We were picked up at 7.30 am for our bus to Da lat. We like to travel early in the day to maximise our time in each place we visit. I usually sleep a bit more on the bus, with the help of my travel sickness tablets. I have to admit we were concerned when the bus showed up. Not massively concerned, just a small normal amount. The bus was small and cramped. Simon couldn’t even get his knees behind the seat in front and there were more people than seats in the minibus. Luckily, after a few more collections we transferred to a much nicer and cooler bus.

The drive was around 3 hours, taking us through beautiful mountain scenery. We stopped half way for a rest stop which was pretty in itself. After our rest stop we drove through a cloud. Very very bizarre to lose vision so much. Luckily, our driver had proven himself as capable and responsible in terms of speed so we weren’t worried. We saw a lot of areas along the road where the barrier had gone to stop people going off the cliff and there were quite a lot of landslides. We knew this road and the road from Da lat to Ho Chi Minh were notorious for accidents, but we felt safe the whole time.

We arrived and checked into our bargain accommodation. £8 a night for a private double, which actually had 2 double beds and a really good bathroom. It also included breakfast, so all in all the room was a bargain and really really good. It was called Da lat 24h guest house for anyone who may visit. We ate some lunch in the hotels restaurant, which was cheap and good too before we headed out to explore.

We started walking towards the old Da lat railway station as we wanted to catch the 2pm train up to Ling Phuoc Pagoda. We soon realised we weren’t going to walk there in time so jumped in a cab. We made it in plenty of time, but were told we couldn’t buy tickets for the 2pm. It wasn’t clear why and other people were confused too. We were pretty annoyed we rushed over for nothing, but decided if we had time we would come back for the 4pm.

We walked along Xuan Huong lake, on the way back into the city, which was pretty and relaxing. Da lat is much cooler as it is mountainous so it wasn’t anywhere near as strenuous to walk around in the afternoon here. We walked past the ‘chicken’ cathedral, named by the locals for the rooster wind vain on the top of the steeple. We were expecting more than that as the woman at reception at our hotel kept going on about the chicken cathedral far more than a little metal chicken deserved. Oh well…

We arrived at The Crazy House soon after the disappointing chicken cathedral. The crazy house is a building designed by a Vietnamese architect called Dang Viet Nga. She was the daughter of one of the Presidents on Vietnam and studied in Moscow for a few years. The building is designed as multiple treehouses with many unusual paths connecting them all. There is a nature theme here and the more you look, the more animal influences you see. I have to admit, we were both pretty disappointed by the crazy house. The house was far from finished, building work was going on everywhere so a lot of the site was unsafe. There were loose wires, rubble and rubbish piles everywhere. For a place that gets so much hype… we were bored within about 10 minutes. Sorry crazy house… you didn’t do it for us.

After the crazy house we managed to make it back to the railway station in time to get the 4pm ride up to the Ling Phuoc Pagoda. The ride itself was only 20 minutes, but it was lovely to see all the greenhouses in the countryside on the way. We walked around the pagoda for a while, but I didn’t bring a top that covered my shoulders so we couldn’t go inside. Before heading back down on the train we stopped at a locals cafe for a Vietnamese condensed milk coffee, which is always served with unlimited green tea. Yummy! We sat like locals on the side of the road and enjoyed the atmosphere of children coming home from school and people enjoying the last few hours of light.  We were pretty tired that night so ate in the hotel again and got an early night. The next day was going to be very exciting so we needed to get some good sleep.

We were picked up by our canyoning tour company, Highlands sport travel nice and early. We had been given multiple recommendations during our travels for this company so didn’t hesitate to book with them, even though they were a little more expensive. Safety is so important when doing an activity like this and we had read a few stories about deaths in the Da lat canyoning area over the last few years, including 3 Brits just a year before. Luckily, Annie and Tim had been able to book onto the tour too and after meeting the other 2 amazing couples on our tour we were ready and rearing to go.

We knew that this was going to push or limits a little bit and I made sure to not do too much research beforehand as to not worry myself unnecessarily. I knew we would be abseiling down waterfalls, jumping off cliffs, sliding down waterfalls, zipling and eating lunch and that’s it. We got geared up and had a safety briefing where were taught the basics on abseiling. I had only done something similar once in Mexico and Simon a few times as well. Soon though we were heading off to our first abseil. Simon decided to always volunteer first so I was always second… boo!! Maybe it was better to just get on with it. The first abseil went well and before we knew it, it was over! The sound of the nearby waterfall just added to the excitement an we couldn’t wait to go again.

We trekked though the jungle to our next abseil, a small abseil into a zipline. It was really interesting to watch them set up the lines from seemingly nothing and whilst we waited we chatted to all the other lovely couples. We both entered with quite a splash! So much fun.

 

Next we went for a slide in a waterfall. This was pretty scary, why? Because who knew what was under all that water. We had to lie down backwards and just let ourselves be taken by the water. The second time we went down as a pair. Great fun!

Next was the big one! A 25m waterfall and this time, we were going right through the middle of it. It is a really good job I didn’t see what we would have to do before, otherwise I think I would have been pretty worried. We had to take our shoes off as the waterfall was very slippery. Worrying sign number 1. We had a gradual decline and then it got steeper pretty quickly and at the same point the water got so vicious that we couldn’t see the guide at the top anymore. We had to receive all instructions from the guide at the bottom. We kept plodding down and soon we were being told to stop and let go. The rope had run out. Before we went we were told we would have to fall backwards for the last few metres, but nothing prepared me for how high we still were. He counted me down and I just went. Free falling backwards for about 4m. We weren’t allowed to jump feet first as the water was only 1.5m deep. Unfortunately, a few people forgot or just ended up going that way anyway.  They were fine though. It was so exhilarating. Unfortunately, I didn’t see Simon do his, but the photos show that he did it all with a lot of style.

After some more trekking it was time for some cliff jumping. As it’s the dry season we were advised to not do the 11m jump. Of course Simon and one other guy did it anyway. I stuck to the 7m jump… plenty big enough for me. Simon did the 7, 9 and 11m. Crazy boy!

Finally it was lunchtime and a chance to catch our breaths. We ate some yummy baguettes, fruit and banana cake to prepare ourselves for the last abseil… the washing machine. The name filled me with dread and i was right to be filled with dread. It wasn’t a long abseil, soon we were free hanging and had to lower ourselves into the waterfall. I slipped on the first part and then faffed around trying to get my footing for a while. Soon enough though I was lowering myself into the crashing waterfall. Here is where I should have taken a big breath… I didn’t. At the bottom you just have to let go and the waterfall eventually spits you out. This took around 15 seconds though. I was gasping for air by the time I surfaced. I think I looked like a fish coming up and it took me a little while to recover. Simon loved this one and wanted to go again. Give me the big one any day.

After a trek back to the van we were done. It had been an amazing fun filled and exhilarating day. I’m so glad we pushed our limits and did it as so many people we met didn’t canyon in Da lat. Such a shame as it has been one of our favourite days so far! How many people can say they abseiled in or near to  4 waterfalls! 🙂

That night we went out for dinner and drinks with the whole canyoning crew. They were such a lovely bunch of people and we had the perfect evening to end a perfect day. We started with a drink at the crazy bar/maze bar/100 rooftops. This place has so many different names online,  but ultimately it’s a bar version of the crazy house and so much better! It is so detailed and you can absolutely get lost in there. We found the rooftop just in time for the sunset over Da lat. Magical. At dinner Simon and I had a bottle of wine for the first time since New Year. In New Zealand we reached the conclusion that the climate in parts of Vietnam must be perfect for wine and finally we had been proven right.  We enjoyed a lovely bottle of Da lat excellance.

The next day we went on another day tour to see the countryside of Da lat. Due to the cooler climate, Da lat is a hub for flower farming, coffee plantations and cricket farms. Here are the stops we made on our tour:

The train station for a quick look around.

A flower farm. This one mainly grew roses. 12 for $1.

A cricket farm. We both tried a cricket. I wasn’t massively keen even though it just tasted like fried veg. Simon ate about 20… We also drank some rice wine here.

A silk factory. This whole process is so fascinating.

A weasel coffee plantation. I was a little concerned about the animal welfare side of this, but this farm at least seemed ok. So what happens? During the October to January period, the coffee trees bear fruit. The weasels go along and eat the coffee and the berry is digested. The enzymes in the weasels stomach are meant to increase the flavour of the coffee bean, which is ultimately pooped out and collected. We weren’t too impressed with the flavour of the 2 beans we tried. They were pretty bitter and I wouldn’t say worth the extra money people were paying for it.

Elephant falls. There were some very cute puppies here too.

Linh An Pagoda and the Happy Buddha statue. He was so happy!!!!

A Lat tribal village. These people live off the land. They were so happy and smiley and we found out that the women ask the men to marry them in this tribe.

The whole countryside tour was great and we learnt loads about how the people lived and made money in the Da lat area. Da lat had been brilliant. Cool in temperature and also cool in terms of fun and exciting things to do.