Mui Ne to Da Lat Jan 9

We left Mui Ne beach around 13:00 in a seven passenger van with no air conditioning. We had all been expecting a bus but the driver said he could get us there in 3 hours where the bus would have to take the bigger highways and would take 5 hours. There was another van full of people that left around the same time. Well the road was pretty good but we had another "honk and dodge" driver who was going way to fast for the roads.

We left the sandy coastal area and headed up into the mountains. Here is a view from our first stop.

And another.....the countryside is looking more lush now.

About 50 km from Da Lat there was a noise and a smell from under the hood and the van was done for this day. The driver tried to fix it but to no avail. The driver called the office and in less than an hour one of the nice air conditioned vans was out to get us. We thought we would get on and go but their plan was to hook the van on behind with an 8 foot long cable and tow it back with us. At that point there was a major passenger uprising. How could they not see that it was a bad idea to tow something with hardly any steering (because the power steering belt was nearly fried) directly behind the bus on winding mountain roads? After much discussion they agreed to come back for the van.

The houses in the area were mostly new and some were really beautiful. This one is more like cute but you get the idea.

There were tarps all around with coffee beans drying.

We got to town about 18:30, which is about the time we would have arrived had we taken the bus in the first place. The town looks quite nice as we drove in. Tomorrow I am booked on a tour of the area.

My hotel is good again and quite close to the bus stop. The tour guy who booked the hotel for me arranged for someone to be there to meet me at 17:00. When I arrived at 18:30 there were two young girls waiting for me. They didn't speak any English (just giggled) but they had a rumpled piece of paper with my name on it. I hope they weren't waiting since 17:00.