Da Lat

Got dropped off in the centre of town after a 4 hour bus journey.  Found our hotel on a map, and after a 10 minute walk arrived.
'Ken's House, Backpack Hotel'. £8 a night with breakfast. Okay its only an omelette and bread, or bread and jam, coffee or tea, but it starts the day..

Nice, clean room with toilet and shower. Has its own balcony. Quite a few stairs to climb, so Mike was more than happy.

First thing we noticed was the drop in temperature, from 30°C to around 26. In the evening it actually drops as low as 17. So don't need air con at all.

There is a lot of produce grown in the area, from strawberries to potatoes to artichokes to coffee. It is also known as the flower garden of Vietnam.
The temperature is quite mild all the year round. It is a favourite destination for many Vietnamese. Consequently there are many hotels and guesthouses. A large market where you can buy many interesting things, eg a grain of rice with your name printed on. Beats a bullet any day!!

Because it is in the highlands there are many canyons and rivers. Lots of sports to be had. There is rock climbing, kayaking, mountain biking, and this activity called canyoning

Yvonne and Mike hadn't done canyoning before, so they signed up.....
It involves making progress along a canyon by abseiling, water sliding, jumping from ledges into the river, scrambling and swimming. Look it up, google dalat canyoning. Were part of a group of 12, Yvonne and mike were the wrinklies by 3 - 4 decades, well perhaps Mike was more of a wrinklie than Yvonne. The instructor gave us the nickname "mama and papa", and soon that's what everyone was calling us, lol.

Dalat is defiantly a place to visit if you come to Vietnam. Off on another trip tomorrow.

Leave you with some photos. What you get for £8 a night; Our room is the second balcony up; The Crazy House of Dalat; Yvonne abseiling down a 25 metre waterfall; 15 feet from the bottom the rope runs out and Yvonne has to throw herself out and let go; so does Mike.