North from Hoian

Town hopping from Hoian to Hanoi
Catching local buses can be cheap but you have to know what the going price is before you get on the bus... they try and charge you 2 or 3 times as much as they should and you have to offer them a price lower then the going price. They sometimes act upset if you don't pay extra.. I am not sure if it is an act or they are really upset.. it is fun anyway.
Bit of a hassle in Vietnam with all the negotiating all the time (from public buses to rooms), but adds to the adventure I guess.

Hue
Interesting town with the older part of the city inside a mote and huge walls.. must have been built for war times and protecting the city and the people.. interesting...

The hotel where I was staying put on a FREE buffet meal for Xmas.. included beer and wine too... was pretty good...
Dang Ha
Not a lot in this town but found a cheap place to stay for a night and had a bit of a walk around town and found some good value street foods.

Caught the bus out the next morning. Here are the people on the bus waving for the camera...
Dang Hoi
This is a picturesque town on a river and ocean front...

Here is a fishing boat at the mouth of the river...

And some people I met on the beach... Mainly walked around town looking at the strange things, like a pedestrian crossing which crosses right through a garden... These people wanted their photos taken while they were working...

they were laying some really thick concrete for the road...
Vinh

Not a lot in Vinh. A nice park in town...

I spent 2 nights there, had a few drinks one night and couldn't anything to eat except soup, but the soup was pretty good. The fellas near the guesthouse had a couple of cocks that were having a bit of a go at each other... The people are hard workers. Here is a couple of ladies filling in a trench... I got up early to catch the cheap bus.. I was told should be 65kVND.. got there and they were demanding 100kVND.. got one driver down to 80k and I said no so he left.. the other driver would not budge from 100k so I walked away and up to the main street to wave down a bus passing through town. Firstly I stopped for a coffee and saw a few buses drive past.. after my coffee I got up and waited for the next bus to come by.. best I could do there was 80kVND so I took it... that must be the going price. Stopped at a food stop on the way and had some food. They tried to charge me 40kVND which was well over priced.. should have been 20 - 30kVND. I held back and offered then 20kVND he insisted on 40kVND and I said no not worth 40kVND I offered 25kVND and another fellow came over to assist in getting the inflated price.. I ended up paying 30kVND which is probably reasonoable for a road side food for a bus stop.
Got into town and found a room for 90kVND.. this is reasonable... although he wanted 100kVND to begin with.. which is still reasonable, but hey I have to knock them down a little bit... can't let them have their way all the time.

Nimh Binh
There are some nice mountain on the way north from Vinh to Nimh Binh.
This place is a bit more touristy and there are temples, rivers, caves and national parks to see in the area... Since there are tourists here I have decided to do what most tourists don't and have a look around the town itself and see if I can find some nice food etc. The hotels seem to offer good food but are a bit more expensive and there doesn't seem to be a lot of selection out on the street.

Hoian

KonTum to Hoian, was a very hazey day.. about 6 hours travel by bus through some nice mountains and rivers... and waterfalls...After being in the highlands and only seeing about 6 tourists for the last 10 days it is a bit of a shock to suddenly see the number of tourists here.

Spent the first day here on a bike riding about.
Had a 2 hour massage and foot scrub... my feet needed a good clean up after all the walking I have been doing. Very good value too.

There are lots of tailor shops here in Hoian. Everyone trying to get you into their shops to measure you up and make a suit or any other clothing you may want.

Here is a fellow in his boat...

And another boat transporting all sorts of stuff...

And another boat...

A bit of roadworks in town with a big old steam roller...

Hoian to Hue.

Hue is a historic town with the old part of the city inside a huge mote and walls.

Walking around town for a few days... I am starting to get sick of the bike riders who keep asking you if you want a lift... you say no and they keep persisting to show you references and try and tell you how cheap they are and that they can show you around.

Central Highlands

Delat to Buon Ma Thout was nice scenery... winding bumpy roads through the hills and mountains.. We passed by a lake... And past some villagers drying coffee beans... Through rice fields... When we got off the bus a fellow said he was there for a coffee festival and that he had a stall there. He invited us along to try some juice, wine and coffee...

We were as much of interest to every one as the festival was... The people we having a good time with Peter.. he is very tall and the kids wanted photos with him.

Buon Ma Thout to Plaiku was a bit better road.
We were in a 15 seater mini bus and at one stage we had 28 people in it.

There were kids in town tonight practising for an Xmas event... And people walking (Excersizing) on all these joining paths in the middle of a park in town...

Plaiku to Kon Tom was only about 50ks so was a quick journey.

Went for a walk around town.

There is a nice wooden church here...

Walked through a village on the outskirts of town.

There are quite a few of these buildings throughout the highlands...They were traditionally built for the men to sleep (away from the women) and also for community meetings.

Saw some ladies weaving baskets...

And people working in the crop and flower fields... Saw this fellow walking down the street with a heap of fish in tanks...

Not sure if he was selling them on the street or moving them to some where else.

Dalat

Caught a bus up tp Dalat with Julie and Micheal. Another fellow Peter (Micheal had met before) got on the bus.

Was OK except the bus broke down after lunch and some people had their laptops and cameras stolen from the bus.
Got the cleanest and best value accomodation yet.. US$12 twin share per night including breakfast, internet beds made and clean towels every day...

Out to dinner with a group from the bus.. Walked around town for the day.. around the lake ..and saw a crazy house. Hired a bike and a guide for a day...
We went to a flower farm...

Water falls... The guide and I under the falls... Coffee plantations with some people picking and sorting coffee beans... A silk farm where they grow the silk worms, feed them mulberry leaves, harvest the silk, wash it and turn it into thread for weaving material... And a Monestary. Here is a drum inside a temple... Michael and I hired a bike for a second day and thought we would go it alone for a day.

We saw some prisoners working in a garden...

Went to a Pegoda...

With a bell in it that weighs 8500kgs...
We got into a town and thought we would stop for a drink.
There was a place that looked like a restaurant so we stopped there and walked in and sat down. A fellow came up to us and asked if we wanted some tea.. I asked if he had anything else.
He asked "Don't you drink tea?"
I said "yes.. OK then, tea will be fine. "
Michael asked for a menu and they looked at him blankly.. we sat and chatted to the fellow while as we drank the tea.
I was looking around watching the ladies putting a lot of nice looking food on the tables and I said to Michael "I don't think this is a restaurant".. he didn't really hear me and a few minutes later he said "Should we order something?"
I once again said "I don't think this is a resaurant".. and proceeded to querie the fellow if it was a party or festival or celebration... took quite a while to find out that his mother died at 74 years of age and this was the funeral.

We were then invited to eat with them.. this was a really nice.

Rode down a big moutain and past a big dam...

Heres a local boy riding his bike, on the way to school...