So I believe I left the journey in Nha Trang after a night out with the girls. Good Times!! We caught out bus to Dalat. It didn't take as long as we thought and it was such a beautiful scenery, it was a lovely drive. Dalat is high in the mountain's and the winds are very windy. At some points I was a little nervous as it was wet and I thought if we were to skid then the bus would go over. But obviously this didn't happen but still I was a little bit freaked out. On the drive up the houses almost looked like Chalet's from France, I had read somewhere that this place was a little like the French Alps. It was really bizarre and unlike any where else we had seen in Vietnam. Already we both knew we were going to like it here. It was quick and painless to find somewhere to stay. Sadly due to Tet (the New Year) prices are slowly going up on accomadation. The holiday of the new year last around 10 days so we shall be expecting to pay a bit more now :(.

That afternoon we spent wandering around before heading out for dinner. We tried too places that were full before finally finding somewhere to eat. It was really busy but we find a lovely little place which had a speciality dish called the claypot. I had the prawn claypot and its simmered prawns in caramel sauce. Its bloody delicious, so glad we came here and probaly one of my favourite meals I have had on my trip. People told me that they didn't like the food in Vietnam but I much preferred it to Thai food so things were looking tasty for me.

The next day we had booked ourselves on a tour, we only have one full day here and decided we want to make the most of it. It was another early morning and first stop was a flower plantation. Dalat is known all over the world for it's coffee and flowers. It was pretty but they were just flowers and while it was impressive to see the size of the plantation, the flowers were just normal flowers nothing too exotic. Then we went on to a coffee plantation to see the different types of coffee bean you could find here and how they were mixed together to make different blends. It was fun and our guide was really helpful. It was interesting and then we learnt how they make rice wine. Although I swear they were using one half of a bra pad as a strainer for the wine. Very bizarre looking at it. Its so easy to make the rice wine and it's so strong. We got to try to the dragon water but it smelt far too like fire water (china)for me, so I declined. It was 70% alcohol- yikes. We also got to see how a tribal village runs and did you know that here the women ask the man to marry them. They offer buffalo to marry him and he can decline or may his price too high but it this village its the women or the Grandma that is head of the family. The next stop was a silk factory which was really interesting. You got to see how the silk starts on the silk worm and how that gets transferred into silks etc. You see them washing it all and how the tiny thin fluff from the silk worm gets woven into thread etc etc. Jackie and I found it sooo interesting to see how a tiny little ugly thing can produce a beautiful product. We had had a full on morning and then broke for a traditional style food. Lots of plates were brought over and we got to try a variety of different local food- very tasty indeed.

That afternoon we were going somewhere called the crazy house. It is crazy, it's like a playground where you can sleep. It's built in the style of a tree and had crazy bridges connecting the different parts of the house. The rooms are very 'Alice in Wonderland' all windy corridors and weird rooms. It was so much fun wandering around and very bizarre to see. People can stay there but it would be so creepy. We both had a great time looking at it all. The garden has giant toad stools in and spider's webs in lights in the corner's. Our last stop of the day was a silk embroidery gallery. It was incredible to see these pictures that look like paintings but are actually made from silk thread. Everything we saw was hand made and it was stunning to see some of these pictures that people had made.

It had been a really good day, we had seen a lot of done a lot. In the car between stops we got to see beautiful scenery and that night after doing a few bits and bobs we got dinner in a little cafe- both shattered and needing to sleep. The next morning we were going to Mui Ne, and the bus leaves early. We only have a few days left so we are trying to cram in as much as we can.

I was glad to leave our hotel but not Dalat. I loved dalat but our hotel owner gave me the creeps. If I went to ask for milk to make tea with he would appear behind me asking what I wanted when I had already asked someone. It was like he didn't trust us- creepy. A bit weird- Jackie thought he hated us- all good fun though.

We got to Mui Ne quicklt then we thought and were there by lunchtime. That afternoon all we wanted to do was hit the beach. The beach was pretty hard to find as there isn't really any and it's further round the bay. Instead we hung around a hotel and made use of their loungers. Beautiful sunny afternoon and we were doing nothing but relaxing :). Lauren and Laura had told us about this really fun half day tour they did so we decided that the next day we would do it too. That night we went out for seafood and it was amazing. Walking past this restaurant in the day you wouldn't even realise it was there. It was by the beach overlooking the sea and just had groups of chairs and tables with what looks like a tiny little kitchen that you would think was a small shack. It was the most amazing seafood, I have never had fresh unprepared prawns for and they were the best. It was such a lovely little place. I love that they make a tasty sauce out of salt, pepper and lime juice- so simple and really good with prawns. We were both so happy we found this place and the egg fried rice had been the best I have ever had too. We stopped off on the way home for pudding and a nightcap :) We went to bed happy and full that night ready for an early morning playing on the sandunes.

HAha another early start- we have had a lot of these. Then onto the sandunes!! We first went to the white sandunes, it is pretty tough walking at them and bearing in mind it is 7:30 in the morning it was already baking. There were lots and lots of kids there playing on the dunes as well- they are such happy kids here. Whether they are working with their parents or playing in the streets they are so happy. So here was the fun part to the dunes we had sledges. Yes, like snow sledges but they were a sheet of hard plastic with a handle. Brilliant fun sliding down the dunes on your tummy. It wasn't so fun walking back up- you seem to get one step up and two back due to your feet sinking in the sad- bloody good exercise though. Jackie and I had fun flying down these dunes and were covered in sand- it went everywhere. Next was the red dunes which were the same sort of thing and very pretty. It was bizarre as you have the sea one side of you, forest the other and in the middle are these sandunes- it's a little weird. After this our jeep took us to a place called 'Fairy River'- so cool. It's this little river that flows through this cliffs but they look like sandcliffs. It's soo pretty, due to it being New Year's day for the Vietnamise loads of family's and teenagers were out down there. We walked all the way down to the waterfall- it was so pretty. You could walk in the river and follow it all the way round the bends etc. The sand cliffs were really stunning and you could see why it had got this nickname. Jackie and I loved our little trip out it was really good. When we got back we both went for showers to get rid of the sand, I swear I bought half a sand dune back with me!!! That afternoon was spent doing sod all by the pool again working on my tan.

That night we went back to the amazing seafood restaurant but it was closed because of the tet. So we went a little further on. Jackie wanted some crab, so we got some crab and more prawns. However, Jackie has never had unprepared fresh crab before and neither had I. It was quite a humourous 5 min of staring at this crab wondering how the hell we were going to eat. We picked it up, looked at it and had no idea. Luckily we asked the lovely guy next to us who kindly showed us. We felt pretty stupid but it was funn at the time and still funny thinking about it. We had a long night that night as we went getting our bus till 1am. S o we were in no rush to leave which was a good thing. There really isn't much sense of organisation when eating out and you have to have patience. We hung around our hostel for the rest of the night. The manager was sooo lovely and even let us use her shower when we had come in from the beach to freshen up. It was Tet that night and I was expecting to see a big street party but it seemed really quiet. The idea for their new year is to go home and be with their families so it's much more of a family thing than a party thing.

So a few hours after our bus left we arrived in Saigon. It was about 5:30 am and luckily we were not far at all from our hostel. However we had to sleep in a chair but were woken up when guests came down for brekkie and told we couldn't go back to sleep. We were both shattered and had planned on going to the Chu Tunnels today. Due to that fact it was far away we decided against it as we probaly wouldn't enjoy it due to the tiredness. Instead we opted for a morning of wandering round the cities and coming back around lunchtime to check in. It was a lovely morning of shopping at little market stalls, having a cold drink at a cafe and see a post office. A post office I know, but, it's really interesting as it looked like a old train station on the inside. It has a big arched roof and everything looks old and rustic looking- it's very pretty. So yay, we got to check in!! Then we got lunch and headed back out again to go to the War Museum. It's all about the Vietnam/American War, it was very interesting and very disturbing. The photos that are there are so raw and graphic that it got to a point where I couldn't look anymore. There was alot to learn and we both came away feeling horrified but like we had learnt something too. It was something worth while seeing but those pictures were awful. It's sad that victims of 'Agent Orange' still suffer now, with their future generation's having an elevated risk of having deformaties due to the poison.

Our last night in Vietnam together was Jackie's choice. She had been dying for a green curry the whole trip so we found a thai place for her. It was a good meal. I don't know whether it was because of Tet but I didn't find the city as crazy as everyone made it out to be. People were saying that the roads are so busy you have to close your eyes, cross the road and hope for the best. Yes it was hectic, but not that bad as people made out. We both really liked the city. The roads are much wider and there seems more space in a busy city then in Hanoi. I am really sad to leave here, it is by far the best food I have eaten in Asia so far. I loved the differnt vibes that the south and the north have. How different places can be sooo incredibly differnt. I have had the best time with Jackie and am so sad for her to leave. I would come back to Vietnam as we didn't do all we wanted to do but I feel that we have covered a lot of ground in such a short space.

Well onwards I go. I said goodbye to Jackie the next morning before heading to the airport to catch a flight to Kulula Lumpar.

So long xxx

P.s Cambodia Photos are up and will try to get Vietnam done soon as well, so look out for them. xx