Dalat

Wow, nearly got this up to date after my prior laziness.

Now my last night in Dalat...there's not much to do in the town itself ( a cable car with some pretty good views, some nice French-Alpine chalet architecture, a large lake and a pretty accurate replica of the Effiel Tower (its a radio mast). The highlight of Dalat has been 2 motorcycle rides out of town with the Easyriders. This loose collection of - mostly quite elderly - tourguides has been in business for over a decade. Day trips allow you to see plenty of villages and farms as well as a cool waterfall (Elephant Falls) - of course, the idea is you should then opt for a longer tour.

The most common route is up through the central Highlands and then up the Ho Chi Minh trail (originally a set of narrow jungle paths used by the VC to transport weapons and supplies to the separate-South) - now most of the paths have been turned into roads...

I'm leaving with one of these Easyriders (the fantastically named Mr Happy) tomorrow for a 2 day trip up through the Highlands, staying (I think) in a minority village and visiting a national park. After that I'm probably heading to Nha Trang for some beachside RnR but may go on all the way up to Hoi An (if I decide I can foord the 50USD a day)...from what I've seen of the Central Highlands so far, the scenery is spectacular and it'll be nice to be away from the herd for a few days.

Should be awesome...