy with about 7 fully grown live dogs crammed into a cage on the back of his scooter!  I hate to say it, but I think they were going to finish the day in pieces on the business end of somebody's fork...

Once we arrived in Da Lat, the oh-so-friendly coach driver took us to his buddy's hotel, which is way out of the town centre.  We could either stay there or get a taxi/bike or walk into the centre and find somewhere else.  After 8 hours or so on the bus, we decided the first option was the one for us.  We spent the rest of the day getting lost in Da Lat and booking a rock climbing trip for the following day.  We didn't know what we'd gotten ourselves into...

to be updated when i can be arsed

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