Blogs from Central Highlands, Vietnam, Asia

Kontum to Pleikan A pleasant days cycle digesting the crazy couple of days we'd spent with Binh. We loaded up with cakes for our journey, enjoyed a final avocado sinh to and hit the road. We rode through the usual newly built dual carriageways laying the foundations for new towns, with the propaganda billboards and largely mostly empty government administration buildings. Maybe these towns are awaiting the minority villagers whose rural lifestyle is becoming more difficult to sustain. We had a fantastic lunch in a village cafe and drew the attention of about 30 primary school children. They were fascinated by George undertaking some bicycle maintenance and then we entertained them with throwing a frisbee which was well received. They all wanted a go to throw the frisbee :) We made ... read more

Tuy Hoa to Phu Toc We left the luxuries of our 5 star hotel after 2 days to head into the central highlands. We meandered in land following the course of a canal. The hills began to rise out of the rice paddies and we caught our first sightings of the adorable pot belly pigs roaming around the minority villages. Once we parted from the canal, the land became dry and dusty and the road a single bumpy lane. Traffic was sparse so we only disappeared into the odd dust cloud! The hillsides were stripped of any trees leaving a brown and rather depressing landscape. The houses were different, long wooden homes with chickens, pigs and the odd cow wandering about. Living standards appeared quite basic although an essential to every home was a satellite dish ... read more

We left Dalat around 1pm, the sun was shining in a bright blue sky and despite being cold overnight it was now a lovely temperature around 26 degrees. Soon into the journey to Na Trang, back on the coast, we were climbing steeply. Before reaching the coast there was a whole mountain range to cross. The higher we climbed the more the clouds moved in and the tops of the mountains were swathed in mist. Before long we were in and out of the mist itself driving along steep narrow roads with deep drops to one side. All around us were towering hillsides covered in rainforest bathed in the mist. We had a brilliant coach driver who stopped constantly and waited while everyone piled out to take photographs and of course the odd cigarette break for ... read more