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So at half 12 on that fateful night we pile ourselves into a luxury minivan with the best leg room you could ask for and reclining leather seats. We made a quick stop at Highland tours to pack extremely speedily and lightly for the day ahead. We packed to 'essentials' of bikini, suntan lotion, flip flops a skirt and t-shirt. The journey there was eventful to say the least with a toothpaste based conundrum and a mysteriously large belt. We stopped halfway for a toilet stop but as we were in the middle of nowhere this turned out to be a bridge... alright for the men (not so much for us). After a speedy 2 1/2 hour journey we arrive in our destination bleary eyed and ready for bed. We tried approximately 369 hotels, guesthouses, inns but at 4 in the morning none were prepared to take a dozen more guests in. Eventually we came across one which had enough room but when we got in bed we figured out why. The worst bed yet consisted of a thin, bitty, scratchy duvet over the wooden slats and the same duvet on top to keep us warm. After a lot of commotion we settled down only to be woken up 4 minutes later by one of the vietnamese girls we were with who didnt have a room to stay in and she ended up climbing into bed next to Laura. 10 minutes later she got back up turned all the lights on and decided to have an hour long shower which kept us well and truly awake. We finally got to sleep and then at 7am were were again rudely awoken by everyone saying that we were all leaving and going back to Nha Trang... soo confuzing in our half awake, dazed state. Everyone ended going back for some bizare reason but we stayed along with Phil and Win. We got in a few more hours of sleep and at 10am got up, raring to go and explore the wonders of Dalat.
When we woke up it became apparant that the 'essentials' we had packed wouldnt be of any use to us here in the mountainous town with weather all English people would recognise. Freezing cold drizzle! We layered up with all the clothes we had, Laura even wore shorts and a skirt, but we were still freezing cold even inside our room. Regardless we faced the elements and went downstairs, hired moterbikes and set off around the town. After about a minute of riding we were drenched to the bone and covered in goose pimples so decided to buy some rather attractive Dalat hoodies in an attempt to keep us warm. First we went for breakfast which Phils friend payed for and then we went to a Buddist temple. Because Phil and Win are Buddists they tought us how to pray and we knelt infront of the huge statues bowing for a couple of minutes. Next we arrived at a cable car station and got off at another temple. This one was huge and surrounded in amazing gardens and water fountains. Nyima and Laura wern't aloud in because of their very inappropriate attire but the others went in and prayed for them.
Phil had promised Martha we could go horse riding so we rode our bikes to a picturesque lake up in the mountains surrounded by fields and trees and chose our horses. They were all tiny but Laura picked out the biggest and we were off like lightening... well Martha was. She galloped off into the distance dodging the trees and managing not to go straight into the lake while Laura screamed everytime the horse went faster that an idle trot and Nyima got led around the lake waking slower than a snail. The resident cowboy screamed like mad when he spotted Martha racing away but even he admitted that she rode it like a pro.
After this it was time to head back home to Nha trang. We had to get on a local bus and it was hideously cramped. Four in a row with no gaps and the smallest amount of leg room possible. That may have been alright for the tiny vietnamese, but for the giant that is Laura it was not so great. We whiled away the hours playing boring car games, talking about absolute rubbish and singing very loudly to wake the sleeping passangers. How they managed to sleep baffled us with roads rivaling those in Cambodia. Laura and Martha did learn how to count in Vietnamese which they are now pros at. Eventually we returned home at 10pm, showered and were out ready to party the night away by 20 past.
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