I'M IN HOI-AN! (Still Vietnam...) Well we've had a busy week(ish) since leaving Ho Chi Minh. Already starting to lose track of the days and the things we get up to so i'll do my best to recount our journey northwards so far.

DALAT - We left Ho Chi Minh on a morning bus and made the 8 hour trip up through the mountains. Dalat is in the highlands of Vietnam (about 2000m above sea-level!) so when we arrived we were very excited by the cool temperature and clear air compared with the dusty cities we have been in. It has a very alpine feel, and we felt right at home there immediately. Landed on our feet again with the accom. HUGE room for $10 a night. Dalat has lots of twisty turny little roads, so we explored abit, fighting of the endless offers from the 'easy riders' (a genuine, but more pricey, motorbike tour company) found some good food at Peace Cafe, and planned our day-out to come... and what a day it was! We hired a scooter (Dad would be proud) and headed off into the countryside in search of mythical waterfalls! It was quite hair-raising at first (Nai was driving, obviously). The traffic is interesting in Vietnam, as I have said, but we soon got the hang of it, Nai did good. So the mythical waterfalls? Turned out to be, well, interesting - more like theme-parks where Vietnamese families come on holiday... but we LOVED it! At Datalanta Falls there is this amazing SELF-DRIVE rollercoaster! (Nai drove, again, I cannot be trusted with these things...) and it shoots you all the way down this big hill in the forest and then you get off and go and look around the waterfalls (theres a cowboy and horse to pose with if your into that kinda thing). Then you get back on the ride and it drags you up the hill (or you could walk but its HOT and there are many steps.. nah!) Next waterfall = Prenn. Equally as bizarre and fun. You can ride elephants (don't worry mum we didn't!), dress up as princesses(?!), hire a dinghy and row about the place, and all manner of wonderful things! Also in this place everyone was desperate to have their photo taken with us... i swear we are now in about 20 Vietnamese family photo albums! Maybe we look like someone famous, maybe they just don't see people who look as weird as we do... i blame Nai's skin. Anyway we headed back on Oscar (our bike) in search of Pagoda's. Never found em. But we did go to the "Crazy House" of Dalat (yes it is crazy) abit like getting stuck in an some surrealist painting, and just as creepy. Oscar then decided to have a funny-turn, and wouldn't start. But several lovely Vietnamese blokes helped us out, and we were on our way! Topped that day off with some great street-food (steaming bowls of Pho Noodles = amazing.) in Dalat's nightmarkets which are very busy and exciting. We left Dalat the following day feeling refreshed from the mountain air and ready for some beach at Nha Trang!

NHA TRANG - The journey down from Dalat was spectacular to say the least; soaring forest-covered mountains, waterfalls, dubious streches of road and intriguing farming villages. Sometimes you really wish you could just stop the bus and explore places, I guess that's why so many people travel off their own back in Vietnam. But we did have cool seat-beds (sleeper bus) so we were uber-comfy. We arrived in Nha Trang - Vietnam's premier honeymooners resort - wandered round abit and settled on a crumbley but spacious hotel with a balcony. Wandered about some more charming night-markets (they like those ALOT here!) and got some streetfood - no surprises there then! The next day we decided to hit the beach. It is a massive, and also quiet. The South-China Sea was lovely and calm, and so warm :) In the afternoon we headed to Thap Ba Spa - to get reeeally muddy! You get these huge big tubs of mud, which is alot runnier than you expect - more like milkshake than icecream in consistency. You flop about in that for 15 mins, then a hot mineral shower, then a blast of cool mineral water coming out a random brick-wall, then a soak in a mineral tub, then unlimited swimming! pretty good for about 4quid! We were so super-relaxed we couldn't even get ourselves out of our room that night, just sat on the balcony watching the world go by, drinking some cold beer :) The next day we had a long wait for our night-bus. so we chilled on the beach, bumped into our american friend from Dalat and spent the day on the beach and in the bar.... just made it in time for our bus! oops. Nightbus journey not the greatest. My advice to other travellers; beware of creepy men lying on the floor next to you! We also witnessed some sort of arrest late at night at a service stop, wasn't very pleasant. But we arrived safe and sound in Hoi-An at 6.30am yesterday. Landed a good hotel with a pool (YES!) and slept, ate and swam all day.

HOI AN is lovely. It's got heaps of charm, great food, great beach. Although today has been HOT. We cycled to the old town which is really lovely, no cars allowed, just bikes. Looked around all the shops there, mainly craft stuff and clothes shops. This is THE place to get anything tailored or clothes and stuff (i've been trying to hold Nai back!). It was so hot we were melting so we fled back to the pool and waited for the heat to abate. Cycled down to Cai Dai Beach, which is gorgeous. Seems to stretch into the distance for miles. All the Vietnamase families were having their evening meal picnic-style (I was jealous). But this place really comes into it's own at night. The old town lights up with lanterns like a scene out of Spirited Away. It's really magical, and I'm sad we only get one night here. Tomorrow we continue north to Hue (Who-way!).

And Finally... more things to put on the back of a moped... 4 dogs in a basket (big ones!), a fish tank, flat-screen TVs or maybe just some live pigs...

Take care, missing everyone. Love El & Nai