Damsan Hotel Buon Ma Thuot

Upp pa motorcykeln igen efter nagon dags vila. Nu skulle vi till Nha Trang, men forst ta en tur runt Da lat igen och sen overnatta vid Lak lake.<br>Efter 2 natter pa 4 stjarnigt hotell och en riktigt monstermassage sa var jag och wille hyffsat redo for resan.<br><br>Efttersom vara guider trodde att vi var fattiga studenter sa hade de givt oss rabatt, sa da skulle de se lite fel ut att komma utgaende fran ett stort flaskigt hotell. Sa vi traskade ivag till varat forsta ...

This morning we woke up to a lovely sunny day. We packed up the bikes and set of to a local village. The village was one of the 52 ethnic minorities in Vietnam and these happen to live in whats called a long house (yes because it is very long) We wandered around the village for a while and even saw some tourists riding elephants thru the village. We then passed the morning cattle strole and went to a brick factory where we saw how they made the ...

This morning the lads strapped our backpacks to the bike and we set off to the hills of Vietnam. It was awesome. We stopped of at mushroom farms, local villages, ate local food.. It was such a cool day. It started to rain for about 10mins so the lads just pulled over at someones house (a hut) and we went inside, sat down and had some fruit we had bought earlier. We asked the guys did they know the owner and they just laughed saying it doesnt work like that ...

... bike. I get lost often and if you've seen one lake you have seen them all. <br><br>So off I went to the park. I got directions from the guy who rented the bike. "Take the second on the left and keep driving straight (for 42 km). With directions like that I couldn't miss it. Well ok, I still made it to the park. <br> <br><br>There are ...

... the coffee capital of Vietnam. <br>Well Buon Ma Thout is a nice place especially if you speak Vietnamese, so back to the days of pointing and gesturing. I survived, I found food at the market and created a crowd while I ate. Everyone just stopped and watched. <br>This is the capital of Da Lak Province you would think they were use ...

... s ever met me will know, and as such I really don't need that sort of encouragement! Also the thought, of people in football shirts downing pints and being sick in the street is losing it's appeal, and besides, I'll be home soon and can always go out in Swindon. Anyway, I decided to give it a miss and stick to the route in-land, for more of the Lancastrian welcomes and in the hope of spotting a whippet to go with my flat cap. I've just discovered that the Lonely Planet ...

... but it was the 'real' Vietnam... Day One (11 April 09): * A tourist village just outside of Nha Trang that was built by a Russian man with Vietnamese government money who then took off with the money before the village was completed. It looked like a great complex (interesting because the buildings imitated a certain type of home in an actual minority village)... it was unfortunate it was never completed. * A fishing village and fishing sorting/ice packing ...

... platter of noodles, herbs, crispy things and satay sauce to roll up) which was delicious! Here we met a lovely guide called Mr Vu who took us on some scooters around the countryside for a couple of days. We went with him to the nearby national park where he pointed out all the flora and fauna with expertise demonstrating how you can live off the forest. We saw loofahs ...

... people, animals, crops etc. etc.. We arrived Into BMT late and had traditional spring rolls for dinner comprised of rice paper, deep fried rice paper, grilled pork, various salads and a peanut sauce. Very tasty! Temperatures surprisingly similar to the coast, no break from the heat as was expected. 11/03/2009 Got up early and jumped on a local bus out to Lak Village, just over an hour out of Buon Ma Thuot. After some food ...

... only people there apart from a group of Vietnamese guys in the next pool along that were on the beers already having a bbq, they kept asking us to go over but we didn't fancy the climb over the rocks. Back on the bikes for quite a lot of driving after that, stopped for lunch and had fresh springrolls that we made ourselves, one of our best meals so far. Mr Hai would keep disappearing during meals but come back with ...