We had an early start on our first proper day in Da lat. The breakfast was yet again delish. Everyone sits around a big table together whilst helping themselves to the amazing spread in the centre. A big breakfast was needed as we were then picked up at 8am to go canyoning. We were very happy to discover that it was going to be just the two of us, Sam and Clare, and two guides.
After a small walk down into the jungle we arrived at the destination for our practice abseil. We were all pleased to discover that it was easier than we had imagined.
Another little trek and we arrived at the location of our first dry abseil into the bottom of a waterfall. 13m high so scary enough!
Next were the natural slides. The thought of being pushed by a strong current down some rocks was pretty petrifying but the rocks were so soft and it was so much fun!
It was now time to face the biggest climb- 25m! The best thing to do was just not look down. It was much more difficult to do with such powerful water gushing in your face but the adrenaline rush was insane. When you got to three meters from the bottom, you then had to jump backwards into the water. For those of you that know I'm (Jazz) not too keen on heights, you will understand how proud of myself I was! Samuel, of course, was a pro!
After wading and floating through the water we arrived at the waterfall where Bear Grylls actually did a jump! Me and Clare were very wary about this. It was only 7m high but from up there it is a huge drop to the water! We let the boys go first and decided to go together for moral support. After several minutes of debating whether we could do it and reassuring ourselves we would be ok, we went for it and were so glad we did!
Last but not least was the washing machine waterfall. Only the picture can half explain how mental this was. As well as this, from the top you couldn't actually see where you were going to be abseiling down and none of us quite understood what was going to happen! Samuel went first, then Clare. Clare seemed to be gone along while and we later discovered that it had been quite an adventure for her. Luckily the guides were amazing and were very reassuring or I think she would have had a melt down. I would have! Next was my go. After about 30seconds I realised how petrifying it was going to be and would have wimped out if I had the choice to. A very steep climb and then you had to lower yourself freely, with ridiculous amounts of water gushing at you. I was unaware that you had to move away from the rock and therefore was being spun around for a few seconds. I then realised what I had to do from the guys at the bottom trying to mime to me. I was still a nervous wreck though! When you reached the water at the bottom you had to let go of the ropes and let the water drag you around in amongst the rocks until it spat you out at the end.. Hence the name 'washing machine'. Overwhelmed I did have a little tear. However, I didn't have quite as rough a time as Clare who was spinning in the water for ages, then taken under water for a long time and emerged a broken woman with her helmet on the side of her head. This was caught on film and luckily we could all laugh about it later. No one was hurt so we were all glad we had done it in the end! However, we were also all quite happy to hear that this was the last one, apart from Sam who was a pro at it.
Next was a picnic lunch and we all stuffed ourselves before beginning the steep uphill trek back to the van.
Arriving back at the hotel at 1pm, we were exhausted. The heavens had also opened up so we spent the rest of the afternoon chilling out.
In the evening, the four of us headed out to a place we had read about in Lonely Planet called V Cafe. We have decided that we are all morphing into each other as me and Clare both had Vietnamese steak (one of my fave meals in Vietnam) with wine, and the Sams both had quesadillas and beer. Whilst devouring our amazing food, the jamming session started with all sorts of talented people making music with all sorts of instruments. We liked them so much we decided to follow them to the next bar they were moving on to. Such a good night! In fact, overall one of our best days in Vietnam.

Today was a sightseeing day. We were starting to feel like we hadn't seen many sights for a while! First was The Crazy House- literally crazy and very Alice in Wonderland like. The views of Da lat were pretty cool from some of the higher places too- see pics!
Next was a palace. So disappointing as it literally looked like a grubby hotel you would not want to stay in! The highlight was the shoe socks you had to wear in there and therefore we were sliding around the place.
Hungry and grouchy we found food. I will not be surprised if one of us gets food poisoning so let's just say it wasn't great. It was food through!
We then went to Linh Phuoc Pagoda. This was a bit more impressive than the 'palace' luckily. It was very large and the whole thing was made up of mosaic pottery and bits of glass. It also housed the largest Buddha in Asia, made of flowers.
Tonight we get the bus to Ho Chi Minh city. Da lat- you've been good to us!