Arriving at 6 in the morning in the City of Dalat, it was a mere 23 degrees. I was shivering and Jade had donned her hoody, the 8 degrees drop was certainly a shock to the system. A Vietnamese man quickly approaches us, as we make our way off the bus, and is telling us we should go wait inside at the bus station as many of the hotels would be closed now. We get into the warm and sip on our super strength coffees; he is telling us all about tours that we could take around the area of Dalat. We now realise he is an Easy rider- Easy riders are an informal crew of local motorbike guides who can whirl you around Dalat. He is a very good sales man, that is for sure! And after he drops us off at our hotel in the City Centre we purchase a country side day tour from him, for two days later.

As we drove into Dalat, which is located in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Jade and I take an instant liking to it, even from the short 1km motorbike ride. Da Lat is 1600m above sea level and is beautiful; it has forests of pine trees (forming the name: "City of thousands of pine trees") with twisting roads along the mountainsides and endless fields of flowers blossoming all year round. The city's temperate weather stands in contrast to Vietnam's otherwise tropical climate. Mist covering the valleys almost year-round leads to its name "City of eternal spring"… Dalat looks like a cross between Vietnam and the French Alps. Many of its hotels and houses are built in a European/French style. With a small lake in the centre and surrounded by a manmade lake and higher peaks, making for some lovely scenery quite different from the Vietnam we have seen so far.

We head to the market and have our jackets on as it is raining a little. On our way are joined by a monk who is very chatty and very interested in why we are here in Vietnam, he acts as our guide for a short while leading us to the market. Jade is quite taken back by his kindness…. He is the first monk to have spoken or acknowledged her since beginning our travels (some have very strict rules on interaction with females). We look at some incredible stitched silk art work; many portraying different Vietnamese cultures and traditions. We make tracks down stairs and leave the monk to go on his merry way.

We try the Vietnamese Taco, a barbequed rice flour pancake topped with egg and spring onions! It is so delicious. We treat ourselves to some cheese and pate and head home to devour our treats… not forgetting that we stopped off to get some tarts just round the corner from our hotel!

Exploring Da Lat, our first stop is the manmade Xuan Huong Lake which is lined with huge pine trees and beautifully kept gardens, there are even a few men trying their luck at fishing. It starts to bucket down with rain so we head back into town, we walk past so many stalls selling strawberries, avocado and artichokes; they can grow this produce all year round due to the cooler climate here. Taking shelter inside the market, dripping wet, Jade did not seem to mind as she noticed how many sweet treats were on offer … there were at least a hundred stalls all selling these treats. But what I cannot understand is that each stall sells the same products? Talk about competition! It is beyond me how they make any money. We pick out a stall and buy some delicious sweets made from local produce. They reminded us of Turkish Delight. We then continue outside to my favourite part of any market and Jades least! The fish, meat and veg section. I just love the array of fruit and veg the different colours of it all and all the new species of vegetables I have never seen. As we walk through crammed meat section the stench fills the air and this is the apart Jade really detests! There is no health and hygiene here; all kinds of animal entrails fill their chopping boards, no fridges and flies that cover the select cuts of meat. It is all as fascinating to me as because maybe 70 years ago in Britain we would have lived the same way. Jade informs me not to walk to the back of the market as this is where you will see chickens being slaughtered…so without hesitation this is where I head, No chickens being killed here, but lots cooped up in cages awaiting their sharp fate. I now reckon we are market experts and, what with Jade unscrupulous bargaining skills. I would love to see anyone try to charge Jade extra at a market! We head to a local restaurant just around the corner from our hotel to have some Pho which is pronounced Fer, it the Vietnamese national dish and like prostitutes you will find it on pretty much every street corner. It is Noodle soup and it is amazing, I won't bang on too much about it as I have mentioned it before…

The Easy rider day out .This was a highlight of my trip so far; the friendly bike riders picked us at 8:30 am. Jade and I board the bikes and we are off. The mornings are so fresh here we have our hoodies on to keep us warm. As we make our way from the hotel and head out of the city centre you can see just how much agricultural activity take place here. There are so many green houses that fill the vast valleys and hills that surround Dalat. With its year-round cool weather, Da Lat supplies temperate agriculture products for all over Vietnam, for example: cabbage and cauliflower and strawberries. Its flower industry produces typical flowers like hydrangea, marigold and rose. Our drivers stop off just in front of the Lang Biang Mountains and give us very informative information about the landscape and countryside.

Next stop, our drivers drop us off at the bottom of a humongous hill and tell us to walk to the top for some great views. They say would meet us on the other side of the hill, driving off jokingly saying "watch out for the tigers" and "see you tomorrow" the walk was absolutely knackering as we at such a high altitude and the air is somewhat thin (nothing to do with all of the numerous baguettes that we've been consuming here in Vietnam). We make it to the top alive! The 360 degree views are breathtakingly amazing. There are wild horses grazing on the hillside and run off as our presence scares them. Making our way down the hill was somewhat of a challenge too.

Back on the road again and we make our way to a flower farm. In 1993 some Vietnamese that had travelled to Holland came back with the idea of using greenhouses as they do there. Although they make theirs out of bamboo and have to change them every 5 years due to wear and tear. It is very interesting learning about the flower trade, we cannot believe how interesting it is, and jade is telling me how her grandparents would love it here … not to mention my Nonna too. After having some pictures taken we head through the pine covered hillsides. The smells that fill the air are fantastic from the coffee flowers to the pine trees, it's all so fresh. I cannot believe how picturesque it is! And with that thought our easy riders are stopping again for some picture opportunities and give us information about the minority village in the distance and about the U.S Army/Vietnamese war that almost ruined a lot of their country side and nearly spoiled all their soil with all the chemical bombs they dropped during the war. Now luckily they have a thriving coffee trade #2 in the world (behind Brazil) for producing the lil beans of goodness! Next stop to learn about the coffee trade and have a (much needed) coffee ourselves! The drive is just spectacular it reminds me of where my late Nonna Vechio used to live in North Italy the country side filled with all kinds growing even down to the Idyllic buildings placed sporadically along the way.

Now at this ramshackle building and we are stopping off for a coffee, and also to learn about "weasel coffee" and rice wine making, it is all just so interesting … First our guide lifts a lid on a barrel and there is this stench of rotting rice with a hint of nail varnish remover! He informs us that this is rice fermenting. Wow it really was potent. He then showed us the distilling process in which he gets us to try this rocket fuel, then after we try this firewater he then proceeds to light it - I'm sure this is what he powers his motor bike on! I need to tell you there is no such thing as health and safety in Asia and everything is all so makeshift, but yet I find it all so resourceful- where there's a will there's a way kind of attitude which doesn't seem to stop the process of anything stopping the working environment.

Now on to "weasel coffee" which is coffee beans that have been through the critters digestion tract and are gathered in their poo yep you read it right their poo! A weasel eats the berries for their fleshy pulp. In its stomach, proteolytic enzymes (bacteria to you and I) seep into the beans, making shorter peptides and more free amino acids. Passing through weasels intestines, the beans are then defecated, keeping their shape. After gathering, thorough washing, sun drying, light roasting and brewing, these beans yield an aromatic coffee with much less bitterness, widely noted as the most expensive coffee in the world with prices reaching £110 per lb of coffee . Maybe I should start eating coffee beans?!?! After hearing of the weasel coffee, we sit in the sun and enjoy a regular coffee served in a singular coffee filter which sits on your glass, blinking delicious, just not enough of it as it is served espresso style, and served with, to Jades delight, sweetened condensed milk.

Refreshed and ready to go. Next stop is the silk factory - up until we got there I could of swore he said shoe factory, and it did cross my mind why would stop at a shoe factory??? Jade found this quite amusing as we entered I asked some people who were leaving what are the shoes like… no reply just a gormless look and Jade said "what are you on about??".

Our guide leads us in towards the noise of the machinery clattering away. Our guide tries his hardest to speak over the noise, the silkworm is the larva or caterpillar of the domesticated silk moth, it is an economically important insect, being a primary producer of silk. A silkworm's preferred food is white mulberry leaves, but it may also eat the leaves of any other mulberry tree. It is entirely dependent on humans for its reproduction and does not occur naturally in the wild. Sericulture, the practice of breeding silkworms for the production of raw silk, so fascinating as we watch each worm cocoon getting spun up on to each spool, it takes 12 cocoons per 1 thread, each cocoon making roughly about 900metres of silk, so impressive once the silk is harvested, threaded and dried it is placed onto these gargantuan silk threading/weaving machines which print out only 4 metres a day! There are only 3 machines in this factory so that is roughly 12 metres a day. We really liked this place, we took hundreds of photos to show Jade's granddad the machines (I wonder if they'd fit in his garage?!) and we have a new respect for all of Jades scarves!!

We are now flagging with the heat and stop for lunch; Pho again! But I can assure you it so bloody delicious; Jade especially likes all the condiments you can add! I have finished my Pho and join the Bike riders table. One of them challenges me to see if I can catch one of the million flies around us with my chopsticks … I nearly did, no $10 for me, it was great fun laughing and joking with intelligent men.

We make tracks to the minority village, what I forgot to mention is that everything they grow in this vast area is all farmed by hand, so I imagine this is what it was like in Britain before machinery came along… there are women carrying all kinds on their heads. Jade and I Joking say "could you imagine our grandparents carrying barrels of rice on their heads or boxes of flowers bigger than themselves for miles to the next town?! It truly is incredible what these old lady farmers are capable of! The village of the minorities is just a small village of how the Vietnamese people lived before the war and before the government introduced agricultural schemes to fund the poor.

We now are heading back through all the scenery without stopping; I'm going to say it again- the views are just stunning, These Vietnamese are very lucky to have such a rich countryside, and they really are making the most of it.

Last stop Jades Home … joke! Hằng Nga guesthouse, popularly known as the "Crazy House" is an unconventional building designed and constructed by Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga in Đà Lạt, Vietnam. Described as a "fairy tale house", the building's overall design resembles a giant tree, incorporating sculptured design elements representing natural forms such as animals, mushrooms, spider webs and caves. Jade loves it; it reminds us both of Alice in wonderland.

That was such a fantastic end to such a fantastic day; our drivers drop us of to our hotel. We cannot thank the driver enough, And they tell us what a pleasure it was to have us and tell me that I am a very intelligent man who knows so much of his country, Jade laughs at me as this will give me a bigger head than it already is ...Overall Dalat is a must place visit for, there is something to suit everyone's needs, the sensational sights and friendly Vietnamese has made it one of our favourite places so far!