Dalat to Mui Ne

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En route to Dalat, we stopped for 15 minutes to look at a Cham tower and also had a lunch stop at about 11am!! We finally arrived in Dalat at 2pm. The minute we got off the bus, the heavens opened. The bus had stopped at their affiliated hotel, which was too expensive for us, so we dashed across the road and into a rundown looking hotel charging $5 a night - much more our style! We asked to look at a room and found that it was even more rundown than we were willing to put up with. However it was still heaving down outside.

There were a group of men in the foyer, who started chatting to us. They were called 'Easyriders' and were mentioned in our guide book for running decent motorbike tours. We were hungry and they suggested a nice restaurant just a few doors up, so we left our backpacks in the hotel (feeling a bit guilty as we weren't staying there but the receptionist said it was ok) and went for a late lunch at 'V Cafe'.

Inside, we met an older couple, an Englishwoman and her Kiwi husband, sheltering from the rain as well. We had a lovely meal, a few drinks and chatted with them for a couple of hours until the rain abatted. They very kindly paid for our lunch and drinks and then left! How kind!

We nipped back to get our bags and begin the search for a place to stay. The Easyriders were still in the hotel and started to promote their tours. Mr Tai was showing us the day-tour options and getting Orla to read all the nice things people had said about him, which were written in a guest book. Mr Tai and Tom offered us a free lift to a hotel we had highlighted in our guide book. We were having a good run in the getting things for free stakes! We then looked at their bikes and then at our luggage, thinking 'this is not going to happen!' But of course this is Vietnam and you can fit anything on a bike, as we'd already witnessed numerous times! It was a quick 2 minute ride to the hotel called 'Hoa Binh I'. The place was nice and had a cafe adjoining it, 'Peace Cafe'.

We signed up with the 'Easyriders' to do their 'special' tour of Dalat and surrounding countryside for the next day. It sounded very good but cost $20, which we thought was expensive. That night, the town still soggy from the rain, we just popped next door to 'Art Cafe' for dinner.


Tom and Mr Tai, our old gentlemen 'Easyriders', picked us up at 8:30am. What a fantastic day we had, worth every penny! They took us to Dragon Pagoda which, believe it or not, had lots of dragon statues. It was named Dragon Pagoda because of one particularly large dragon sculpture outside. The pagoda is only about 10 years old and was paid for by some rich Vietnamese Americans.

Then we rode out of town, through the farming belt around Dalat. We stopped regularly for our Easyriders to explain about the crops being grown, the farming culture and harvests, etc. It was interesting seeing the things that we take for granted in Tescos growing in their natural environment - avocado and the like.

Coffee and flower growing are big business in Dalat and people make a lot of money from it. The evidence of that money was all around with some huge houses and lots more cars than we had seen anywhere else in Vietnam. Tom and Tai told us that people were moving away from traditional crop growing and into the 'cash' crops of coffee and flowers. They suggested this could be a problem for food supply in the future.

We could tell Tom and Tai were experienced guides as next they let us off for a walk in a pine forest. It's almost as if they knew our bums needed a rest from the motorbike!! We walked through the pine forest for a short way, our bottoms enjoying the freedom, while on the slopes opposite were farmers harvesting coffee beans. Getting back on the bikes, we passed many greenhouses used for growing flowers (for a worldwide market) and we stopped for a quick look inside. They grow all kinds of flowers but roses seemed to be the most popular and they looked beautiful.

The silk experience! We rocked up to a house where the inhabitants had a silk worm business. Inside, in large baskets, they had thousands and thousands of worms, at different stages of growth. The very tiny, 'fresh out of the egg' worms were mixed up together with their food, dried, broken-up Mulberry leaves. We watched the older, larger worms munching their way through whole Mulberry leaves. Once they've stuffed their faces, they're ready to be moved to bamboo racks outside, where they spin their cocoons. We saw a few of them making their cocoons in the racks. Having finished, the cocoons with the worm inside are transported down the road to the silk factory.

At the silk factory the cocoons are boiled, killing the poor little silk worms and separating them from their cocoons. The worms then get sold at market as pig feed. The silk cocoons are soaked in warm water and a skilled worker then picks a thread from the cocoons and hooks it onto a spool. It was very interesting to watch them working. Orla had a go but it was very difficult to pick a thread - no one was in a hurry to offer her a job! The process continues with dyeing, drying and weaving. Weaving machines looked so simple moving back and forth, yet a closer inspection and we could see just how complicated they were.

We had a quick look around their tiny shop but didn't buy anything. A couple asked our advice on which tie to buy, but we didn't help as Steve chose the opposite one to Orla, confusing them even more.

On the road again, the scenery was great as we meandered through the mountains. We stopped at Elephant Falls. Tom and Tai left us saying, "Take as long as you want". There was no pressure from these guys like other tours where you only have 15 mins at a place before being frog-marched away.

The way down to the falls was steep and a bit slippery in places. It's named 'Elephant Falls' as some of the rocks in front of the falls are supposed to resemble elephants. You'd have to have a very good imagination or be 'on something' to make out an elephant from those rocks! But still it was very nice to see, and we appreciated a quick cooling from the spray as the sun was very hot.

We climbed back up to the top and were greeted by a young woman who invited us into her shop. Inside there was another woman weaving. She looked up from her work and noticed Orla's lily-white legs. She said to Orla, "Oh you have such beautiful skin. I have skin like water buffalo!" Orla replied that she wanted brown skin like the woman's, who thought she was mad! In Vietnam women tend to cover up completely, as white skin is considered beautiful and brown ugly.

Next to Elephant Falls, over a rickety bridge, was a very large Pagoda. There was absolutely no one else here, not even a monk!! We ambled around peacefully before re-joining Tom and Tai.

Lunch time! 1:30pm and about time too; we were starving, although it was our own fault for spending so long at the waterfall. Tom and Tai took us to a local eatery and ordered a hotpot, which was delicious. There was a plate of meat with different types of pork on it and Tom pointed to some on the plate and asked us if we liked "tender". We had no idea what "tender" was, but it looked ok on the plate. They put all of it into the hotpot, along with lots of veg. Mr Tai was 'hostess with the mostest' and dished out the hotpot. In fact, if we got anywhere near finishing our bowl, another spoonful was soon heading our way. We soon discovered "tender" is actually fat - chewy fat at that! At least we know what not to ask for!! We all sat together and enjoyed our lunch - there was so much of it. We paid collectively for lunch and with Tom and Tai we got the locals' price - it cost us less than a pound.

Just along from the restaurant, we jumped off the bikes for a tour of a mushroom farm. It was strange how Tom and Tai just appeared to walk into people's homes and farms without any introduction and start showing us around. We suppose they've been doing it for years and know the people so well, they can make themselves at home.

The mushrooms are farmed in big tent-like structures. This is to keep the atmosphere moist and humid. They put sawdust and water together in big sausage-like bags and hang them from bamboo scaffolds. The farmer makes a small slit in the side of the bag and 'Bob's your uncle', out grows a mushroom. Simple really!

Next we saw a young boy, who was 'Billy the whizz' at bamboo weaving. We'd gone into a family house and there was a girl of about 15 and her brother, who was about 10. They were both watching TV while weaving bamboo to produce the racks for the silk worms to make their cocoons. The young boy could weave amazingly quickly, while it seemed he wasn't even paying attention. Tom told us that they start from a very young age, and that this was the family's business, passed from generation to generation.

The best was yet to come though - the rice-wine making!! The family we visited did this as a side-line and only sold it to local families. Steve tried some and decided that they must hate their neighbours! He couldn't really taste much as it burnt all the tastebuds off his tongue!! Not sure why they call it wine. A more appropriate name would be 'bleach'!

The family made the wine underneath the house, where the pigs were kept. The pigs are fed on the waste from the rice-wine making process. We felt sorry for the pigs. The finished product was so bad, what was the waste like?! Steve resolved to get some of the potent brew for the lads' annual holiday.

More meandering through the hills until our next stop at a blacksmith's. He was at work making tools for the local farmers. He had a collection of bomb around his workshop, which we assume he melted down for use in his work. This reminded us of a poster campaign we'd seen while on DMZ tour. It had a picture of an obliterated house where a scrap metal merchant, who had been collecting ordinance, had tested one to see if it was live!! We didn't hang around for long! But long enough for the blacksmith's wife to comment "how easy on the eye" we both were!! Such a lovely lady, we wished her good luck!

Our last sight for the day was back in Dalat. It was called 'Crazy House'. It's a higgledy- piggledy hotel and also a tourist attraction; very quirky indeed. It's like one of Gaudi's creations. We spent some time walking around the place. Each bedroom had its own theme and artfully crafted wooden furniture. There was even a honeymoon suite! We kept bumping into a French Canadian family and their child, who was talking away to us in French and posing when Orla was trying to take a photo of 'The Eagle Room'.

Finally, at 5pm, we arrived back at Peace Cafe. We'd been 1 and half hours longer than they'd told us but at no time had they hurried us along. We offered to buy them a drink, which they accepted, and we all sat down and relaxed with the first beer of the day. We talked about the longer tours that they did and we were interested in their 2-day tour to Mui Ne but it was very expensive, certainly over our budget. Tom re-paid the beer we had bought him by buying us a drink before he went home. There was a crowd of 'Easyriders' in the cafe by now, all having a chat, laughing and joking, sharing out snacks and playing cards. They were in good spirits and we were told that they all had tours lined up for the next day so were happy. One of them was touting a tour to a couple of English girls, who were saying it was expensive. The Easyrider was trying to explain to them that other tours were cheaper but the guides weren't as good, and Orla gave him the saying "pay peanuts, get monkeys". Well, they absolutely loved this, and it had them laughing for ages, all of them practising the new saying ready for their next bit of touting, although they modified it to, "pay peanut, get monkey!"

We were still debating whether to do the 2-day tour to Mui Ne as we'd had such a brilliant time on the 'special tour', but after another beer we decided to ignore the cost and go with it. Mr Tai was still in Peace Cafe so we told him we'd do the tour and he was delighted.


Friday 24th. We walked around Xuan Huong lake today, in the centre of Dalat. Tai had told us it was about 6km all the way round and that many of the city residents walk around it as a form of exercise. Along one side was a golf course, looking in good condition. We tried to get a better look but weren't allowed in, probably too scruffy!

We stopped at the Dalat Flower Gardens, at the north-eastern end of the lake. We almost had the place to ourselves and it was nice wandering around.

The way we walked the lake couldn't really be considered exercise. It was a very hot day so we had to break up the journey by going into different cafes to quench our thirst and get out of the sun.

Dalat has an art deco train station, so naturally Orla had to see it. We diverted from the lake and had a look around. Quite different to Swindon station!! And only 1 train a day.

We returned to the lake and ambled along towards the Sofitel Dalat Palace, 'the' place to stay in Dalat. It's on a small hill overlooking the lake, although we didn't think it looked up to much. On the way, we passed the local football stadium, with players training on the pitch. Steve was itching to get out there and show them some silky skills, but he claimed it was too hot!!

Further on and round the corner from the Sofitel we reached Dalat's lovely pink Catholic cathedral. We went for a look inside. The French stained-glass windows were amazing as the light relected their images on the walls opposite.

Outside, a couple of youths made Orla's day. Within a couple of minutes of each other, 2 boys in separate groups both shouted, "I love you" to Orla as we walked passed. Orla said it was understandable but Steve thought they were just daring each other.

We thought it would be nice to finish our walking tour by having a drink at 'Sky View Bar' in Golf III Hotel. On the top floor, the balcony bar gives a view of central Dalat and the cathedral.

We walked back through the central market to our hotel, examining bottles of snake and scorpion wine. However, we resisted the urge to buy any.

That night, we went for a stroll before dinner. It was definitely cooler in Dalat than the rest of Vietnam, which made for lovely days but the nights were a bit too cold for t-shirts. Still, at least we hadn't had anymore rain! We ate at 'Peace Cafe' that night, testing out Thu Anh's special pork with mango; very tasty! We also tried her 'loving cocktail', so called because a honeymoon couple had stayed there a few years ago, and apparently the cocktail had worked a treat!!!

We chatted to a Canadian couple, who were 'doing' Vietnam the opposite way round to us, so we swapped experiences and gave advice on places to stay and things to do. They warned us about sandflies on Mui Ne beach and to really hit it home they showed us their bites. Oh my God! The bites covered their legs and looked really nasty! 100% DEET was going to be necessary!


Saturday 25th and our 2-day bike tour to Mui Ne began. Tom and Tai picked us up at 8:30. They wrapped our backpacks in plastic and secured them to the back of the bikes. Helmets on and we were off.

At first, we travelled down some Dalat back roads which were steep and made it difficult to hold on, especially when the hold rail is under your backpack!! So the only option was to clinch onto the bag. We were going to a monastery called Truc Lam which Tom told us was world-famous, so we were a bit embarrassed as we'd never heard of it and it wasn't in our guide book. It was about 2 to 3 km from Dalat and they'd even built a cable-car, with the help of an Austrian company (experts from all the ski resorts), from Dalat to the monastery.

We walked around; it was busy due to it being the weekend. There was an area with tables and benches, engraved with the donor's name and where they were from. Most appeared to be living in the US but there were people from all over the world. It was obvious that the place was indeed famous, we were just ignorant! We wandered down from the monastery to a lake, which Tom told us was called 'Paradise Lake'. It was very serene and we could see why the monks had chosen this place.

Back on the bikes and winding down the mountain, we eventually hit the main road and continued for a while, before turning off into a village. Our first view on entering the village was a giant stone chicken peering out from over the top of a shop. It was quite an odd moment! Tom explained that this was an ethnic minority village, called Chicken Village, hence the huge chicken statute in the middle of it! The place was firmly on the tourist run as a big bus turned up and out jumped lots of Westerners.

Our Easyriders explained the reason for the name and the big chicken! Legend has it that a young girl and boy were in love but the boy was very poor and didn't have a chicken to give the girl's family, which is required for them to marry. They were so desperate to marry that they went to the mountains in search of a wild chicken. Unfortunately, because of the cold, they perished in the mountains. It's sort of a minority Vietnamese Romeo and Juliet.

Giant chicken aside, the place was a normal working village. Tom took us on a walking tour to see how they live. We visited a family and chatted with them, via Tom, asking about their family, the type of crops they grew, etc. The woman looked about 30 and told us she had eight children!!! Eight! Well, with no TV we suppose there's not much else to do in the evenings!

A bit further down the main road, we stopped at a family whose business was rice-paper making. We watched how it was done, almost like making a pancake, except steamed instead of fried. They then placed them on bamboo racks outside, to dry in the sun. They also did a sideline in rice-wine, so Steve seized his chance to buy some of the evil potion to send back to posion his friends! He bought a small plastic bottle of the stuff, he's such a good friend!! Luckily for the boys, the post office refused to accept it as it's highly flammable! It was so vile, we had to threw it away, not able to stomach drinking it ourselves!

From the rice-paper family, we entered a small town and Tom took us into a place where they made noodles. Not any old noodles though, these were special noodles that were made using particular processes. The family were from a minority group originating in China. There was only one other place in Vietnam where these noodles were made, and that was in the far north, near the border with China. We even tasted some and, to be honest, they tasted just like any other noodle, but then we're not noodle experts! Tom kindly bought us a bag of the noodles, although we weren't sure when we'd actually get to eat them!

Just outside town, we turned onto a dirt track on our way to Pongour Waterfall. We travelled for a long while along the bumpy, dusty track before reaching the falls. Gratefully, we got off the bikes and walked down to the waterfall; we were the only people there. It was nice to relax on the rocks and just watch the water. These falls are also called the 'seven step falls' and every year, in January, couples come to climb the seven steps to 'Paradise' at the top of the waterfall. It's enough to say we didn't attempt this.

Back down the track to the road and we were on our way again. At least Tom and Steve were. Suddenly the bikes had become split up. Orla had lost the nozzle from her 'platypus', water gushing all over her, and had stopped to plug the leak and look for the nozzle.

Tom and Steve were miles down the road, but had by now noticed Tai and Orla weren't following. They stopped and waited but still they didn't appear. Steve now getting worried! Tom phoned Tai but no answer. Tom said not to worry but that Tai and Orla had probably gone to a pagoda instead, so they turned around and went back a few miles, then took a turning towards the pagoda. They got there but no Tai and Orla, Steve now very worried and Tom trying the mobile again. Relief at last as Tai answered and explained the situation. We joined up and all spent sometime searching the roadside for the damn nozzle. No success!

We had a late lunch, at a place that, in England, we'd probably call a "truckers' caf". However the food was very good. There were bottles of rice wine on display with different things in them. Tom and Tai told us snake wine is very popular and is supposed to have medicinal properties, especially for the back. They sometimes have a tot after their dinner. We weren't tempted!

On the road again, we made a stop at a brick-making factory. There was no-one around as it was the weekend. Our guides told us that business was booming and we'd certainly seen many new mansions going up in the Dalat area. The factory was, probably unsurprisingly, just a load of bricks and a big kiln. However the view was fantastic and we spent most of the time admiring it rather than looking at the bricks!!

We travelled for a while before reaching a tea growing area late in the afternoon. Here we went into a tea merchant's house, who buys tea from the farmers and sells it on to the tea factories. The business arises from that fact that the factories don't/won't pay for the tea for 4 weeks. The farmers can't afford to wait 4 weeks to be paid, so in steps the merchant. Nice little earner for not actually doing anything. The merchant had a large weighing scales so Steve sat on it to see what he'd be worth in tea-leaves. A lot more than Tom who followed suite!

Opposite the tea merchants, we drove down a track to the green tea factory. We watched as the workers put the dried tea leaves through machines over and over again. We were told this was high quality tea and the process took many days. It looked such tedious work. Tom asked if he could give us some tea, not a packet, just a handful which they wrapped in some newspaper for us.

We moved from green tea to black tea, visiting another factory further along the road. This factory was full of noisy machinery and no one had any hearing protection. Tai said - shouted - that the only difference between green and black tea was the way it was processed.

We were later than expected into Bao Loc, where we were staying for the night, due to the nozzle searching. Driving around at night was a new experience but we were pleased, at least, that our guides had lights on their bikes! We checked into our hotel for the night and freshened up before heading out to dinner with Tom and Tai. They took us to a local establishment and, like every other restaurant they'd taken us to, we were the only Westerners in there. The place was packed, which we thought was a good sign about the food. The meal, a fish hotpot, was delicious and very cheap. We paid for Tom and Tai that night and the total bill was cheaper than meals we had at tourist 'cheap' places on our own. It had been a long day and we were very tired but Steve insisted on staying up to watch Villa play Boro. Orla fell asleep - nothing to do with the quality of the football! Steve stayed up to watch the fantastic 1-1 draw.

When Steve did go to bed, he couldn't sleep. We were 2 floors up but he could hear the tv blaring in reception. Orla didn't hear a thing - but Colette always says she could sleep through a bomb being dropped! At 2am, Steve gave up and marched downstairs. The owner of the hotel was asleep in front of the telly. This nation really can sleep through any amount of noise!! Steve crept over to the telly and turned it down. The reduction in volume was enough to wake the man. Steve covered his ears so the man understood the problem. Back to bed and finally to sleep.


Next morning we set off at 8:00am (far too early!), after a breakfast in the restaurant next door to the hotel. We were heading for Dambri Waterfalls, the highest in the region. On the way, we were overtaking and being overtaken by the same Vietnamese on their mopeds, who were very friendly and kept saying hello as they/we went by.

We arrived at the falls. There was a lift which we dediced to take down and then climb back up. We were soaked by the mist coming from the waterfall. We didn't stay long before we started the climb up. On the way, we met some girls making the climb down. They wanted to have their picture taken with us, which we agreed to - fame at last!! However one wasn't enough and they wanted all sorts of differnet combinations of photos. We thought this all very amusing and decided to join in by asking if we could take their photo. We'd just finished with these girls and were making our escape when a large family appeared and suddenly we were centre of attention again, cameras going off everywhere! It was our moment of celebrity, and in a rather small way we now know what Posh and Becks have to put up with!!

Rushing back to the bikes, eager to avoid any cameras, we headed back to Bao Loc. On the way, Tom noticed a stall selling meat and stopped for us to have a look. It wasn't your everday meat, it was dog and it looked horrible. There were the dogs heads on the table; it looked like they were still snarling. Not a pleasant sight! We could see from the road that the owners of the shop kept dogs in cages beside their home. The dogs were whimpering and from seeing what they'd end up like, you understood why!

On the outskirts of Bao Loc Tom took us into a house where they made tofu. It stinks!! It's made from gone over soya bean milk. We were overcome by the stench. Never again will tofu grace our plates! The family were happily going about their business and we were just holding our breath trying desperately to hint to Tom that we'd seen enough. Fascinating process but very smelly.

We now had a long drive through the mountains. The road was quiet and the scenery was just great. We stopped a couple of times to take in the views of lakes, mountains and forests. Biking really gives you that 'free as a bird' feeling.

After an age, we stopped to get petrol for the bikes. We got off and walked around like cowboys from sitting on the bikes for too long, so we started dancing to loosen up our aching bodies, much to the amusment of a group of teenage girls nearby. They started doing moves which we were copying and they were in fits of laughter.

We carried on and saw many houses that were highly decorated. Tom told us they were for weddings, with Sunday being a favourite day for a wedding. It was wedding season as harvest had finished and the farmers were not that busy.

We continued along the road going down through the mountains. After a while we turned off along a dirt track and did some off-roading. Either side of the track were plantations, Tom told us they were tobacco. We came to a halt at a farm and went to talk to the farmer's wife. Outside they were drying the tobacco on bamboo racks so we had a sniff, it was a bit like the sweet smell of pipe tobacco. There were lots of kids that came from around and about to have a look at the foreigners.

She showed us into a hut out of the sun as it was sweltering outside. Inside they were cultivating silk worms, but these worms were fed on tapioca not mulberry like the ones near Dalat. We asked the difference and Tom explain that the quality of the silk from the tapioca worms was not as good.

Tom and Tai did not like tapioca, and almost spat the word out when they mentioned it. This dislike came from their time in 're-education' camps, which they were sent to after the North Vietnamese won the 'Amercian' war. They were given tapioca to eat on a daily basis and now neither of them could stand the stuff. Tai was interned for 6 years and Tom for 2. They had no idea how long they would be in their prisons for and they told us about people who had died from malnutrition or malaria. They said many families split up as the impact on the wives was also horrendous, having no money to support their children and not knowing when their husbands would be released. The people that fought for the South are still punished today, they explained, as they have to pay for things such as education for their children that is free for others. Tom and Tai told us many stories about their experiences of the war and after the war. It was fascinating to hear as they had been through so much, yet they were still able to laugh and joke and continue their lives.

Continuing down the dirt track we came up to a minority village. This wasn't touristy in the slightest, and people were going about their normal lives, in their traditional way. All the children from the village came to greet us. A young girl spotted Orla's camera and wanted her picture taken. Orla obliged and showed it to her, then ALL the children wanted their photo taken. They kept vying for position, then pointing and laughing at each other when they saw the 'playback'.

In the village we saw a few women weaving and an old man making a bamboo basket, plus they were drying bamboo shoots in the sun, to make soup with.

We left the village and carried on along the track. Tom stopped when he noticed two girls pounding rice. We got off the bikes and went to watch. Each girl had a large pole which, holding vertically, they brought down in turn, into a narrow, hollowed-out tree trunk full of rice. The technique looked fairly easy but Tai and Steve showed how difficult it was! They couldn't get the rhythm of it at all, which the girls found very amusing. It would have taken them twice as long and no-one would have got dinner that night!

The track descended steeper and steeper out of the mountain. Eventually, it became a bit flatter and we came to another village (with a tarmac road!). Our guides decided to stop for a snack as our intended lunch stop was far away and it was already 1pm. They bought us a drink and some watermelon. We were just about to tuck into the watermelon when they stopped us and indictated we should put what looked like funny coloured salt on it. It was in fact chilli and salt together and, when tried with watermelon, it's fantastic.

On our way again, we were now travelling through the valleys. Tom pulled up next to a field of cotton and we jumped off to have a look at a cotton plant. We were amazed how much cotton wool you can pull from one flower! We were just talking about this when a shout distracted us. The farmer was yelling, not too impressed with us picking at her crop, and we both hoped she didn't have a big dog or a shotgun! Tom went to explain the situation and then she was smiley and friendly! The whole family came out to wave us off!

Further down the road, the landscape changed completely. It was flat as a pancake and, as far as the eye could see, there were rice fields. We raced along small roads in between rice-paddy fields until we met a major road. For the first time today, we had other traffic on the road.

Our lunch stop was late in the afternoon, about 3pm. We had, you guessed it, hotpot. We really like this hotpot thing the Vietnamese having going on.

The last leg was just a short ride down to the coast. We arrived at Mui Ne at 16:45.

That night we walked down the road to a seedy-looking restaurant. We were the only westerners there and all the locals stared at us. Steve was proudly wearing his Villa top and gestured to a man wearing a Man Utd top, claiming Villa were better. Sometimes he lives in the clouds!! We had another yummy hotpot and some local rice-wine. The wine was pretty nice, so we decided that they must keep the good stuff for themselves and sell the yukkie stuff to the foreigners!! Orla asked if there was a toilet so Tom got the restaurant lady to show her where it was, in a crumbling out-house at the back of the building. Orla searched around for the light but her escort gesticulated that there wasn't one. It was pitch black and she couldn't see a thing and, being an Asian toilet, she was frightened she might just fall in the hole! She just had to take aim and hope for the best, then throw the bucket of water from outside around the place. She sheepishly returned to Steve, confessing she wasn't sure whether she had just peed on the floor!!

We said our goodbyes that night as Tom and Tai were leaving early in the morning. We'd thoroughly enjoyed the 2 days, visiting places and getting an insight into things we never would have had on a big tour bus. It was definitely our highlight of Vietnam so far.


The next day and a half were spent relaxing on the beach. The place where we were staying, Hai Gia Resort, was on a gorgeous, quiet stretch of beach, where we spent the time reading, talking walks along the sand, admiring the colourful shells, checking out the hermit crabs scurrying about and, at sunset, watching the local fishermen taking their nets into the shallows of the sea. The sky, as the sun was going down, was absolutely beautiful. This really was heavenly. But it was soon time to move on again. This time, we were heading to Ho Chi Minh City.

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Photos

Dalat!
Arrived in Dalat and it threw it down for 3 hours

Dragon Pagoda
1st stop on our 'Special tour' with Easyriders Tom and Tai

Roses
Flower growing is big business in Dalat

Silk factory
Worker making threads from the cocoons (after they have been placed in hot water) and catching them on the reels

Mushroom farm
Tai showing Steve how the mushrooms grow

What you looking at?!
At a family home where they made rice-wine in the basement alongside the pigs!!

Crazy House
A hotel and a tourist attraction!

Final stop!
Tom, Steve, Tai and Orla enjoying a drink after the day's touring

Xuan Huong Lake - Dalat
And the lily-white pins admired by the weaver.

Dalat train station
She just can't get those trains out of her system!!!

St Nicholas Cathedral
Dalat's Roman Catholic Cathedral

Truc Lam Pagoda and Monastery
Start of two day tour to Mui Ne

Chicken village
We're not sure why they called it that!!!

Lunch stop
Snake wine anyone?!

Waterfall near Bao Loc
2 Thai girls asked for Orla's photo, so we thought we'd take some of them!!

Dog lovers BEWARE
Whatever you do don't leave your dog unattended!!!