Well a nice 9 hour bus ride from Saigon to Da Lat, with the drivers of all vehicles deciding whether they wanted to be under our bus or not. The winding road up was good with changing vegetation to pine forests. Stayed at the Fortune Hotel, which was nice except for the owner who wanted to force-feed us breakfast bringing dishes from everywhere to try. Certainly much cooler at 19c and checked out the town looking at the locals all rugged up as if it was 5c selling hats and heavy jackets.
Decided to make it an easy day with no
tours so Michael took me for a walk to see the Crazy
House and Train
Station. The weather was great for walking and after getting lost
and a few wrong directions we found the train, 4 hours after we had set
out! We had a pleasant 8 km ride through
the countryside which is made up mainly of farms. At the end of the line was a Giant Buddha made of flowers that is in the Guiness Book of Records.
We then went to the Crazy
House, which lived up to its name. Created by one of Ho Chi Minh’s
granddaughters who went to a Russian architecture school and then decided to
build a hotel that was a cross between Disneyland and the Brothers Grimm. The
whole place was winding passages with odd shaped rooms but worth a look. No
work safe or council permits for this place as they are still building as you
walk around.
Winding bus for 5 hours from Da Lat to Nha
Trang, a coastal town with a lot of Russian tourist operations. Staying at the Summer Hotel, which is centrally located and
nice, and has a pool on the roof which
they make a big deal over. All the menus are in English, Vietnamese and Russian
as the tour groups come here via Danang. Michael has gone off diving and
practicing Nyet and Da with the Russians. It is funny watching the hawkers
enter into these long conversations with Michael in Russian for him to turn around
and say English. Michael dived with two groups Rainbow Divers and then went to
Turtle Dive, as they were cheaper and more relaxed. Only one area used for dive
sites and got to try some dive throughs, but coral and fish life not as good as
Koh Tao or Langkawi.
Most important thing in Nha Trang was to
find a pub for the footy and watch the mighty Swans win convincingly. The
following day we went back and watched the nail biting Hawthorn v Adelaide
game. Unfortunately the bar was full of
rabid Crows supporters one of whom called Buddy a peanut! Anyway, the Hawks prevailed and the bar was
very quiet after that. Bring on the
grand final! I am looking to buy Michael
a black armband to wear after Saturday’s result.
Finally feeling the stress of travelling after
5 weeks and before leaving Nha Trang booked in for a 4 hour massage which was
well worth it.
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