Oh Vietnam

Dalat is quite an unusual place as there are some really grand French inspired houses (as the French brought civilisation to the place) most of which are unnocupied, yet other parts of the town are too the other extreme.  I thought this felt like the 'real' Vietnam, especially as we didn't bump into bately any other tourists. The centre of the town was like one big (smelly) market, with food stall after food stall! Sounds like heaven, but the animal carcasses, lumps of raw meat (I dread to think from what part of the animal) and chickens in cages weren't exactly what I call a good food spread. 

In contrast, there was a really pretty lake so we decided to rent some tandems off some very dodgy men who first wanted ID (we refused) and then quite openly tried to pick pocket us. It was really good fun though and nice to do some rare exercise! 

The next day we decided to do what every parent dreads, get on the back of motorbikes! The bike tour is called easy rider and despite my concerns, I actually felt really safe (minus the occasional dodgy overtake) and it was an amazing way to explore Dalat as there were some really nice routes we drove with beautiful views. 

Look mum.... No hands! 

Our first stop was a temple. Our guide explained to us that what we view as the Nazi sign, was actually originally a Buddhist symbol which Hitler liked and stole. 

We also went to a coffee plantation as Vietnam is actually the second largest coffee producer in the world. A speciality coffee produced is weasel coffee. They feed weasels coffee wait for them to poo (see above) and then tada, there's the delecatesent you'll find in places like Harrods (so I'm told). 

We also stopped at the K'ha village and met a woman with 11 grand kids! In the village women are really important (the people have sense) and it's actually the women's surname that is kept within a marriage. 

 

There were many flower farms and we visited a greenhouse with red roses. 

We also visited elephant waterfall. The amount of water flooding down was tremendous and we got '100% wet'.

During the war much of the copper train tracks were stolen so you can now only journey a couple of hundred metres as a tourist attraction. 

The day was amazing and riding on the back of the motorbikes was such an experience and such a good way to see so much of Dalat.

The next day we headed of to Mui Ne. We treated ourselves and stayed in a really nice hotel in the hills with a swimming pool and outdoor restaurant... at £6 a night, we really did splash the cash. We spent most of our time making the most of the pool and chilling out but did take a trip to the white sand dunes to do some quad biking! 

The dunes were amazing and I came away unscathed. Unfortunately the same can't be said for Abbie and Siobhan who toppled their quad bike resulting in mild concision and a cut nose! 

After Mui Ne, we moved on to our final stop in Vietnam... Ho Chi Minh City (Siagon) and my oh my I won't forget this place. 

The calm before the storm....

...following this picture, our 3 nights in Saigon went as so...

I got my entire bag cut off me when walking home from a night out, which included my precious iPhone 5 and I did not take it well (imagine if your baby got stolen, how would you react).

Morven arrived home 30 mins later in tears... the same had happened to her. 

The next day we went to the police station and filed the crime, then went to the night market in the evening for a bit of retail therapy to cheer ourselves up. Vannessa and I saw a business opportunity with some cards so in a busy market, sat down for a good two hours and invested in 140 cards (need a card?you know where to come, we have cards for all occasions!)...Then out of nowhere, Vanessa's phone was stolen from her lap, infront of everyone!

Next stop... Police station. 

We then discover bed bugs in our hostel room and move to another room only to discover that room too is infested. At 3am after failing to find another hotel with space, we check out and trail the streets for a new hotel. After resorting to a far too expensive hotel, tired and aggitated, I encounter a pervy concierge. Just what you need! 

To make matters worse, we decided to not go on a trip to the tunnels due to the late night (the only thing worth doing in Saigon) despite already having paid. Then booked again for the next day, but with half of our phones stolen and the others too drunk to set an alarm, we missed the trip yet again! 

It's safe to say that luck was not on our side. However, on the bright side, the night life was so much fun. All of the shops on a street known as pub street put out plastic chairs in the evening and everyone socialises there and then moves on to a club. You've got to take the good with the bad! 

Time to tackle the next country... X