Our "sleeper" bus left Quy Hnon 45 minutes late and arrived in Dalat 2.5 hours early at 4:30 am. Due to some good drugs, I slept through most of the trip but according to others who were awake, the early arrival was due to the driver taking most of the mountainous road corners at a on two wheels. We had a spare bus driver, but he was sleeping on a foamie in the aisle. Thankfully, all I can remember is an elderly, slightly confused Vietnamese lady sitting across the aisle from me trying very hard to engage me in conversation, which was difficult because she didn't speak English and, well, all I know how to say in Vietnamese is "Good Morning". Oh yeah, the puking people. I do remember that.

At 4:30 am, Dalat was sleeping. The temperature was quite cool as it is located in Vietnam's South Central Highlands at about 2000 m.

We found a coffee shop, then we wandered around until hotels started to open. We bought the most delicious ham and cheese croissant from a street vendor and eventually found a nice, basic room ($25 incl. breakfast), dumped our packs, and headed out to explore. We found a large market where we people-watched while munching on market food. At one point I was standing on the sidewalk, shading my eyes with my hand, when an old man approached, saluted me and then shook my hand in both of his. We could only assume that he thought we were Americans? Maybe?

The town has a distinctly French feel due mostly to its architecture and the amazing baguettes and croissants sold by street vendors. Dalat is a popular honeymoon destination for young Vietnamese couples hence the swan pedal boats on the man-made lake in the centre of town. Dalat's temperate climate makes it an ideal location for agriculture - most notably coffee and flowers but it also produces silk. There are vineyards too, but the white wine is bad. Apparently, the red is drinkable.

After the war, the government relocated people from over-populated Hanoi to this part of the country and told them to figure it out. They ended up logging the jungle for agriculture. The area not used for agriculture was replanted with pine. It looks very similar to some parts of BC; in fact, it reminded me of the Heffley Creek area just outside of Kamloops, at the base of Tod Mountain. The forest is strictly protected. If a farmer is caught harvesting one tree, he is fined. More than one tree and he could go to jail.

We had dinner at a little restaurant called Trong Dong. There was a group of people at another table and while eavesdropping, we thought we heard someone say "Prince George". Later, we asked one of the men from that table if we had heard correctly and sure enough - the man was Dave Ritchie (Ritchie Bros.). He, along with his wife and several others, were in Vietnam on a bike tour.

The following day we hired a tour guide (Bay, sounds like buy and means #7) and spent the day travelling around the countryside. We visited Lat Village, a "minority people's" village, huge flower growing operations (hectares of Gerber daisies and roses), coffee plantations (blossoms smell wonderful!), a cricket slaughterhouse (I'm just quoting from the business card), silkworms and silk factory, and a waterfall.

We actually ate some deep-fried crickets proving that I really will eat anything as long as it's deep-fried. We refused the silkworm though. We had some nasty “wine” that tasted more like Everclear – turned out to be snake wine. Do not recommend.

The visit to the Elephant Waterfall was an experience. We were crawling over and around big boulders to make our way to the base of the waterfall. In Canada the whole thing would have been cordoned off and fall protection would be required.

We also stopped at a very humble house. The family was working in the side yard, under a large tarp, making brooms. I told Greg that if I ever again complain about cleaning the house, he can slap me. These people work so hard in the heat and for so little. It's a reality check.

Tomorrow it’s back to Ho Chi Minh City, then off to Cambodia. I will miss the baguettes ...