Blogs from Central Highlands, Vietnam, Asia - page 44

Dalat is the most visually stunning city I have been to since I began travelling. 1500 meters above sea level, with archatecture heavily influenced by the french, it felt more like a european ski resort town than an old asian city. The buildings were slim, tall, and stood out due to their array of bright solid colors. There was a large well kept lake in the middle of the town, and the geography of the city was very hilly. I arrived in Dalat just as the sun was setting, which really helped accentuate it's magnificence. Soon after the sun set, and after I had checked into a hotel (with a Korean guy who had just come to Vietnam from Austrailia), we went out into the streets for a stroll. It was cold outside, and not just ... read more

Chau! I tell you what, this alliteration thing for the titles is getting harder, wish I hadn't started it. I don't think I'll ever make a headline writer! It feels like a month since I last wrote, I'm completely losing track of days since every day is like a Saturday. It's such a hard life! We left Saigon last Monday and headed north overnight to Nha Trang which is one of Vietnam's beach resort areas. Brendan was doing his three day scuba diving course so I was glad to have Eddie along to keep me company. On the first day we got there I headed to the local market to buy some running gear. I decided to take it up again to help keep me motivated with the no smoking and also because my intake of ... read more

Comme Dalat est entoure de montagne, il y a pas mal d'agences de voyage "aventure" qui propose des rando, excursions, canyoning, escalade, etc. Comme il faisait froid, et que finalement c'est pas donne non plus, j'ai pas pu tester tout ca, je me suis dit que ca pourrait qd meme etre sympa de rejoindre la prochaine destination en VTT. Donc nous voila partis, avec une Hollandaise qui bosse au Vietnam, pour une descente franchement sympa! Car c'est bien ca l'avantage de la montagne, pour rejoindre la plage il y a plus qu'a descendre, ou presque (pas mal de plat qd meme...). En bref, depart a 1400m et qq, environ 15 degres, arrivee a 0m, sur une des plus belles plages du Vietnam, temperature environ 25 degres. Bon j'admets, on a pas fait les 200km en velo, ... read more

Apres la chaleur de Nha Trang, c'est assez surprenant de retrouver le froid en altitude. Dalat se situe a 1400m de hauteur, ce qui se traduit par une baisse de temperature d'au moins 10 degres, ca change! Alors que les canadiens sont directement alle a la plage de Mui Ne, je suis parti avec les ricains dans l'arriere-pays. Autrefois surnomme le Petit Paris, Dalat est aujourd'hui une bonne ville vietnamienne bien dynamique, donc j'avais que j'ai du mal a voir la ressemblance avec Paris, meme si c'est qd meme assez joli, autour d'un lac et entoure de montagne. Forcement il a fallu profiter de ce paysage pour faire un petit trek bien sympa: debut dans un paysage un peu mediterraneen ou landais, a base de pins et de sol sableux, puis passage assez abrupte dans la ... read more

We arrived in the mountain city of Dalat after spending a cramped day on a bus (well, I was cramped, Sharon could fit into a Mini behind the Hulk and still have space). We were now heading back up into the clouds and the curving uphill roads proved difficult on both the bus and our nerves. It was with great relief that we got off the bus, amazed to still be alive. We immediately went in search of the famous Easy Riders, our only reason for making the journey. We were told they hang out at the Peace Cafe, and this proved both true and easy to locate. Sitting down to a banana pancake with chocolate sauce we met Khoa (Dave) & Lucky who spent the better part of an hour poring over maps and putting ... read more