Dalat
Arriving at 7pm following a 13 hour bus from Saigon, my immediate impression of Dalat was of the temperature. It's gets pretty chilly in the evening (well maybe 15'c anyway) due to its mountainous setting. I was however feeling content following a successful bus ride: it had been far more comfortable than its contemporaries in Cambodia and I had arrived with my full allocation of luggage. Success!! Having lucked out on my guesthouse in Saigon by trusting a local Moto driver, I decided use the same method. It didn't quite pay off... Although it was indeed a cheap dorm as requested ($4 a night!), in the 4 nights I stayed in Delat it had no other patrons in the dorm rooms and hence wasn't quite as social as I had first imagined. It's pretty badly run with the staff being friendly but rarely ever there. But hey, it meant I could make myself at home and as a result my stuff naturally ended up all over. A big thing in Delat is to pay a local motorbike rider about $25 to take you on an 'easy rider' tour around the local area. Having turned down about 5 or so various chaps, I finally succumbed to an cheeky, short, elderly gentleman. He escorted me round to the 'elephant waterfall', a coffee plantation, treking spot, a pagoda, various local Vietnamese small businesses and 'the crazy house'. My guide was a bit of a legend, however I was bemused by his enthusiasm for encouraging me to take pictures of these poor vietnamese locals at work. I was genuinely interested, but I was quite content not to have a photograph of the occasion. But he wouldn't take a shrug and a half smile as an answer and would stand there expectantly until I cracked out the iPhone. He would also beep his horn enthusiastically whenever we drove past a girl under half his age, before turning back to me and giving me a knowing wink. The following day I went canyoning, which is the main backpacker activity in Dalat. It's basically travelling down a canyon by abseiling, water slides, trekking and jumping into pools. It was pretty epic and I think I'll struggle to do it justice in any descriptions, so I'll just post lots of pictures. The guides also gave us an incredible lunch so it was a winner all round. On my final day in Dalat I went trekking. This was done with same company as who I'd done canyoning with the previous day. I'd struck a deal with them whereby I could complete both activities for $50. What I didn't quite realise was that no one else had signed up for trekking, and that I had been provided with 2 guides, so I received a VIP if not a somewhat random experience. We traversed the largest peak in the immediate area at 2137m. (Pretty high when you consider Ben Nevis Is 1344m). The day was generally fairly easy, but the incline to the top of that peak was the hardest walking I've ever done. The final 1km was all pretty steep, with the last 500m just being steep steps cut into the mountainside. Helpfully (or discouragingly in my opinion), there were signs every 100m or so detailing the distance left to traverse. At one point however it felt as it the signs listed the altitude still to climb (as opposed to the horizontal distance) as it seemed I was practically going backwards when one considering my thrusting steps. As tired as I was I must admit the view was sensational and even I remembered to take some pictures. We also ate the same lunch as that provided at the canyoning, so I was a very happy bunny. The only further bits to mention about Delat is that it's an absolute maze, whilst still being pretty small. I must have walked every inch of it I got lost that often. Either way I felt I had been fairly active over the week or so, and that I needed to get back to a certain level of backpacker indulgence. Mainly in eating,drinking and sitting. It was time to head to Hoi An.
