Bunny hopping to Dalat

We arrived in Mui Ne on a large airconditioned 'open tour' bus. Open tour means that you can stop somewhere but then theoretically pick it up another day. We booked our next leg and the specs looked the same. Unfortunately the open tour bus was a mini bus packed to the brim with luggage and tourists.. and just when you think you have rammed the last guy in, they can always make room for one more! I got packed in the last seat with the luggage. The funny thing is that my legs were too big to fit in so I had to stretch them in the aisle. When they saw this they conveniently packed a bag under them ;)

The next thing they do is take short cuts to save gas money - So we took a 4 hour stretch of road that had giant holes to bounce and swerve continuously. As we started to climb the road became more tolerable and the temp began to drop to cool mountain air.

I love this shot - as you can see the sfumato styled layering of the distant mountains - the humidity blends them gently throughout.
Arriving into Dalat was really cool - you suddenly notice the cool air, a fresh scene of pine trees and a distant gondala dangling at a dangerous height. The town is beautiful and reminds people of the French alps with the city built in the basin and hills surrounding us everywhere.

The bus pulled us into a hotel and straight away a guy gets on saying this is his families hotel and we are welcomes to check it out. I'm pretty blown away by it and think nah, there is no way we can afford this. Well - he said very quick that it is $6 US each and breaky included.. we were promptly shown the penthouse suite with 2 double beds, a balcony and large bathroom - couldn't be more stoked !!!



The next shot is the view from our balcony - we can see the South side of the town which is very pretty.



The people here are very chilled out in comparison and the hassling pretty much stops.
What cracks me up is they all must dare each other to say hello. In Saigon Hello means they are about to offer a service - but here a kid might say hello, and before you have replied a whole mob of them are cracking up and running away. We have had adults do the same thing - the best way to deal with it is laugh louder and turn the joke on them.. ha ha
Secondly - when I wear my Nike snakeskin shoes - kids stare and talk (like they are plotting to steal). They either really like them and want them badly - or I am insulting large numbers with my openess to the sweatshop living??

Here are some road trip shots.