As we crossed the road for brekkie today, an elderly lady was shuffling along the footpath. She stared at Steve and when he smiled, she immediately smiled back. We've found this is almost always the case over here - Lonely Planet says a smile will go a long way in Vietnam and they're right. For some reason there was something about Daniel that appealed to her. She was staring and pointing which threw him a little bit so we were not really sure what it was all about. A strange start to the day.

A different driver turned up at the hotel today. He spoke almost no English but "phoned a friend" who did. We worked out a rough itinerary and agreed on $25 for the half day.

First stop was the museum. Our expectations were low on this one as the reviews didn't read very well. Its a ghastly pink building with a massive statue of Ho Chi Minh in the foyer. We were plesantly surprised as there was quite a large section dedicated to recent archaelogical finds as well as a bit of an insight into the era of French colonial rule. This was the first time we'd read much about this because just about everyone you speak to always makes mention of the American war. The most that was mentioned in the War Remnants Museum in Saigon was "the American backed French colonists". As it turns out, the French weren't particularly easy on the locals either.

Next stop was the Dalat Railway Station. Mildly interesting architecture but not much to see really. Daniel had been bugging us about an interesting fact yesterday's driver had shared on the previous day. Apparently there was a local haunted house and he really wanted to check it out. Explaining this to a driver who spoke almost zero English was going to be a challenge. I typed the words "ghost house" into the drivers translator phone. He pissed himself laughing when he read the translation but understood it. He nodded and indicated that he'd take us.

The previous driver said that nobody could stay in the house anymore because 3 women died there and their ghosts remained. I pressed to find out how they died but he was either unwilling to say or just didn't understand what I was asking him. The house looked forboding but our current driver was happy to take us up through the ruin. In its day, the house must have been quite striking. There are 3 storys with a loft further up. People have erected a buddhist shrine in the fireplace and have been burning incense and leaving offerings. The garage area in the bottom was creepy with nooks under stairwells that the light didn't reach. Sue used to camera flash to satisfy Daniels curiosity that he'd explored just about every bit.

Even more freaky was, later that day when we looked closely at one of the photo's, the silhouette of a misty figure could be seen in the window. We all got very excited about that. We showed our driver when we reached the airport and he shivered and shook his head. On closer inspection we believe now that it may just be a discolouration in the wall rendering but you never know.

Next stop was the flower gardens. Dalat is very passionate about flowers and hold festivals each year. The flower gardens is very well tended and would probably look even more spectacular in the dry season. We climbed a fairly steep hill to what appeared to be a nursery. There was music blaring that was almost painfully loud. The funny thing was, their speakers were the indoor variety that had been "weatherproofed" Viet style. Basically this means putting them inside a large square plastic container and cutting a flap in the front. Chalk up another curiosity.

Our driver then managed to find us the 100 Roofs Cafe that we failed to find the previous night. It was closed and we suspect it was that way last night too because we walked past the entrance 3 times!

We asked the driver to recommend a restaurant so he took us down some winding back streets and dropped us out the front of one. It is likely that this was either family business or a friends but thats why we asked him. The food was delicious. Sue and Daniel opted for some more western style food - steak and chips. The steak was marinated Vietnamese style and Sue commented that you still couldn't get it like that back home anyway. Steve had prawns cooked in coconut juice. We've all decided we've had our last western food over here. Not much point going overseas if you're just going to eat the same food as what you get at home.

We paid the driver and wandered down to the markets. The Chinese dragons were out and about again, banging drums and clashing symbals. We were killing time until our flight so we just meandered through, looking at the multitude of things for sale. The fresh strawberries and blackberries were an odd site in what was predominanty purely tropical varieties.

We dropped into a cafe and discovered that the wait staff spoke zero English. Actually this is a rarity as most cafes and restaurants speak it pretty well. Daniel ordered a strawberry smoothy by pointing and running his finger under his choice on the menu. The problem is, the waitress thought he meant the selection under his finger which was.... wait for it... and avocado smoothie!!! Should have seen his face when this bright green concoction arrived. He took one sip and screwed his face up. Sue and Steve near wet themselves laughing. Steve had a go at it and decided that if you got over the fact its avocado, it was actually quite nice. We think they mixed it with coconut juice.

Next stop - Hoi An! Here are a few amusing observations thus far:

Strangest thing being transported on the back of a motorcycle:
>> A fridge in Dalat. Not a bar fridge, a full-sized friggin fridge strapped onto the bike like a pillion passenger!
>> Close second was in Saigon with 2 people on a bike with a 48cm TV (not a flatscreen) wedged between them.

Best miscommunication:
>> Daniel ordering a strawberry smoothie in Dalat and getting a bright green avocado one instead.
>> Daniel pointing at a taxi and saying "hey mum, there's a taxi" only to have him u-turn and pull up in front of us.

Most unusual toilet facilities:
>> Western style restaurant in Dalat. Flush mechanism was busted so we needed to scoop water from a big bin into the toilet. Also had a hand-sprayer that was used to hose out the whole room and everything was saturated.

Most unusual photo situation:
>> Being asked to step into photos for Asian tourists (twice in Dalat). They seem to like having westerners in their shots for some reason.

Craziest traffic situation:
>> Dodging motorcycles riding down the footpath in peak-hour traffic Saigon.

Craziest electrical sights:
>> Indoor fan bolted to a tree covered in a plastic bag to keep the rain out and electrical outlets / wiring screwed to the tree in an alfresco BBQ restaurant in Saigon.
>> Close second was in Dalat with indoor speakers "waterproofed" for outdoor use by mounting them inside a plastic box with a flap cut in the front.