Hi all,

We arrived in Nha Trang last night after 3 FANTASTIC days on the back of a motorbike travelling from Dalat in the Central Hghlands here to Nha Trang on the coast. We had a day of pottering around in Dalat which is a really pretty own but with little to do. It's the honeymoon capital of Vietnam so romance was everywhere (YUKYUKYUKYUKYUK...I'm not bitter...) and myself and Kim had to share a double bed as there were no twin rooms to be found! We met these moto drivers from a company called Easy Riders and decided to take them up on their offer to take us to the sights in Dalat that afternoon. There wasn't much as I've said but we saw a beautiful Pagoda, Paradise Lake and took a cool cable car ride. We also went to the "Crazy House" which is hard to describe but it's basically like a really bad trip with wierd carvings and different themed rooms! Strange.

The next day we set off early on the back of the bikes with Su and Phillip our drivers. They were both great fun, had wicked senses of humour and thankfully (Mum, you'll be pleased to hear this) weren't boy racers but sensible middle aged men who weren't maniacs on the bikes like some of them out here are! We made loads of stops en route to Nha Trang, taking the mountain roads through the highlands rather than the bus route along the coast and I can safely say that the whole experience was magic. It was cool enough just being on the bike but the roads were all windy and hilly which was awesome and the scenery was stunning. We passed through paddy fields, ethinic minority villages and farms on the first day as well as a beautiful waterfall, where Su delighted in telling every available man (And actually a married one too...) that I was single! He was deperate to set me up with a Vietnamese man and over the three days he tried with a cook, a rice farmer, a sugar factory worker and a fruit seller (Who was married with a child...) highly amusing for Kim but not so much for me!

We stayed on the Lake in Dak Lak on the frst night which was lovely, took a hike up a hill to see yet another stunning sunset and had an awesome cheap dinner back at the guest house. The food we ate on the trp was probably the best I've had in SE Asia. Su and Phillip took us to proper Vietnamese shacks (Not the tourist ones) and ordered us absolutley awesome food and plenty of it! We ate in a Vietnamese style, sharing a massive bowl of rice and loads of dishes of seafood and veges for lunch and dinner. I'm still full! We also sampled some local beer (YUM) and I actually tried Snake Wine (Yep, snakes in alcohol...!) which would certainly put hairs on your chest!

The second day we went to another waterfall that was HUGE! It was scorching hot so we sweated and struggled up these hills to get some awesome pics, it was well worth the effort! Vetnamese health and safety was pretty funny though. There used to be a fence to stop you gong too close to the edge of the falls but all that was left of it was a few fence posts...so I made like Indiana Jones and got some scary pics right on the edge (Don't worry mum, remember the mountan goat analogy...it's all good)

We stayed the second night in a gorgeous hotel with aircon and sattelite TV which was fab! We had a few games of pool and had an early night ready for another early start, we had a long way to go to get to Nha Trang that day! We had less stops today but saw many rice fields and farms as well as more local villages. We made it to Nha Trang after 3 fantastic days.

Everywhere we stopped we were instantly surrounded by locals asking questions about us, inevitably the first is always where we were from but there's always men asking if we're married or have boyfriends...note to self ALWAYS say you're married even if you're not!! The kids were fascinated by us and laughed their heads off whenever they saw us on the bikes! Some chased after us and tried to give us hi 5s off the bikes too which was funny.

I also learnt that Manchester United is an international language! They all love them which made for some interesting signed conversations when I was wearing my shirt which, according to Phillip made me look like a "Woman footballer", I don't think he was too impressed!!

The whole 3 days were amazing. We saw so much stuff that we would NEVER have seen had we gone on the boring bus, we both felt that we'd seen the "real" Vietnam and thanks to our guides we were able to learn a lot more about Vietnam and the history. Both our guides knew loads and were quick to let us know that Vietnam is MUCH better than Laos or Cambodia! According to Su, Cambodians and people from Laos are "too lazy" which is why hey have no money! Whereas the Vietnamses work hard and export EVERYTHING (Seriously! Rice, tea, coffee, pepper, furniture, silk, seafood, meat, vegetables, the list is endless!) to make money. People out here certainly seem more well off, there's much less begging and more local people are seen in posh places which is unheard of in Cambodia and Laos.

So now we're in Nha trang and are heading to Hoi An tonight on the bus (BORING!!) The last few days have been a definite highlight of my time away and I would DEFINITLY do it again if I returned to Vietnam.

Hope you're all well,

Sel

xx