Blogs from Central Highlands, Vietnam, Asia - page 48

Die Busfahrt nach Buon Ma Thout ist recht glanzlos, aber die fuenf Stunden vergehen recht schnell. Seit drei Tagen habe ich kein deutsches Wort mehr gesprochen, langsam beginnt mein Englisch einigermassen fluessig zu werden. Wir suchen uns ein Hotel, 10 Dollar das Doppelzimmer und ringen verzweifelt um einen Platz im Internetcafe gegenueber, dass von Kids belagert wird, die - wie alle hier in Vietnam - ein recht hirnloses Tanzspiel spielen, bei dem es nur darum geht, moeglichst schnell die Pfeiltasten in verschiedenen Kombinationen zu druecken. Wir essen einen Happen und gehen frueh zu Bett, da wir morgen unsere Zwei-Tages-Tour in den Yuk Don Nationalpark starten wollen. Nach einigem hin und her telefonieren am naechsten Morgen, beschliessen wir, uns einen Roller zu mieten und auf eigene Faust die 40 km zurueckzulegen. Angekommen, erzaehlt uns der Park Ranger, ... read more

Not so impressed with this town, its apperently honeymoon haven for the Vietnamese, but a bit tacky and not much to see. However we took a tour outside of the city which was wonderful. Managed to fit in rose gardens, coffee plantation, waterfalls, silk worm factory, lunch at a local house, a mushroom farm and corn house and some other sites in one day, and our motorbike drivers had fantastic english and were good company.... read more

Dalat Dalat is a small peaceful hill station deep in the mountainous region of Trung Son in the central highlands. Dotted with lakes, waterfalls and evergreen forests makes this town an ideal retreat for some relatively tourist free trekking. Previously named ‘Le Pettit Paris’ when Vietnam was a former French colony this town is unlike any I have previously seen in Asia. Most the buildings have an odd familiar European feel, the older generations of Vietnamese speak fluent French and even to this day there is a miniature replica of the Eiffel tower. (Which if you have a keen eye you can just about see on one pic!) Another first experience for me in Asia was the cold. With the town of Dalat seated at over 1500m high it was no longer shorts and t-shirt time ... read more

LETS OFF ROAD! We've got a 1 in 3 incline with..... Ok, ok so you may all not appreciate the "man chat" but I'm not kidding, we did some extreme sports in Dalat. First day there, in the bizzare, rainy, dated suburb of a German town style place, we signed away our safety to Phat Tyre Adventures. Day 1 - Bike and Hike Firstly we were taken out of town on our bikes, up various inclines and to the ridge above town. There, sweating with fear and lack of fitness we started a true downhill section through the pine forests, skidding behind our guide who kept refering to Charlotte as 'weak'. Which was rather unsupportive given the task ahead and the difficulty of the terain. Then onwards for many miles of track to a lake surrounded ... read more

The 5.30pm, seven hour bus trip to Dalat from Saigon was cancelled (a blessing in disguise), so I took a morning flight the next day. This worked out well because I had a good night out at Lush in Saigon, and I avoided what I later heard was a rough, long bus ride through the winding mountain roads. Dalat is a small city in the south central highlands of Vietnam, a few hundred miles northeast of Saigon. It is a big Vietnamese tourist destination, and many honeymooners go there to visit some of the lakes and other cheesy sites. The area is also known for adventure sports like canyoning, trekking and rock climbing. As soon as I got to town, I hooked up with a tour group called the Easy Riders, who take you around on ... read more