Biking around Dalat

Today we woke up to a much drier Dalat. We had breakfast at the hotel, which was amazing - it was buffet style and had tonnes of exotic fruit so we got to try all the things we'd seen in the markets but had no idea what they were. They even had Marmite!
We then went to meet Gurn to collect our motorbike for the day. We thought it would be some rubbish moped but it was a pretty powerful Yamaha. Automatic fortunately!
Gurn showed us on a few maps some places to go and still a bit unsure where we were going we ventured out of the city. Mark was driving but Rach did get to have a go this time (further than 3 metres!) We first went to the Elephant Falls. The drive there was spectacular and we stopped on various occasions to take pictures. It took a while to find and we got a bit lost but didn't mind as we were having so much fun whizzing around the mountains. We eventually found it and were very impressed by this huge waterfall. We saw people climbing down next to it so did the same. It really was amazing and one of the coolest things we've ever done. We clambered down the wet slippery rocks, got soaking wet and covered in mud but eventually managed to get right down behind the waterfall. It was incredible; the sound was deafening and the spray of water drenched us. We wanted to take pictures but we didn't dare get the camera out as it was so wet. (Yes Beck we've bought a little digital in Bangkok but even this wouldn't have survived.)
Back on the bike we soon dried off in the blaring sunshine. We drove back towards Dalat and then headed south in search of some more falls. Instead we somehow stumbled upon a stunning lake surrounded by little restaurants and bars. We decided to get some lunch so pulled up at a little place where we were warmly welcomed by a group of women. They gave us tea and asked what we'd like to eat. We explained that Rach was vegetarian which they fortunately understood. They gave us little baguettes and laughing cow cheese cubes. Sounds funny but it was so simple, we loved it! We sat overlooking the lake and discussed wanting to come back before we'd even left.
After lunch we got a bit lost again - too blinded by the stunning views to pay attention to where we were going. After getting our bearings we headed towards another set of waterfalls. About half way there the clouds darkened and the heavens opened. We pulled in under a bus shelter hoping it would be a short downpour but it continued for the rest of the afternoon. Back on the bike we didn't care as it was so much fun speeding through puddles and getting soaked by tidal waves of water as trucks passed us. We decided to sack off the waterfalls though and head back to Dalat as we could bearly see 10 yards in front of us! We've never seen rain like it, we were soaked through to our undies by the time we got back which Gurn found hilarious as it had been completely dry there.
We came back to the hotel and warmed up in our high powered, swanky shower.
Tomorrow we are going canyoning and can't wait. Dalat is by far our favourite place so far and we can't wait to see more of it. We may even do another day on the bike!
Love to all
Rach & Mark. xxx

Dalat to see you, to see you Dalat!

Sorry for the weird title - after being on the bus for 8 hours cabin fever has set in! Or maybe it's the thinner air up here. Our first impression of Dalat was 'it's very different to anywhere else we've been so far' and despite it being dark and drizzling we warmed to place straight away. The journey has taken us up into the Central Highlands of Vietnam where the air is cooler, the hills are covered in lush greenery and the scenery is breathtaking.
The travelling is definitely mellowing Mark (control freak) as he happily hopped on the back of a scooter to be taken the last 1km after the bus dropped us off in the town!
We dumped the bags off at Dreams Hotel and walked around the town briefly (with fleeces on) before finding a place for dinner (Art Cafe) and THANK GOD at last great food!
We're going to spend a couple of days here and have already planned several trips with Gurn (a friend of Jen and Joe's!). Tomorrow we're hiring a moped to visit several of the sights, on Sunday we're going canyoning and then we're going to cycle for two days around the Highlands and then onto Nha Trang on the coast. Mark has already lost weight so with this exercise he'll be a 32 waist soon!
So expect several bumper packed blog updates over the next couple of days.
Love to all.
Mark & Rach. xxx
PS - Frank help yourself to the red wine - we've been craving some accompanied by a cheese board!

Saigon as the locals call it (HCMC)

Saigon

Beware of the motorpeds is the key message when walking in Saigon - even on the side walks!

All you need to do is walk across the sea of the waspy engines slowly, alert and not make any sudden movements. Understanding that law for walkers we ventured out into the city to explore a number of the sights using the Lonely Planet (LP) as a reference only.

Saigon is very much a cross between Bangkok and New Delhi (more towards Bangkok which is good). Walking at a slower pace than we normally do our first stop was the Hoi Ch Minh Museum - a grand colonial building but the contents - not that impressive apart from the various vehicles used to smuggles guns and people during the wars and the miltary bits of kit parked outside.

One of the biggest attractions (if you call it that) is the War Remnants Museum which explains the Vietnam War in the eyes of the locals and various international journalists. There is no Hollywood glamour when you walk around looking at the photos taken during the battles and understanding the pain people went through and for some continue to do so today.

With our new found walking speed lunchtime was upon us and as we were making our way to the Reunification Palace we spotted a local place to rest our legs and replenish. It had disaster written on the next 30 minutes when we noticed they didn't have a menu outside to pass judgement. The place was clean and the staff happy as they sat us down. Presenting menus we hadn't a clue despite it being in English and ordered blindly. Minutes later Mark's dish arrived - a sort of pancake with Watercress, pork and prawns inside. Then arrived Rach's dish! She'd had obviously opted for a vegetarian dish. The waitress showed us what to do by taking a selection of salad leaves and wrapping the pancake filling to make another type of pancake! As she made a start on Rach's dish but we noticed it had meat and pwrawns in it. After spending 5 minutes trying to explain the issue and the waitress returning with several other dishes (the meat just taken out of the original one,and one with just prawns) fortunately a man appeared who spoke English. He explained that the 'meat' was infact tofu in the shape of pork belly and prawns! If that was the case they were certainly very good lookalikes. Slightly put off and embarassed Rach didn't eat anything and Mark just picked at his after discovering it didn't taste that great anyway.

Not replenised we continued our journey and went into the Reunification Palace. Now, it is not like you would imagine if you closed your eyes and pictured a palace. It was a 1960s concrete building that looked more like an office block you see in an industrial park. It was where the Southern Vietnamese Government ran the country until the North invaded and crashed a tank through the main gates and took power in 1975. As we left Mark summed up his thoughts saying 'Hmmmmm.' Two unrewarding experiences in a row.

We headed back to the hotel and on route booked our transport for Dalat - yep you've guest it another 7 hour bus trip was to come!

That evening we went to the Sheraton Saigon to the roof top bar (a treat!) and sat watching the day close while having a beer. Again using the LP as the guide we picked a restaurant nearby and hoped it would fulfil our needs. We walked there to find the building knocked down! Walking back to the hotel Mark was considering binning the LP. Nearer the hotel we found a restaurant and being tired (of walking and failure!) we ordered! Lets just say we have yet to experience a culinary delight in Vietnam. Tomorrow we head for Dalat and the mountanins - please let there be good food and places that are open!

Hope all is good at home.

Love

Mark & Rach. xxx

PS - Liz I'm very impressed by the baking. I hope others are contributing (not just Rob)! Good luck for tomorrows game, someone text the result please.

Good morning Vietnam!

Tuesday - Phnom Penh to Chau Doc
Yesterday morning we got the boat down the Mekong river from Phnom Penh to Chau Doc. We were told it would take 4 hours but it ended up being nearly 6.
The boat was quite small with no more than 10 people on board, including four people from Spain. We decided to sit out the back of the boat so we could take pictures and were soon joined by our fellow Europeans! One of them had brought a picnic which included baguettes, various meats, cheeses, olives and a bottles of red wine. He swigged the wine out of the bottle and passed it around for us to share; much appreciated by me and Mark. It did, however, make us feel a bit embarrassed by our poor excuse for lunch which consisted of a tube of Pringles and a packet of Ritz biscuits. We offered them round but funny enough no takers!
The first part of the journey was fantastic with beautiful views of the Mekong river and friendly conversation with all of speaking fluent English!
About 2 hours in the cloud came over and and it started to rain heavily. We had to sit inside the boat and the driver had to slow right down as he couldn't see where he was going.
Despite her boat history Rach did really well and wasn't sick once!
As we approached Chau Doc we came across a stranded boat that had broken down so we had to tug that along to, slowing down our journey even more. We finally docked at around 5pm and walked with the Spanish couple (Eva and Jordi) to find a hotel and after looking at a couple we decided to go with one for $13 including breakfast. We dumped the bags, met Eva and Jordi and went to find a bar, badly in need a beer. Bia Saigon is the local brew so we sampled a few of those! Eventually we went in search of some well needed food and found a place that more resembled a street side bar than a restaurant. It was cheap and sold Bia Saigon so we were happy! Again we managed to pick some Vietnamese phrases that would help us.
Wednesday - Chau Doc to Hoi Chi Minh City (HCMC)
This morning we got the 9am bus from to HCMC. It was another long journey which in total took 8 hours. The bus was ok but as we also found in Cambodia they played music videos on full volume for the entire journey! Even the ipod on full blast didn't block out the irritating sound of Vietnamese music! Funny enough neither of us slept a wink.
It got worse though when part way through the journey the woman behind Mark threw up in the aisle and underneath the seat! It ran all the way down the bus and stank but didn't get cleared up until over an hour later when we stopped.
We were very relieved to arrive in HCMC at around 4.30pm. After a taxi ride and a bit of lost wandering around we found our hotel which seems really nice.
We plan to spend a couple of days here and then head north to Dalat!
Hope all is good at home, thanks for all the messages and emails!
Lots of Love
Rach & Mark. xxx

Back in Phnom Penh

Hi All,
Today we left Sihanoukville and got the bus back to Phnom Penh. We had a really relaxing couple of days down on the coast but the beaches weren't what we were expecting. They say it is the Costa Del Sol of Cambodia but we didn't think so. We think the bad weather had damaged a fair bit of the beach strip and many bars looked as though they'd been flooded. Fortunately we had a great hotel and pool!
Tomorrow we catch the boat down the Mekong River to Chau Doc (Vietnam) and then plan to get a bus across to Hoi Chi Minh City to start our Vietnam adventure.
It was really lovely to speak to the families on Sunday and we can't believe a month has already flown by! The next post will include pictures we promise. There is quite a high risk of bag snatching in the cities and haven't had the camera as much as we should.
Lots of Love
Rach & Mark. xxx

Sihanoukville

Today we travelled to Sihanoukville down on the south west coast of Cambodia. The journey was ok and took about 4 hours. We used Mekong express buses again, which run a good service and after road travel in India we feel very safe!
On arrival at the bus station we got mobbed by tuk tuk drivers who tried to charge us $6 to get to our hotel. Fortunately we were well read and had seen something in the lonely planet about scams. After threatening to walk onto the road where we knew we'd get a much cheaper ride they caved in and said it would only cost $2 - the price we'd first stated! We checked into our hotel which is really good, with a pool. All for $18 plus breakfast. Went to explore a couple of the beaches close by and got harassed by lots of hawkers trying to sell all sorts. Fortunately both hardened by India it didn't put us off a beer looking out to sea!
Back at the hotel this afternoon and relaxed by the pool, planning to explore more tomorrow.
Lots of love
Rach & Mark. xxx

The Killing Fields

On arrival the first sound and an uncomfortable one after visiting S-21 (the old high school) yesterday was as we entered the memorial site we could hear children playing in the distance from a nearby school. Again the site was located on the edge of a very normal village and at the centre stood the stupa that was built to remember those who had died. We walked around in silence and observed the peace and tranquilty that now exists despite knowing what occured just over 30 years ago. There were over 80 mass graves excavated, some with information on what was found within. There are still over 100 graves believed to be uncovered. Overall a thought provoking place and something that we will never forget.
Returning on the tuk-tuk we hired to take us to the Killing Fields we got another glimpse of normal life for the Cambodian people. As we neared the city centre the heavens opened and we got caught in the biggest downpour we have had so far - fortunately we were dry in our tuk-tuk. Within a couple of minutes the rain disappeared and the sun was shining again. We spent the rest of the afternoon chilling at a riverside bar before heading back to our $10 room. Its our last night in Phnom Penh before catching the bus to Sihnoukville at 7am!
Love
Mark & Rach. xxx