Dà Låt

A big city surrounded by mountains brings some fresh air to the hot Vietnam. The long night bus didn't leave me too much energy nor enthusiasm to visit the town, but went to see a waterfall from a viewpoint, some elegant pagodas, the crowded night market full of very interesting stalls (such as big fluffy dogs to take pictures with) and the Crazy Home (a very unusual hotel from which the architect was inspired by Dali. I was really curious of what my brother Jordi would think about this place, since I wasn't even sure if I liked it or not. Personally, I thought it lacked something to reach what Dali always tried to say through his art, and it was absolutely a very impractical building. So on my harsh opinion, it was a failed attempt to tribute Dali and got lost on a painting of him put in 4D and a kids house). But still it was very interesting to go and visit it, and worth the visit if architecture is your thing. My hostel was full of groups of english people and I got slightly overwhelmed (I reallyreally need a break from them), even though the place was nice, it reaffirmed how I keep feeling so out of place with the average South East Asia travellers who come to spend a bunch of money for three months, get drunk and party all day long, with not much to tell and just the the must do things without giving a chance to the real country (they're nice people, I swear, just not my cup of tea). After here, got on the nicest sleeping bus I've been so far (and hopefully the last!) Towards my last destination: Saigon (or Ho Chi Minh as its called now) for an english exam I must take for my emigration to Australia and a connection to my next country: Cambodia. I am excited about Saigon, which is a city that resides such an intense and sad history of the country, so hopefully it won't disappoint. Even though I've been warned of how big and stressful it is.

📍Essentials: Linh An Pagoda, Night Market
💡Travelling tips: if you visit Vietnam, you'll soon realise that your main way of travelling will be the sleeping buses. Most of them are terrible, and even worse, quite expensive. You can not fully fit on your bed because they're made for the Vietnamese average (who are way shorter), and they're never on time (you can wait up to three hours for it perfectly), they make random hour stops for no reason, drop you in the middle of the night, and if you succeeded to get a good night rest, you are one of the lucky ones. But still, there's rarely any better way of going from one place to the other if you don't have your own way of transport (hitchhiking is quite hard in this country and they'll usually ask for money in exchange; public transport might end up being expensier when they see how you look, and way slower and you never know when they come; grab is expensier than everything else, and for long distance unaffordable; trains are always a good option but they are only an option in a few destinations), and you can skip paying for a night's accomodation with it. All this said, without doubt I recommend always searching for Futa, for me the best bus company with difference.Read more