tues day 151

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So this being a full day in Da Lat I headed out to see what was what. Making my way first to the central market to get my bearings I singed up with an Easy Rider for the day as most of the sights are too far to walk to. The Easy Riders are a group of motorcyclists' who are available for hire from anything from 1 day to 1 week. Ideally they are used for a tour out into the countryside for a day or 2, but not really wanting to do that for $70 per day I just signed up for a sight seeing tour which was a lot cheaper at $10! So, heading off the 1st stop was to Dinh 111 - an odd name but what turned out to be a beautiful Art Deco summer house used by Emperor Bao Dai between 1933 - 1938. After having a nosey round the rooms and taking lots of pictures as it was pretty stunning - and chatting to a girl that wanted to try out her English I then headed to the Crazy House! Not a very imaginative name - but actually its real name! Was designed by a wealthy daughter of an MP called Hang Nga. Its actually - using a quote from my Rough guide book a "bizarre construction of intertwining buildings in a labyrinthine setting shaped to resemble knotted trees" phew! But really the only way to describe it. After walking round all the different levels and corridors and past builders turning it into a hotel I headed back to my easy rider for the next stop. I was driven out of the city to a waterfall which was huge. The waterfall had about 3 levels to it with a rollercoaster taking you down to the first level and then a cable car to the next and finally a lift ( in the middle of a forest!) to the bottom. There was also a path for those who wanted to walk it. Going down was the easy bit - but I opted for the cable car and lift on the way back! The waterfall was beautiful and didn't contain too many tourists so managed to get some good pictures. After stopping for a drink and a bite to eat we headed on the train station. A beautiful old station with a beautiful old train - used nowadays only for tourist use. Half an hours journey through the countryside, past hundreds of polytunnels growing vegetables and flowers ( da lat sits at an elevation of 1500m so they can grow different things) we made it to Trai Mat. This is a small village containing a huge pagoda called the Linh Phuoc Pagoda. Having a look around the 6 storey high pagoda and the huge Buddha looming over it I headed back to get the waiting train to take me back to Da Lat. On the walk back i stopped off for a baguette ( they sell them everywhere here from stalls) and ordered a cheese and salad one - what I got was very little cheese, coriander and lots of sugar!! Unusual taste but just about edible! The return journey was mostly spent chatting to a young girl trying out her English - Vietnamese family on their holiday from Saigon, after taking some pictures we said our goodbyes. Walking back through the Art Deco train station ( built in 1938) the next stop was to a flower market. Having a walk around what turned out to be a fancy garden centre - and bumping into my train companion - and Caro - a south American girl I had met in Laos! Small world! I was off for my final stop of the day - this was to a temple. As it was the end of the day not a lot was happening, so not staying long I was back on the bike for the last time and taken back to my hotel. Handing over the reddies and saying goodbye to my driver - it had been a nice day - I headed in for a relax before heading out for dinner in the pouring rain! See, it doesn't just rain in England!

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