January 15th to 22nd - Central Highlands and the East Coast

Modes of transportation: bike, bus

Places visited: Dalat, Hoian, Hue

Costs of things: Beer (65 cents), Meals ($3 to $7), hotel ($15 to $25)

Roads travelled on by bike: new highway from Dalat to Nha Trang, National Highway 1.

Bloody Tourist trap! Okay, okay, it wasn't that bad. Minus the constant haggling, pesky moto drivers and often rude locals refusing to serve you, the natural scenery is amazing, and the historical monuments awe-inspiring. At least here in Vietnam the locals don't steal behind your back - they do it to your face. You can expect to pay triple or quadruple the going price. Compared to the Mekong, it was simply extortion.

It was a relief to get out of Saigon. The bus to Dalat was supposed to take 7 hours to travel about 250kms out of Saigon and into the mountains. It took almost 10 hours!!!! On the way, we met a french Canadian guy named Gabriel who planned to bike for 10 days from Dalat to northern Vietnam. He never cycled before, and bought a local bike for $30. No equipment except for a pump. He seemed pretty determined so we wished him luck. He had no idea what he was in for - hehe.

Dalat is like no other place in Vietnam. This city is nestled in the hills of central Vietnam and looks like the French Alps (or so they tell me). But bloody cold and wet. Dalat is known for what it produces which we made sure to sample including dried and candied fruits, strawberry preserves, coffee, and local Dalat wine. Adam and I went for a bike ride in what turned out to be very mountainous and very beautiful environs, although somewhat exhausting. We cycled through flower orchards and coffee plantations and managed to visit the Elephant waterfalls after 1 hour search. Unfortunately our camera broke so we don't have any pictures of our trip here. We did manage to visit a crazy house - literally. Opened in 1990, it was designed by a woman who must have been tripping on the same stuff as the author of Alice in Wonderland. The house has few right angles with unexpected twists and turns at every corner. The misshapen windows make it look like a fairy tale house, as friendly stone animals—a bear, giraffe, and spider—linger around the premises.

Ride to Nah Trang: The next day, we decided to cycle to Nah Trang on a brand new highway through dense jungle out of Dalat, linking two older highways (route 173) for 140kms. It was so new and so remote that there were no villages for 90 kms of the ride. Nothing but jungle and pavement. First of all, we rode 20 extra kms just trying to find the road. It was the best and the worst ride of my life. The best because we rode through the most magnificent jungle in the mountains, saw awesome waterfalls and was very hilly (I love hills!) with a 30km downhill near the end. It was the worst because we could barely see any of the scenery, there were waterfalls because of all the rain, it was more mountainous than expected and so freakin cold that we literally froze on the way down the 30km downhill. So cold in fact that we had to change all our clothes into something dry and we hitchhiked the remaining 68km into Nah Trang. In Nah Trang, we hopped right onto an overnight sleeper bus to Hoian.

Ironically, on one of the stops for dinner, low and behold who was there? Gabriel, the adventurous Quebec "cyclist". He was in quite a foul mood and kept us entertained with his hilarious story of riding the longer route of 220 kms from Dalat to Nah Trang. The first day he decided to ride 110kms through mountains and rice paddies. His $30 bike did not meet expectations as his brakes did not work, his headset was so loose that the handlebars detached from the front forks and his seat was so low that his knees almost hit his chest. He told us of the pain and anguish he experienced most of the day, able only to go on by counting every fourth pedal stroke and focusing on nothing else. It took him just over 10 hours of riding, and a very sore posterior to reach the eastern coast of Vietnam. Now that is one determined french dude!

Hoian is a picturesque town and was an important international trading port from the 16-18th century, connecting Asia and the rest of the world. Today Hoi An is a living architectural museum, one of the best-preserved ancient towns in Vietnam and a UNESCO World Heritage site. Hoian is also known for some of the best deals for accomodations in all of South East Asia. We stayed in this beautfil hotel, our room surrounded in teak furniture, our balcony overlooking the inner courtyard including the pool and the best buffet breakfast - all for $25 USD! We stayed here a couple of days exploring the quaint cobblestone streets, excellent handicrafts, and eccentric building styles that mix Portuguese, Chinese, Japanese, and French influences. The best part of Hoian is the cheap cheap beer - only25 cents a glass.

Ride to Hue: On this ride we cycled through rice paddies, by the Marble Mountains in which we visited their caves, the South China sea, and to Adam's chagrin, over a moutain pass over 500 meters high over a rather short steep distance. What a spectacularly beautiful ride. It took us 8 hours to cycle 135 kms including a stop to visit the Marble Mountains.

Hue is the ancient capital of Vietnam. Hue is perhaps best known for its historic monuments, which have earned it a place in the UNESCOS World Heritage Sites. We visited the Citadel, which occupies a large, walled area on the north side of the river. Inside the citadel was a forbidden city where only the concubines, emperors, and those close enough to them were granted access, the punishment for trespassing being death. Although not much of it remains, it is still a majestic place to visit. After 2 days here, Adam and I took an overnight bus to Hanoi, our last major stop in Vietnam - thank god.

We made the mistake of booking the bus through a shabby tourist office and got stuck on a grungy bus with bunks so small you had to hold your arms in otherwise they'd hang over the side and locals smoking while enroute. The windows were sealed shut so we couldn't even get fresh air. I wasn't feeling very well so this infuriated me even more - I couldn't wait to leave Vietnam and made my feelings heard loud and clear, to the chagrin of our fellow bus travellers and Adam (he had to put up with me). We finally made it to Hanoi - where our treatment by the locals was to only get worse.