Burns, Turns and Fresh Air!

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You see i have not written in a while because i have been laying on a beach, drinking beer, relaxing and reading my book and then Robin and i went up north to Dalat where the computers were virus filled! So let me get you up to speed!

Robin and I spend our last day in Mui Ne on the beach... well pardon me, more like i spent about 20 min on the beach until i felt that i was burning! Yes yes i put on sunscreen. SPF 30! So I decided that I would stay in that day and read my book and just put some lotion on my "sunburn". As I was reading the back of the lotion bottle that I had been using I read "WARNING: Do not use if you are going to be in the sun as it will cause burn. Avoid sun for a week after use"! Like really!!!! Who sells lotion in a country like that where there is sun ALL the time! Vaseline is who! Man oh man was i ever in agony! Wherever i used the lotion i had this full on tomato skin!! I just about passed out from the pain. Thank goodness Robin called her mom the nurse and found out that if we covered my burn in milk, the sodium would help my burning. And it worked rather nicely. When i woke up in the morning, most of the burning was gone but it was still painful!

That morning after; Saturday the 28th, Robin and I got on a bus for our short, but scary as heck bus ride to Dalat! Let me describe this oh so lovely bus ride in some detail to give you an idea... The roads here are not very wide at all. They are about eh width of one lane at home and the drivers here do NOT go slow, nor do they slow down when going around corners! There was times that i thought honestly we were going to hit the ditch! When we hit the "mountainous area" it was like Laung Prabang drive all over again... VERY windy roads and this driver would go FLYING around corners... I honestly at points wanted to hit him over the head and drive the bus myself! It was the longest, least relaxing 4 hour drive!

Arriving in Dalat was VERY different from Mui Ne beach let along anywhere that i have seen on my travels thus far! There are pine trees, it is not a supper busy city, and instead of smelling like gas and other funky smells, all I could smell was fresh pine air! It was fantastic. Oh and during the day it is a shorts and tank kinda place, but at night I had to wear long pants and a hoodie it got so cold! And by so cold i mean probably 20 degrees or so.

The town its self is very hilly; like San Fran and Robin said, and the houses are very french influenced with bright roofs.

Our room was at My Dream guest house, and for $10 a night it was WAY to expensive for the crappy service we got. They did not make our beds, there was never toilet paper, and someone in the hotel got bed bugs alllll over him! Oh and the lady that ran it was CRAZZYYY. But it was all a part of the experience.

The best part of Dalat was the Easy Rider motorbike tour we took on Monday! They took us out to the country side and we got to see how coffee, silk and wine are made. Dalat is famous for its oolong and artichoke tea, fresh coffee, and Dalat red wine. I can now see why silk is so expensive... it is the biggest longest process!

Then the riders took us to the elephant falls. They were pretty big and just spectacular to see! It was a CLIMB in though. Not a hike,a climb!

After the falls we went to the Crazy House...This i cannot even explain really...It has this very Alice In Wonderland feel to it. I perched inside a giraffe and on top a frog. The rooms are even more odd! You can stay in a room and there is a kangaroo with glowing red eyes, or a room that looks like a mushroom. I must say, who ever built it was rather crazy!

That day was so wonderful and just so relaxing to see everything with a local, eat local food and have some nice company!

Tuesday morning at 1am Robin and I took the night bus back to Saigon. That was a rather sleepless night! I was so grumpy yesterday, and so after I checked into my hotel here, i took a long snooze! Then i met Robin for dinner, a pedicure and then we went for some ice cream.

Today i am going to go on a cyclo tour of Saigon and perhaps go shopping!

I shall keep you posted!

Much love,

Taylor

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