Well the bus trip was uneventful but the bus itself was a bit unexpected. We were travelling with Futa Bus which is the bigest busline in Vietnam. Surprise one was that they transport door to door. We were collected from our hotel in Nha Trang and delivered by mini bus to our hotel in Da Lat. Surprise number two was that all their long distance buses are now sleeper buses. These have seats which reclise almost horizontally and are full length as long as you are less than six feet tall. It also helps if you have small Vietnamese size feet as there is a sort of foot locker and I had to tip my feet sideways. We had to take our shoes off to board the bus but when we stopped for lunch the restaurant had a basket of thongs placed at the door of the bus so you didn't have to struggle in to shoes. I should memtion that the seats/beds were in three rows with aisles between and two decks high. Bob and I were on the lower deck and it was not an elegant proposition to get out. Having said all that they were quite comfortable and the windows were designed to give a good view of the passing scene. If fact because I was in the middle row my view forward through the windsreen was too good at times. The bus was half an hour late leaving because there were lots of hotels to pick up from. The road into the mountains was full of hairpin bends but the driver was intent on arriving at the scheduled time. Fortunately Bob had commented when we stopped for lunch that the driver was very good. At one particlular moment I was convinced the we were going to head on. The bus came up on a steam roller occupying our side of the road and pulled out to overtake despite a small car oncoming. Thankfully the rule of "might has right"prevailed and the car stopped, giving way.
Da Lat has proved to be as beautiful as we had been told. Spring is springing here and there are flowers everywhere. The French Colonial mansions have been retained and maintained and there is a lot of them. During the "American War" both sides recognised the beauty of the town and it was embargoed from attack. This morning Bob and I went on a local tour bus to see the sights as this was the most efficient way to spend our one day. We were the only foreiners apart from one young man from the Phillipines. A first we were objects if great interest especially to the eighty year old gent in the seat in front. He subjected us to repeated scrutiny but after we visited the Palace and took his photo in dress up regalia we were mates. We visited the King's Summer Palace, the Catholic Cathedral where a soon to be bride and groom were having a photo shoot. Weddings are only held on Fridays and Sundays and the Cathedral is only open on Sundays.
We then visited a flower business which seemed to manage mainly "flowers for ever" (ie artificial) but also had beautiful grounds, then a coffee retailer where I bought some preserved mulberries which are yummy. Lunch was a bit too traditional Vietnamese for us to really enjoy but Bob bravely ate the unidentifiable seafood in his soup which was meant to be prawns. We decided afterwards that it was probably unskinned squid. My ginger chicken came as small chunks of mostly bone with a sliver of flesh left after i had removed the skin, which was a struggle. The spinach in Bob's soup was delicious and we had enough for lunch. Thereafter we visited a Buddist Pergoda with lots of Buddhas and beautiful gardens, a waterfall and a meditation monastery, again with beautiful gardens. We arranged to leave the tour in the central town area thinking this would be our only opportunity to photograph the lake whiich is the focus of the city. This we managed but arrived back at out hotel to discover that our flight to meet up with the girls has been rescheduled from 12-30 to 17-30. So now we have to to rethink how we spend tomorrow.
I haven't mentioned our accommodation here as yet. We are staying in a Homestay which is very central and very cheap. Our superior room has all the comforts of home and the young woman who manages tbe place on behalf of the owner is incredibly obliging and efficient. What's more we had our first decent cup of coffee with breakfast this morning.
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