Mui Ne, Da Lat, Nha Trang

Ben and I have just spent 3 nights in each of Mui Ne and Da Lat (connected by several perilous bus journeys), kite surfing and chilling out (respectively!) in Mui Ne and hiking and seeing the beautiful countryside in and around Da Lat. Ben is very proud of his kitesurfing efforts, so here he is in all his glory....

The southeastern coast and the central highlands are a picturesque part of the world, with huge sand dunes along the coast, beautiful mountains further inland and green fields and trees stretching as far as the eye can see. Although the roads were terrible and the driving dangerous, the bus journey from Mui Ne to Da Lat gave interesting insight into rural Vietnamese life. As we drove through and past small villages of wooden painted huts, set among paddy fields and alongside various expanses of water, we overtook huge tractor-like contraptions, motorbikes laden with all sorts of goods for the markets - huge bunches of lavender, coconuts, chicken coops, pigs - trailers piled high with logs and women sat on top, and more!

In Da Lat, we decided to rent a motorbike and risk the roads - and we had a fantastic day exploring the surrounding area, seeing the Datanla waterfall and visiting the pagoda, summer palace and crazy house.... yes, a crazy house - there is no better way of describing it! A woman designed and had built her own house. She must have been a mentalist, but it's fun to look around and you can even stay there these days! Though presumably during the day your hotel room becomes tourist fodder, so I'm not sure why you would choose to....We also hiked to the top of the tallest peak in the Central Highlands - at 2169m - the climb up to which included parts at 45 degrees steep, and involved hauling oursleves up using tree roots. It reminded us of the fabled Jack's Rake in the Lake District, but was worth the effort and the sweat for the fantastic panoramic views across the valley and the other mountains from the top. On the local bus back to Da Lat, I was touched to be presented with a box of mostly melted strawberry sorbet by an elderly lady - I think she must have taken one look at my bright red, sweaty face and felt sorry for me!
We chose to spend one night in Nha Trang en route to Hoi An, and having been there it's a shame we couldn't stay longer - the town seems to be decked out for package tourists which means it's actually quite a pleasant and fun place to spend a few days on the beach - lovely loungers in the shade, fancy yet affordable restaurants and bars directly on the beach with dancefloors at night, watersports if you are so inclined.... Cramming all of this into one night, which also coincided with Paddy's Day, meant that getting up at 5am this morning to come to Hoi An was a bit of a wound for us both!