Yet another long and horrific bus ride awaited us. There seems to be a trend of bad experiences lately. It was another 6 hours through mountainous windy roads. At one point the bus stalled heading up a mountain stretch and it took a few minutes to start back up. Again no sleep on the bus ride. We got off the bus and checked into the first hotel we could find. A 3 person bedroom for $15 was actually really nice compared to our rooms in Nha Trang. After checking into our rooms we paid $10 each for a chauffeured tour of Dalat. We only had a half day so the tour was cut in half. We tried to bargain because it wasn’t a full tour but the salesman wasn’t buying it. Anyways we paid it and set off to see the city.

First stop was the cable cars from the top down to the bottom. It was neat to actually see Dalat from that high up. It reminds me of a small French town. I can see why many Vietnamese vacation here. It has a very French influence. When we got down to the bottom we checked out the Pagoda. It really wasn’t much of anything. It had a nice garden and that was about it. The next stop was actually a waterfall and quite cool. Good thing I brought my tripod with me. I got a few slow shutter shots. I hope they turn out well. The hike down to the fall was an easy descent but the hike back up was not. All 3 of us were about to pass out at the top. The next stop was the Lake. I don’t remember what the lake was called but it was very serene. We caught the sun as it was just about to set. The skies we’re still a little grey so I think some Photoshop will be needed for these pictures. The last stop on our tour was Crazy Hang Na’s house. This part of the tour was really weird. The lady was an architect who studied in Russia. The house, strangely enough resembled somewhat of an Alice in Wonderland design. Everything was dark and dreary. I can only describe it like a Disneyland. Lots of weird stairs that lead to odd places within the compound. It was really dark in there so I don’t think my pictures turned out so well. The tour ended and we returned to our hotel before heading out for food.

The restaurant we ate at wasn’t cheap. We paid about $20 for 3 of us and the service was awful. We noticed a few times the server sitting down and eating and it took quite awhile to get our food. Good thing a tip isn’t expected because they wouldn’t have gotten much. Javson was complaining the whole time because he runs a Malaysian restaurant and he kept pointing out what he would do differently. After dinner was spent perusing the outdoor market. It was pretty much an open flea market. All I bought was some local tea for my mom. We went back to our hotel after and watched some TV. A short and quick stop in Dalat. Tommorrow we head to Saigon by bus. I’m not looking forward to the ride.