LittleSandyBeach

We had a great time celebrating the 80th anniversary of Vietnam’s independence in Nha Trang. We went to April 2nd Square on the main beach where they had set up a huge stage with live performances.

Luckily, the rain held off to allow the low altitude fireworks by the beach. They were 15 minutes long and extremely loud, lots of crying kids getting carried away!

The next day we went on a 5km stroll along the beach and found a nice cafe with Koi fish.

The cheapest way to travel to Da Lat was a luxury minivan. We were pleasantly surprised with the mood lighting, free water and big reclining chairs.

The journey was only 3 hours and we had a stop halfway next to a river. It was very picturesque.

When we arrived in Da Lat the heavens decided to open just as we were transferring our bags into a Grab (that was the size of a smart car) to get to our homestay.

When we booked our homestay we decided to upgrade to have a balcony for only £1 extra. All in, it was £3.50 each per night our cheapest accommodation yet and bloody lovely!

Our first stop in Da Lat was to visit the Crazy House. This unusual building was designed by a Vietnamese architect as a personal project and was opened to the public in 1990 as a hotel.

It was a lot bigger than we thought with lots of high walkways and bridges connecting all the different buildings.

Inside had a small museum display which showed all the original blueprints of the buildings and gardens in an underwater themed space.

We then headed over to the Maze Bar as we’d heard it was an interesting place. It is free to enter with the purchase of a drink at the door.

We can’t quite explain the labyrinth of winding tunnels, secret staircases and various themed rooms. The goal is to reach the rooftop where another bar awaits with a secret garden…

After enjoying our drink, we began our descent trying to remember the way. Luckily we only had one beer, not sure how this would end after a few!

As Da Lat is mountainous there are many different alleyways with cobbled streets. Our homestay has decorated their wall in the alleyway and we very much approve!

Today we visited Datanla Waterfalls. To get to the waterfalls, you take the biggest alpine coaster in Asia which is over 2,400 metres long. It’s our favourite coaster so far as it winds through lush pine forests.

We were very impressed with the first waterfall where you can feed the fish and have an iced tea. You can also watch people zipline overhead across the waterfalls.

We then hiked to see the other two waterfalls. It was very nice with just the sound of the jungle, as everyone else didn’t seem too keen to climb that many steps!

Unfortunately, when we got to the last waterfall Tasha was captured by King Kong!

As always, with the circle of life just around the corner a new being was just hatching.

This afternoon we ventured out on the main lake in the centre of Da Lat on a pedalo. For only £2 for one hour it was a great way to top up the tan.

We leave Da Lat tomorrow morning for a 5.5 hour journey to Mui Ne. Time to see some Vietnamese sand dunes!