Blogs from Da Lat, Lam Dong, Central Highlands, Vietnam, Asia

What an awesome day. Perfect riding weather, not too hot, rain disappeared for blue/grey sky. Left Nha Trang for the usual short bus ride out of town to avoid the chaotic congestion for 70 kms of riding. The first 32 kms was mostly a gentle rise before another 30kms of a continuous steep and winding assent up the Bidoup-Nui Ba Pass ranging between 5-10% before a rewarding speedy 3 km decent at 10%. The route rose from near sea level climbing to 1440 mtrs into a cooler highland climate ideal for growing some of the country's best fruits, flowers and coffee beans. The route passed magnificent scenery with a fast running river at the bottom of a very deep valley lined on both sides with a lush canopy of green colour with plantations at the lower ... read more

A “late” morning – we didn’t leave until 8:30 for our tour of city sights. The Summer Palace of King Boa Dai, the last King of Vietnam, was initially somewhat disparaged by Thuy, but she had to admit that it had improved, possibly because of the recent New Year celebrations. The building was of gracious art deco design, and the rooms were furnished relatively simply with large soft chairs and dark polished wood. Photographs showed mainly the political life of the royal family. Most inviting was the room of Queen Nam Phuong because of its rich, soft, crème-caramel decor. From a balcony the contemplation garden looked splendid – a French formal gard... read more

da lat von oben. um den höchsten gipfel der umgebung, den lang biang auf 2.176m, zu besteigen, verlassen wir früh das hotel und fahren mit mountain bikes nördlich aus da lat, über duong lam hamlet in den khu du lich nationalpark. auf dem weg begegnen uns zahlreiche bauern auf ihren mopeds, mit gummistiefel, sichel und spritzkansister ausgestattet vervollständigen sie das bild der flourierenden landwirtschaft. da lat ist keine touristen metropole und obwohl der lang biang in allen reiseführern angepriesen wird, sehen wir uns lediglich in einer horde asiatischer touristen, die alle mit eigenen jeeps den berg hinauf gefahren werden. wir, whities, gehen relativ uncharmant die serpentinenstraße entlang und wundern uns, warum es keinen schöneren, ausgeschilderten weg gibt. schmunzelnd höre ich meinen lieben schwager “wenn man fahren kann, wozu gehen?!”. das denken sich wohl ... read more

Just 5 days in Saigon and we were moving on knowing that we would swing back through the city on our return. We booked seats on a bus to Da Lat in the Central Highlands. We had been here before and that was half the reason we were going back. Saigon and Da Lat are as different as night and day. While Saigon his noisy and frenetic; Da Lat is a lazy, quiet place famed for its food markets and the surrounding farms. Terraced fields and green houses of extraordinary size fill every available square foot of arable land. Coffee is a major product so coffee bushes proliferate up to the edges of the roads. We were riding on an overnight bus which had started out in the Mekong Delta. Overnight buses do not have normal ... read more

Feeling better from my all day hangover, Poppy and I woke up early to go Canyoning. Oh my gosh, this day was so exhilarating. A group of 6 of us got taught to abseil and jump down a small wall. Our first proper abseil was down a 16m wall face next to a waterfall, building us up for the big one in which we went down a roaring waterfall 25m high. The big one, I slipped and hung for a few seconds halfway down. I figured to push myself back up while the force of the waterfall gushed on me. I've got to admit, I was shitting it, but I was ok. I then had to fall from 4 metres down into the water. We also did some cliff jumping, one from 4m and the second ... read more