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 my bus I had to walk past Tu Anh’s Peace restaurant and she was sitting outside. Tu Anh shouted "Peter where were you last night?", wow she remembered my name. So I went over to talk to her and told her that I had tried the V Cafe last night and that her food was much better so I would come back and eat here tonight.

On the way back from the travel agents after booking my bus for tomorrow, I was approached by an Easy rider (bike driver) and asked if I would like a tour around Da Lat and we agreed a price of 200,000 dong (£6.70) for the rest of the day. My driver’s name was “Buddha” as he said he had been nicknamed this due to his smile and pot belly.

Our first stop today was Truc Lam Temple where he dropped me off and left me to my own devices to have a look around the temple, the gardens and the lake there. The gardens around the temple buildings were absolutely immaculate and you can tell that the monks who live here take great pride in their surroundings. Down by the lake which looked a bit like a Canadian lake due to the forest of pine trees, there were lots of boats there available for hire and even some shaped like swans that you could take out yourself on the lake.

Now for your lesson today.....

Trúc Lâm Temple is a Zen Buddhist temple outside the resort town of Da Lat, in Vietnam.

The temple is located outside the centre of Da Lat. From the district of Hòa Bình in the city centre of Da Lat, the temple is located at a turnoff on the road from the city centre towards Prenn Hill, the temple is near the Tuyền Lăm Lake, located on Phượng Hoàng Hill.

The temple is located on a plot of land encompassing 24 hectares. Of the 24 hectares, there are two hectares that are occupied by buildings, divided into two areas, the domestic areas and public areas. The domestic area is closed to the public. There are two domestic quarters, for monks and nuns respectively. Each of the domestic quarters has two meeting rooms for sangha, a meditation hall, a kitchen, dining room and a shed. Currently, there are approximately 50 monks and 50 nuns in religious practice at the temple.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truc_Lam_Temple

After I had finished walking around the temple I returned back to the car park where my driver had been waiting and we headed off to the chicken village that I couldn’t find yesterday. He took me there but I am not sure it was the right place as I didn’t see any giant statue of a chicken. I was a little disappointed but I still had a walk around the village and then sat with Buddha in the only shop there and had a drink with the owners which was quite nice.

Close by to the village was a waterfall so we stopped there next. The waterfall was called Prenn Waterfall and was quite unique as you could walk behind and under the waterfall and there was a small cablecar that took you across the top of the waterfall. I didn’t do this as it seemed a waste of money as the fall was only small, it was hardy Niagara! The did have what seems to be compulsory now, a cowboy and a horse for you to have your picture taken with. This one also offered elephant rides and had a man dressed up in what looked like a cricket (bug) outfit for photos. Very strange!

There was a temple next to the entrance of the waterfall and I have no idea what it was called but it had some 'different’ statues within the grounds of the temple, so I popped over just to take a couple of photos. We then set back heading back to Da Lat town where we stopped at the old railway station. The station was not really used anymore, there is only one train that goes out once a day taking tourists through the countryside and back. I had a walk around and took a few photos and they had an old Russian train out in the back too. After the station I was dropped back in town.

For dinner I did as I promised and went to Tu Ahn’s Peace restaurant and again she picked dinner for me. Tonight it was fairly busy so I shared a table with 2 American Girls so at least tonight it didn’t feel like I was eating alone again.