The drive here was amazing, miles and miles of mountains and jungles and we took lots of photos (although they might not turn out the best as they were taken on a bus on possibly the worst road ever). When we reached Da Lat it was set in the mountains and was gorgeous, when we drove in we were greeted by a huge lake and palace. The town itself was not so nice and a little daunting but once we'd had a look round we realised it was only because it is not a tourist area yet, its getting there but they speak very little English and its very quiet. It was 4pm by now and leaving the next morning at 7am we decided the best way to see the city was on the back of a motorbike with one of the notorious Easy rider tour. The guides were amazing; they drove us around telling us the history of the village and took us to a pagoda set on a hill just outside of the city. It was beautiful. It is the pagoda that all of the monks go to meditate. From here we walked down a hill to the most breath taking scenery. A huge lack surrounded by mountains, aptly named paradise lake!

After the pagoda our guides took us down what can only be described as a dirt track. We were assured it was a 'locals' road! We soon realised why they had taken us here, they showed us a whole other side to Vietnam and the poorest people we have ever seen, but also the friendliest! On the way through it started to rain and when it rained it poured! So hard we had to abandon the bikes and hide under the shelter of what we thought was an old unused shed. We stood talking away about the area and then realised it was a house. No windows, just a wooden shack - that was it! The owned invited us in to shelter from the rain and not speaking any English offered us a seat and continued what he was doing. The rain pelted down on the tin roof, it was unbelievable. This house was one room with nothing but a table and statue of Christ, with a sheet separating the bedroom from the small kitchen in the back. We though he lived there along but then his 3 kids arrived back from school. Our guide explained they were so poor the spent all their money sending the kids to school and couldn't afford anything else. It was certainly an experience you couldn't have paid for.

When the rain stopped we headed off back to the city centre. Our guides took us to a new hotel called the crazy house. It was amazing, like a kids play ground, all nooks and crannies and every room had a different theme from bear to kangaroo. Its very hard to explain but the photos are on the website! After running like little kids the rain started again and our guides bought us macs, blue and pink!! There's a photo to prove it and we look gorgeous! As soon as we got back on the bike the bloody rain stopped. Typical!

This evening we treated ourselves to a meal in the hotel restaurant, which we had all to ourselves!!