Da Lat

We decided to take a bus out of Ho Chi Minh for 300km straight to Da Lat to spare ourselves the traffic. Originally we had planned to cycle some of it, but in the end we stayed longer than planned in Saigon and life is too short. So we got to Da Lat in our airconditioned tourist bus and could not quite believe what we were seeing through the window, people dressed in skiing jackets and hats! Da Lat is 1400m high and it is pretty cool compared to the lowlands, though jackets and woolly hats may be over doing it slighly. It was the first place where we did not regret carrying around a jumper.

We stayed 3 nights in this cosy town somewhat resembling an alpine skiing village and went out on our bikes to explore the mountains, waterfalls, buddha's and the Crazy House as well as having our patience tried with the bureaucratic vietnamese postal service, who inspected every item and insisted that we can't send messages (birthday cards) together with items (birthday presents) in one packet. just keep on smiling...

The 'Easy Riders', local motorbike guides/drivers that take tourists around the highlands were a great source of information to us, telling us about shortcuts and where we would find hotels. Opinion on hotels where foreigners are allowed to stay are devided though so we are still not sure if we will have to resort to the bus for some stretches.

cycling to the Elephant Falls

and here they are

coffee beans drying in front of temple

'Crazy House'