We had a very scenic bus journey up into the mountains to reach Dalat. The views of the sea on the way were gorgeous and when we stareted climbing into the mountains the views were breathtaking. The road was really windy as we climbed higher and higher - it didn't help that the bus driver was a loonie! We arrived in Dalat mid-afternoon and were pleased with the cooler temperatures, Dalat is about 1500m above sea level. It is also the premier Vietnamese honeymoon destination - probably because of the cooler air and beautiful scenery.

We had a wander around the city all afternoon, it was ok but not as nice as we had hoped, much more built up. We booked a tour for the following day hoping to see more of the beautiful countryside we had glimpsed from the bus. The tour started with a view of the city from the cable car station. This was follwed by a 2km cable car ride, it was great, superb views across the mountains (second highest mountain in Vietnam.) The cable car ended at the Truc Lam Meditation Monastery, it was a beautiful quiet relaxing spot, only built in 1994. It offered fantastic views over Tuyen Lam Lake (Paradise Lake). We then went to Datanla Waterfall, where you could take a luge there and back, it was great fun. The waterfalls were good too, flowing pretty quickly. Dragon Pagoda was our next stop, our guide promised us that it was the most beautiful Pagoda in the whole of Vietnam. It was pretty impressive, all the decoration is done using broken glass and broken ceramic, it creates a fantastic effect. The guide told us that the main dragon was made by using over 60,000 broken bottles - a great demonstration of inadvertant recycling! Our final stop before lunch was the oldest railway station in Vietnam, built by the French in 1928, the old carriages were pretty funny and the building was lovely, very French as are many in Dalat, it used to be a hill-station backin the French colonial days.

After some great baguettes for lunch we went to a minority village called Lat. It was a 'minority village' in the broadest sense and was funded by the government, kind of takes away the meaning of it a little. We did get taken to go and see the Chief of the tribe who was pretty interesting and had some good stories to tell. He played us some traditional Gong music and gave us some strange wine brewed from a root of a plant in the forest, it was ok i suppose, wouldn't want too much of it though! Our final stop was the Valley of Love and Lake of Sighs, the Valley of Love was incredibly kitsch, full of heart statues, swings for two etc. pretty funny nonetheless! It would hjave been so much nicer if they had left it as it was, the view over the Lake of Sighs is beautiful. Back in Dalat we bought some coffee to send home - I reckon Vietnamese coffee is the best I've ever tasted, well worth bringing some home!

Today we caught a bus to Ho Chi Minh City, we arrived 3-4 hours late after numerous break downs, although i think this is the first time we have had a bus break down (so much) since our travels began, so we can't complain too much. Bed now tired after the bus and exploring to do tomorrow!

A&S xxx