I get to Cat Tien in the afternoon, and word must have spread about the shakedown, as soon as I check in the woman running the hotel I stayed at gave me some cake! Ok, so it might have been her birthday, but the cake was delicious aside from the candle chunk I found inside. There was an Aussie guy with a German girl, so we took off for some dinner. These two picked up bikes having little to no experience between the 2 of them. Now I wont harp on it after this, but I have met way too many people doing this. Vietnam is heavily populated, things are hectic, they do not drive well, constantly pull out in front of you, and the buses and trucks do not care about the motorcyclists. Luckily everyone drives very slowly, but Vietnam really is not a place to be learning how to ride, I strongly suggest you rent a bike at home so you can focus on the bike and driving, without all the added challenges.



Cat Tien is a national park, but I had no plans on checking it out, so the next day I take off headed to De Lat, all I know about that place is it is located in the mountains, and is known for it's nice cool climate, YES! Vietnam has been hot, so I could use the change. I didn't leave super early, so with lunch, and stopping for photos I get in around 4pm. Traffic was crazy in the city, turned out all the students were off so everyone had headed to town for some partying. I do not know how it is normally, but it was crazy the day I got in. To add to the chaos, there are lots of roundabouts, and I do not have a clue where I should be going. I grab a hostel and am not impressed with De Lat at all, but the hostel was good, and I signed up for the "family dinner". They cooked those of us who signed up a nice meal, and we all got to know each other. Everyone is going to go out for drinks, quite excited for it, but I am a bit tired so decline, asking myself why these people are so gung ho to go out on a Sunday. I was still hungry after the meal so went walking for food, when I found a large area where they had closed off the streets, full of people, vendors, and food. I am looking at a pizza treat of some sort I have not seen previously debating if I should try it, when some guys from Saigon who can speak a bit of English tell me it's good, and to try it out. They tell me the price so now that I know I am not going to get ripped off I sit down and enjoy the tasty treat. They give me the low down on some things about Vietnam, and I eventually leave them to go find desert. I walk around a bit s De Lat starts to grow on me. I go back to the hostel ready for bed and find it empty aside from the person at reception, literally everyone has gone out, savages. Well of course as has happened all to often in my previous travels I was off on my days, as it was Saturday night, which is why everyone wanted to go out so I missed out, oh well.











From De Lat I head to Nha Trang..."Russians". Well, that is the 1st word I hear anytime anyone mentions Nha Trang, which is a popular destination for Russian and Chinese tourists. Everything I read says to skip it, I even got a tip or two on where I could go instead from people at the De Lat family dinner, but I wanted to check it out. Plus the drive there took me over a pass where I got my 1st real taste of Vietnam's spectacular scenery. The previous days were fine, but nothing special, the pass, while brief, was great, and offered many photo opportunities, especially for newly weds apparently. After some nice mountain roads I arrived in Nha Trang a bit early, so it wasn't a terrible long day. I grabbed a hostel, and naturally went out for food. I grabbed myself a delicious burger, and I do not regret it! Vietnamese food is fantastic, but sometimes, you need some comfort food, and anytime I finish a ride here in Vietnam I find myself craving burgers, and a good one is hard to find here. I searched for a burger place since it is a large city, and when I saw so many positive google reviews I knew where I was headed. I then walked the boardwalk, and just kind of wandered around. I didn't mind Nha Trang, and there are some beautiful Russian women which is a nice plus. It also looked like it would have a decent night life, but I didn't check it out, so just used it as a stopping place, something I do for most of Vietnam as that visa clock is always ticking.

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