It was yet another early start today as I had to leave Da Lat at 07.10 to catch my bus to Ho Chi Minh City. I didn't have a hostel booked so when I arrived at HCMC I was quite pleased to be met by the usual bunch of people trying to sell rooms at their hotels.I got talking with one lady and managed to get her down on the price a little and got an air-conditioned room with two single beds for only $10 per night which I thought was quite reasonable, expecially...

I've had enough of this place, there are no western travellers around, just Vietnamese holidaymakers and I am fed up of having to eat alone for 2 days. The hotel that I am at is very quiet and there is no common area like you get in the hostels so you don’t really meet anyone. I am off to book a bus to Saigon (or for the new generation of people, Ho Chi Minh City) for tomorrow so that I can get out of here!On my way down to the travel agents to book m...

Due to my uneventful night last night I was awake quite early for a change and decided to go and hire another motorbike so that I could go and explore some of the surrounding area and take some pictures. So I went down to reception and for the first time had to fill in a form/disclaimer before I could hire the bike and then I got out my Lonely Planet Southeast Asia on a Shoestring and planned the route that I would take today.My first port of call was Datanla Fa...

Today I am thinking that it was not such a good idea to go out drinking last night as the football match finished quite late and I had to be up at 06:30 this morning to catch a bus to Da Lat at 07:00.I had the option of going to Mui Ne which was by the coast again or going to Da Lat which was inland a bit and set up high in the hills at 1475m above sea level. I decided Da Lat as I was getting a little fed up of the humidity and the heat of Vietnam and the cooler...

After doing nothing but recover from a serious hangover yesterday, I decided that I better get up early and do something today. So I went down to reception to enquire about hiring a motorbike form them just to compare with the prices that I had been paying and much to my surprise they quoted only 55,000 dong (£1.85). I said yes and within 20 minutes my shiny PINK bike was here. lolMy first stop today was the Long Son Pagoda which is decorated with mosaic drago...