Day 15 Nha Trang to Dalat

After quite an interesting night with a young lady from Holland, Estra, we headed to Dalat by bus. I wasn't sure if we would actually be on time to board...as Stray found a bottle of Bundaberg Rum on the shelf in a bar, a couple of doors down from our hotel. Say no more!

Say no more i got blind i didnt even see it coming ,the rums were like double or triples

i think i had about 7 of them and half way thru this evening i have no memory of

i did appologize to Snap and Estra the next morn appartently i couldnt walk and they both helped me back to our room I couldnt have been to baddly behaved because Snap is still talking to me :)

The bus (which was comfortable and clean) took the new road, which in parts, was not sealed and a bit 'hairy', especially when passing an on coming truck. We passed through some beautiful, mountainous scenery, which overlooked streams lined by boulders, waterfalls and exposed granite rock faces.

Overtaking on the mountain roads doesn't seem to be a problem, the driver just beeps the horn louder when going around blind corners. The trick is...don't look!

The rural area approaching Dalat is scattered with small (roughly made) farm houses made from timber, some milled, some logs. Pine I suspect, as the area has many pine plantations. They looked like they would be bloody cold in winter. I smiled to myself when I caught a glimpse of a computer set up through one of the windows and a satellite dish attached to the side of the house.

We arrived at 12.15 pm and the bus company provides a free taxi to your hotel, which we had not booked. No problem, he recommended one not far from the lake, which has been drained to enable the construction of a new bridge. US$12 per night, huge, basic, clean rooms, not much English at reception but heaps of smiles and a willingness to assist.

After getting settled we went in search of a memory card for the camera. Not having any luck on our own, we stopped and asked some school girls who kindly drew us a map. Along the way we asked a few locals if we were on course and they happily kept us going in the right direction. AU$28 later I had a new card inserted in my camera. Electronic equipment is one of the few things that is not cheap here.

We stopped to buy some cigarettes on the way back and noticed a man playing a guitar in the back of the small store. His wife, who served me, opened a book of English songs, some they had written and some, not. She happily sang us a few lines from a few songs. Lovely people!

Dung and her boyfriend, Minh, joined us for dinner and showed us the night market afterward. I bought a cardigan, as it was quite cool and Dung gifted Stray a jumper and me, a beautiful purple scarf.