It's all Dalat AND a bag of chips!

We made it to Dalat (once called Le Petit Paris) and enjoyed the cool weather and adventurous terrain that it had to offer. I went mountain biking and canyoning through a company called Phat Tyre ventures and had an absolute blast. Who would've "thunk" that I would do my first rappel in Vietnam.

But first, a quick recap on our accommodation. We stayed at the Dreams Hotel where a bed cost us $6 and it included an all you can eat breakfast buffet AND free internet access (it's the little things that keep a backpacker happy). We decided to stay an extra day doing nothing just for the breakfast! Fresh fruit (mangoes, dragon fruit, pineapple, papaya, banana, and water melon), coffee, tea, juice, freshly baked baguettes, cheese, yoghurt and eggs is what was included in the spread.

Top that with an incredibly nice owner (Yeung - One day she invited us to sit down and have lunch with her and her family as I was typing away - just an absolutely lovely woman) and hopefully you can see why we enjoyed our time there.

The mountain bike ride was difficult but well worth the pain (jumping on the bike to do 45KM with some serious steeps can hurt after being idle for 4 months) as we saw just about everything that day. Never have I been on a mountain bike ride where there was great single track through rice fields and luscious valleys

followed by views of coffee beans and broom bristles lining the road as they dry.

Add to that some climbing, fast descents, water crossings and village crossings (while kids chase you naked yelling "hellooo") and you have the recipe for one fine day.

We did have some casualties though as I went ahead of the guide who forgot to mention that a sharp right was coming up at the bottom of the hill. By the time he said "STOP", it was too late. I jammed on the brakes but my momentum carried me over the handle bars and into the river. I landed on my feet but my camera was in my pocket. Miraculously, it dried out and after some minor surgery, it's actually working better than before. The other was your standard flat tires. The trucks tire burst about 25 yards from us and scared the be-jesus out of me!

Got up the next day and went canyoning which is essentially trekking down a river. You walk on trails when you can but when it disappears, you wade, swim or just slide your way down. When you get to the top of a waterfall, you rappel or jump.

We did 4 rappells with that last one affectionately called the "washing machine". I'll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

Currently in a beach/fishing town called Mui Ne and and have been taking kite boarding lessons. Wind is relatively consistent here so it's kind of a Mecca for the sport in SE Asia. If I wasn't doing that, then wasting the days away on the beach or in the courtyard of our beach side cottages was our other "activity".

Graduated past the training kite (only broke one:) and got thrown pretty hard yesterday but feel confident to hopefully don the board in the near future(no wind the last 2 days) Leaving on a bus for Ho Chi Min City (Saigon) this afternoon where I only plan to spend the day before jumping on the plane on 12/13 to meet up with my honey in Manila. Until Next time!

FMP

PS - Here's something you don't see every day.