Anybody heard from anyone in the region? We've been stranded in Da Lat for around a week now, unable to leave due to flooding and landslides ...
We've been stranded in Da Lat for around a week now, unable to leave due to flooding and landslides apprently in every direction leaving here..particuarly in Nha Trang.
Has anyone made this journey?
I dont fancy even attempting it but had heard some story yesturday of a bus leaving Da Lat for Nha Trang and a landslide falling in front of them, while trying to reverse another fell behind them blocking them in and they had to stay in the bus overnight.
The only way to leave Da Lat seems to be to pay and expensive £60 flight to hanoi or fly back to saigon..
we are a bit lost as to what to do..
thankyou
Reply to this Hello Abi 😊
Geez, what a situation to be in!
In your situation, I would put safety first, even if it will be expensive or boring. Either stay put until you think it is reasonably safe to leave overland, or pay for the flight.
If you want, check out the latest blogs comming in, for the location you are in, to try to find some bloggers who are or have just been where you are. Hopefully, they will have an opinion based on experience, about how dangerous it is to leave overland.
Mel
Reply to this I recommend you fly. Get on the next plane. Don't worry about the money. Be safe. Don't waste your time.
In October 2007 we were in your shoes. The flooding and landslides were dangerous. We were on the train from Hue to Nha Trang when the train stopped. A 12 hour train ride turned into a 36 hour ordeal. When the trains don't move the toliets can't flush. The train track washed out and we were stuck on a non-functioning train in Qui On, which was about 2/3 the way to Nha Trang. Inadequate communication about how dire the situation was. They were working to repair the tracks and kept telling us to not leave the train-- giving us an idea that it might be repaired soon.
We sat all night and they kept giving us hope and still the next day at 10, 1, & 3. At 3pm we had enough of the sitting and the smell. We joined up with a civil rights barrister from London and hired a cab to drive us 5 hours along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to Nha trang. It was a dangerous trip with a cab driver we affectionately named Bernie. He was driving like a maniac because for a cab driver time is money. I think what you will find if you travel by land is what we found-- large pot holes that cars can fall in, mud on the rode that you have to drive over, trees fallen onto the highway that you have to drive around and rocks to hit, which we did. Bernie didn't see it is the dark because he was driving so fast and didn't have time to stop. The most dangerous cab ride I've had. The barrister was white knuckled the entire trip.
A long story to merely state-- I would fly. It takes a while for the water to recede.
Reply to this hey, thanks mel and davey!we've had to bite the bullet and buy a flight back to siagon..we're going to stay there for a couple of weeks working in an orphanage in the hope that the rain will have reseeded by then and we can attempt the journey up north again.really dont want to miss out hanoi and halong bay.
Davey- your story sounds like one hell of an ordeal! i hate it when your kept in the dark with false hope about things.you find that alot in countries where language is a barrier. very frustrating.
Reply to this Hey
You can always fly up to Hanoi from Saigon when you finish your volunteering. It's a cheap flight with Jetstar Asia and will fly over the water.
Reply to this We traveled from Nha Trang to Dalat and then from Dalat to Mui Ne in June 2010. I can say it was the scariest ride I have been on in both directions as the road was being worked on and it wasn't rainy season. Taking a flight was the best idea ever.
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