Dreams Hotel Dalat

One ting I forgot to mention about Nha Trang (sorry about the Irish accent) was the size of the rats. They were really Dinky. They scurried around in and out of the alleyway between our Top Class restaurant and next door. We think the reason why they were there was because the restaurants placed their rubbish in plastic bags directly into the gutter and as soon as they did that, a little old Vietnamese lady would peedle by (sorry about the Allo Allo accent) on her bike and cut through the bag...

Dalat is about 5 hours from Saigon by road. Oddly, I was the only Westerner on the bus that morning. During the trip my bag in the undercarriage of the bus had a run-in with durian. Durian is a large spikey, green shelled beast of a fruit that reeks like week-old trash when cut open. Many hotels and airlines in Asia have banned the fruit due to its strong "fragrance". Unfortunately my bus allowed it and my bag arrived in Dalat smelling like road kill. A few days of airing out on my hotel balc...

Day 79 - This morning I went to sit by the beach and enjoy the morning sun and quiet atmosphere, but so many people kept coming up and harrassing me, selling postcards and offering motorcycle tours etc - forcing them in my face or sitting down next to me when I said no - it was quite infuriating and I couldn't bare it so I went back to the hotel, checked out and got a motorcycle to the bus station! The driver took me straight to the minivan heading to Dalat and the bus driver and ticket man w...

We took a clapped out old mini-bus to the city of Dalat in the Central Highlands, a bone-shaking, kidney-juggling, teeth-rattling journey of 3 hours. The mechanics had long ago decided that it was easier to simply discard any suspension parts and simply weld the body directly to the axles. The roads were so broken up and in such a terrible condition that we were bumped around for pretty much the entire journey. It got so bad in one place that Dean decided to do some disco dancing at the back ...

Hi all. Yet another 6 hour bus ride lay ahead of us as we left the hustle and bustle of HCMC and headed up through the mountain region of Vietnam to Dalat. It was a Sunday and it must be good luck to get married on Sundays in Vietnam as we saw about a dozen different weddings on the way. The restaurants had guests spilling out onto the streets drinking,and music blaring all well before 11am! The scenery started to change quite quickly once we left HCMC, there seemed to be villages the entire ...

A day at the beach is enough so we head for the Highlands of Dalat first thing in the morning. It's a twisty road with lots of hairpin bends, and by the time we reach the very alpine, colonial suburbs of this hilltop town, at least 3 of our near neighbours on the coach are puking. I didn't realise asians were more prone to motion sickness. After checking into the very nice Dreams2 hotel, we have lunch in the Peace Cafe (man) and from then on pretty much give up our freewill! The tourist "thin...

Easy Riding in Da Lat 2nd February 2007 It's an early bus ride to the small town of Dalat which primarily supplies fresh fruit and vegetables to the immediate region . It is also the most popular place for the Vietnamese to take their honeymoons as it is both cooler in temperature (due to it's elevation at just over 1500m) and its beautiful location. Dalat also became important as the French Colonialists used it for holidays and an artists retreat. The bus ride is fine but long taking around ...

5th to 8th Sept 2007 Well during the last few days I have been just relaxing in Nha Trang, either sitting on the beach or walking round the town. Loads of Italian restaurants in town, best one is Marinellas, and plenty of watering holes too. On the 6th, I booked a boat trip come booze cruise visiting 4 islands off the coast of Nha Trang. At the first island, Mun Island, we had the chance to swim in the sea and snorkel, it was good and refreshing. We then headed off to the next island and had ...

Tuesday morning we board a bus for a long 6 hour ride to Dalat, in the mountains to the South East of Nha Trang. It is apparently the place where many Vietnamese couples spend their honeymoon, so we are looking forward to a nice romantic setting. Along the way we stop at the usual roadside markets, snack spots, pit stops and try our hand conversing with the local people traveling with us. On arrival at Dalat, the bus delivers us to our pre-booked accommodation at DREAMS Hotel 2, (USD 18 delux...

It's my final night in Dalat, and I've really loved it here.

Today was the best day of my trip so far, as I went on a day trek into the Central Highlands, just me and my guide, Ro. (Phat Tyre Ventures, I highly recommend them). It was a pretty trough trek though, not for the faint hearted. The weather was beautiful, really hot at times, and the scenery was breathtaking. The route began at Tiger Waterfall and headed up and over, towards the river. I coped (just, with self-talk and swea...