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Our final morning in Saigon was a rather slow affair as we had already done many of the sights close to the hotel, meaning that all we had to do was pack up our stuff and look forward to the bus ride to Dalat, a city up in the hills of Centrel Vietnam, with a colonial feel to it.
Compared to many of the bus journeys we had taken so far in Vietnam the ride to Dalat was a slow, if rather enjoyable ride, certainly when you got up in the hills and had a look at some of the stunning views. It was however, a rather slow bus ride, though this never seemed to stop the bus driver from using his horn every few seconds
It was evening when we eventually arrived in Dalat and, for the first time in months we were actually cold. Granted, it was probably somewhere around the low 20's at the time but it certainly felt cold by comparison. We took the free pick up into the centre of Dalat and soon had a place to stay. It also meant that we had our first ever scooter ride in South East Asia when
transfering from a full hotel to one run by the owners brother. It was quite fun though I was glad that we were on the quieter roads of Dalat and not in the centre of Saigon.
The next day we headed out quite early and had a look around many of the main attractions in Dalat. The best of these were probably either the Summer Palace, an Art Deco style building used by the last emperor of Vietnam and the Crazy House. This is a house designed by the daughter of the previous leaders of Vietnam. It lives up to it's name as a truly bonkers place where you can stay the night. It is still an ongoing work and new buildings are being added to it all the time. The low point was clearly Camly waterfall, clearly man made with rubbish floating in the river the entire time, this was a a massive disappointment. We finished the day off with a nice Vietnamese steamboat (hot pot), which we failed to eat all of 😞 before heading back to the hotel and planning the next day.
Inspired by the cooler weather we headed out on the free bicycles
the next day. These were slightly better than the ones at the homestay but I was still about a foot too tall for them. We headed off first to the Flower Gardens, arriving just in time to find some cover for the torrential downpour that started as we arrived. Luckily it soon cleared and we got to have a look around the flower gardens before hopping back on the bikes and heading off to Lake of Sighs, a nearby lake famed for the reported suicide of a local resident when she was stood up on a date back in 1788. It was a bit of a disappointment when we arrived but we had a quick walk around before heading back to the hotel.
The next day we headed off to Hoi An. This involved another lovely bus ride around the hill of Dalat, still spectacular if slightly more nerve racking due to a crazy bus driver, before having a brief stop in Nha Trang, from where we caught a sleeper train. Nha Trang is clearly the beach resort of Vietnam, and, as a result, is a little disappointing. Still we had a few hours to kill so we walked
along the beach and visited the large Buddha temple before hopping on the train. We were a little apprehensive about this as we had a hard sleeper, which is particularly worrying in a country when every bed! We were also on the top bunk of 6 so would not have much space. Fortunately the trip was okay and it was easy(ish) to sleep on the train. Also the times of the train were good so that we did not have to be awake for too long as there was nowhere to sit.
Getting off the train in Danang we had a brief trip to the bus station before taking a local bus over to Hoi An. After the cooler climate in Dalat it was a roasting hot day and we were happy to get checked in and be rid of the rucksacks. We then headed out to explore the old town of Hoi An. It was a very quaint place with lots of old temples, meeting halls and houses to look at and explore. However, we cut our sight seeing short on the first day in order to do our patriotic duty, namely sit in a bar and watch
the royal wedding! Overall I was a fan of the wedding and thought it all went rather well. It would have been nice to watch it with a cup of tea and a choccie biccie but I had to make do with a cocktail instead. It's a hard life!
The following day we continued our look around the old quarter of Hoi An, before booking a taxi to take us back to the train station in Danang for the onward trip to Hue. (We had gone for the local bus on the way to Hoi An but went for the easier option on the way back so we didn't have to worry about being late). The train ride to Hue was a very impressive ride, with some lovely views both over the coast and over the mountains. It is however a very slow train ride and you could probably keep up with the train on foot.
Arriving in Hue we had a bit of a hassle booking the train tickets partially due to the lack of tickets during the busy period and partially because of the lack of any queuing system and the need just to shout at
the ticket seller, not easy when you don't speak the language. After we arrived at the hotel we only had time for a quick wash before heading out for dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. This was fantastic as, not only did it serve great food, but it supported a local charity to work with homeless children. This is my kind of charity!
The next day we headed over to look at the old Citadel in Hue. However, instead we spent our time getting better train tickets, booking a place for dinner that evening, walking past the Citadel and then attempting to find three smaller pagodas and, despite looking in three, never being sure we found the ones we were after! That said it was still great fun and meant that, for Steph's birthday dinner, we were booked in for a seven course meal. Spring rolls served as peacock feathers and cakes shaped as fruit served on stems were just some of the highlights of the evenings meal.
The next day we woke up ready to tackle the old Citadel proper. Much like the forbidden city in Beijing this was the palace and home of the last dynasty of
Vietnam. It was a rather odd place, in parts quite striking and well restored, in others still ruins from all the fighting in the recent past. It was a great way to spend a day, wandering around and exploring. And with that, we draw a close on our time in Hue and now have the fun of a 16 hour train trip to Hanoi, getting in at the lovely time of 4:00am. Whoever said we had a cruddy train service has never been to Vietnam.
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Kate
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Love the peacock- what a strange colour! Not so sure about the feet!