Vietnam, Part 2
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Having settled in the regular night bus, we went to Dalat, which is located in the mountains, about 1500 meters above sea level. Dalat was built by the French to flee the hot weather in Saigon (today Ho Chi Minh City). The nature is beautiful, with evergreen forests, numerous waterfalls and lakes. Dalat was a stopover on the way to the sea. We stayed here only one day, and visited the stunning Pongour waterfalls. It was not easy to get there, it included a walk of 7 kilometers under the hot sun, but fortunately some locals picked us up halfway.
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
Pongour Falls 
We swam for a bit until a security guard kicked us out of the water 🙁 
It was way too hot!
Reaching the city of Hoi An, we saw the sea for the first time during our journey! Alena’s happiness knew no bounds 🙂
The city center of Hoi An is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site as an example of a well-preserved trading port, pre-colonial Vietnam. Due to the abundance of recreational and fishing boats, floating restaurants that move along the river and canals, the historic center of Hoi An is often called “Vietnamese Venice”.
A game of Xiangqi, chinese chess
From the neighboring town of Da Nang, we drove along the
Hải Vân Pass (21 km), which in Vietnamese means “ocean cloud”. Historically, the pass was the border between the kingdoms of Champa and Đại Việt, and the only road connecting the south and north parts of the country. From the top there is a stunning view of the city and the coast. And at the end of the pass we got to a dream beach (Lang Co beach). The beach was almost empty, we were able to ride our moped along the coast, swim in the warm sea and watch the life of local fishermen and women.
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Catching shellfish 
An amazing natural monument are the marble mountains in Da Nang. On the flat coast it is easy to notice 5 high hills of marble and limestone. The five mountains are named after the five elements in Chinese philosophy: metal, water, wood, fire and earth. All the mountains have cave entrances and numerous tunnels, but only one is open for visiting, Mount Tui (water mountain), to the top of which you can climb and admire the view of the city and other mountains.
We were particularly struck by the Am Phu Cave, devoted to the theme of heaven and hell. Because of its special shape, you can climb to the service on the “stairway to heaven”, as well as descend on the “highway to hell”.
View from the top 
View from Water Mountain 
Entrance to the Am Phu cave 
Stairway to heaven 
Buddha with light animations 
The horrors of hell 
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The last city we visited in Vietnam was Huế. From 1802 until 1945 it was the capital of Vietnam during the Nguyen dynasty. The palaces can be visited here, including the forbidden royal city, which was heavily bombed during the Vietnam War (1957 – 1975).
Forbidden city 
The picture below is a 360 photo, click and drag to look around, scroll to zoom!
After the cultural program, we decided to go for adventures in an abandoned waterpark. To get there, we had to bribe a guard, who led us to the park through a secret road. Once inside, we found that the security guard was a good businessman, as there were many more adventurers like us driving around on mopeds 🙂
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The local businessman 
Tired after two months of rice and noodles with vegetables, on Christmas eve we decided to have a festive dinner at a Japanese restaurant and lead in the new year with sake 😉
Unfortunately, we could not continue the journey further, since Alena did not have a visa, and officially she could only stay in the country for 14 days.
Onwards to Laos! 
Street food 
Street food is everywhere