Well were now down in Dalat and moving onto Saigon (HCMC) tomorrow. Times moving so quickly at the moment that we can't keep up. We've done so much that it's impossible to get it all down.
However we now feel we are fully fledged travellers. It's only taken us 10 months to achieve this status but now that we've finally done an over night bus for 14hrs we feel we are now there. It's difficult to decide which has been the worst form of transport as although they're excruciatingly painful they aren't without their charms. For instance the two day slow boat in Laos was a bum numbing experience with nowhere to escape but on the other hand you met so many great people and the scenery was breathtaking. In fact thats the upside of all the travel, the scenery (apart from overnight bus, couldn't see much then) without it the question would be whats the point. We met a couple who came on the motorbikes with us today and they're going the same direction as us but flying everywhere. Now for them it works out ok because they're on a short holiday but it got me to thinking it would have been nice to fly but then I realised we would have missed out on so much above the clouds. That isn't however to say you will ever find me doing a two day slow boat ride again. We've experienced it now so thats that. They say that how you get there is part of the journey.
Apart from travelling point to point the other best way in our opinion to see the country (apart from trekking) is by Motorbike. It's so much better than been couped up in a cramped minibus. The two best tours we've had so far was 1)in Hue with a cafe called 'Thu on Wheels' and 2)here in Dalat with the 'Pink Hotel'. You got to see so much and they kept to their word of taking you outside of the tourist areas, which is always a plus. I think if we didn't have such huge backpacks then we may have ridden the whole of the country, maybe one for next time!
As a quick note if your in Vietnam then you have to make a stop in Hoi An if only to get your tailor made clothes. Within 24hrs we had a silk dress, 2 trousers and a new winter jacket made for $50us. God in England you couldn't get a FC T-shirt for that price. Needless to say we will be in touch with the tailors when we return home as they will deliver abroad, all we have to do is e-mail our sizes (I work on commission for placing orders).
Dalat Hotels
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