Dalat to Hoi An

After Saigon we had 2 nights in Dalat.
Dalat is in the mountains, so its about 10 degrees cooler than everywhere else and less touristy than Saigon. The night life in Dalat is less active, and there are more things to see naturally around Dalat, particularly with the adventure tourism kind of activities.
So we decided to check out what activities were available. Canyoning Bear Grillz style was our adrenaline hit of choice.
Canyoning basically involves, jumping off cliffs, sliding/abseiling down waterfalls and scrambling along the banks of rivers.
So we were taken a couple of kms outside of Dalat where we were dropped at the side of a road. We hiked down a steep hill, had a brief abseiling lesson on the way before descending into the Vietnamese jungle.
First up was a fairly basic 15m cliff, followed by some hiking, sliding down a waterfall (not unlike a natural waterslide) both feet and head first, then some more hiking. Next... abseiling a 25m big mother of a waterfall... I think we all had a bit of a freak out.
Bear grillz was my inpiration, (sorry Kristin if you're reading this) he had done the section of river we were covering.

Felt pretty amazing to do it. The water is so powerful and pelted your whole body minus your head (apart from Sanaya who was so short she completely dispeared in the water).
Our last stunt of the day was a 15m overhanging cliff which drops you into the waterfall that hits you from the side and sends you spinning in a circle while your hanging just by the rope.

My love for Bear Grillz has been tainted slightly though... as after watching the youttube video i realised the whole time he is canyoning, he is no further than 500km from a road and there is actually a path the whole way along the river. As well as this, the episode is edited so that he looks like he's going downstream, but he actually chops and changes from downstream to upstream... etc... (I can see Kristen smiling with satisfaction right now).
But check out the video to see our cliff jump spot and where we slid head first down a waterfall:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8FW5QN7ErG0&feature=related

The last day in Dalat was spent on bike exploring around Dalat and some of its the touristy sights like the "crazy house"- its like a haunted mansion/disney house mad of 5 different buildings, I didnt see any square rooms or doorways. Its taken 20 years to be built so far and has another 5 years to go at least.
A really random place, built by one scatter brain, for another scatter brain. A logisitical nightmare for anyone who knows anything about designing or building.

After Dalat, we came to Hoi An.
A really pretty city, minimally effected by the war, so its like taking a step back in time.

The night life is much bigger than Dalat, the shopping is awesome and there are a lot of laterns and lighting on buildings and along the river that i seem to taken a slight obsession with and filled half my camera memory with.
There are tailors everywhere vying for your business. Im about to go pick up a coat and dress i had made, costing me all of $65.

However i have maintained self control and instead of shopping the whole time ive spent a fair bit of time on the beach getting some R and R. The beach isn't far off Bali's beaches, harrasment by local old ladies is a common occurance, and once you give in to one of them the whole gang flocks to try for a sale.

Other than the beach, the day is generally filled with delicious cheap food (many spring rolls), cocktails and vietnamese coffee (an espresso shot over ice mixed with a bit of sweetened condensed milk- dont knock it before you try it....yum).

Thats the story so far... Drinks on the balcony are calling.... I think I had an hours sleep last night and maybe an hour today... (shell, im doing you proud).

xo