Lang Biang Mountain

The summit of Lang Biang at 2169m. It was definately worth the 2 hour steep ascent as the views are magnificent.
On my way up I was kidnapped by a group of students for a round of photos - I looked a real state! On the way down I met a fellow Welshman from Builth Wells and it turns out we both went to the same school, a few years apart! So as old Breconians we wandered back down the mountain and only just managed to turn down an offer of a motorcycle lift back from a group of drunk teenagers - they were quite insistent!

Dalat

Dalat - mountain town famous in Vietnam for fine local produce and as a honeymoon destination.
It ha a charm not dissimilar to an Alpine town with the French influence in architecture and mountainous horizon.

Dr Seuss inspired "crazy house" - an unfinished project of Vietnamese architect.
Met this couple who were catching bees and forcing them to sting the ladies leg. She does this once a week as the next day it supposedly makes her feel good. Each week she uses a different limb.

Dalat train station. Unfortunately it does not connect with any other line n so a small 10km trip is all that is on offer. This meant I endured a mildly hellish bus journey on so called roads with 5 people on 3 seats and my neighbour constantly vomiting. A plus point - we stopped for lunch and the friendly locals bought mine which was a nice gesture!


Cham Tower at Than Rang Thap Cham
Coordination
Local grapes on offer at the short station stop near Nha Trang
Unofficial cafe under a tarpaulin in Nha Trang where 10'000 Dong (£0.35) buys you a fresh ice coffee with unlimited free Jasmine tea to wash it down. I returned many times but the ice and coffee only lasted until lunch, then it was all packed up with no evidence to prove its existence.

Nha Trang

Made it to the beach! Took the train from Hue and arrived late last night. Fortunately the rain held off until 3pm today so had a great walk up the beach into town. Visited Po Nagar Cham Towers built in 817 - only 4 of the original 8 towers are still standing. Ate lovely seafood - mussels in ginger and coconut with shrimp fried rice and a couple of beers for about £3 and that wasn't one of the cheap places. I could get used to that for sure.

Unfortunately my camera broke so I sent it back to the uk - still under warranty. Found a second hand camera for $100 which is almost as good as the last and a lot more compact so that isn't too bad.

There is a museum dedicated to Alexandre Yersin who was a Swiss doctor who moved to the area after studying under Pasteur. He discovered the microbe responsible for bubonic plague and also grew many medicinal plants including cinchona trees for the anti malarial quinine.

War sights

Visited some interesting sites linked to the war with America in the late 60's and 70's. Located on the northern side of the demilitarized zone along the coast of the South China Sea, the villagers of Vinh Moc found themselves tragically positioned in one of the most heavily bombed areas of North Vietnam.

In order to escape this bombardment, the villagers constructed approximately 2.8 km of underground tunnels which they used as a refuge to survive the bombings. The tunnels were built in three levels (12, 15 and 23 meters deep) and took thirteen months to complete. Three hundred people lived intermittently in the tunnels during 1966 to 1971. Sixty-two families made the tunnels their home and amazingly seventeen babies were born here and spent the first years of their lives underground!

Cat Ba Island

This is Cat Ba island, less touristy gateway to Halong Bay. Unfortunately the weather was too poor to do any boat trips and we ended up playing cards, scrabble, pool and sampling the local brew more than anything else.

I did get out and see hospital cave which was built during the American Vietnam war in late 60's and is on 3 levels with 17 rooms.

Shanghai, Suzcho

Cooling off, Moganshan waterfall.

Rare twin Pagodas, Suzcho
Countryside of Moganshan, near Hangzhou
COuntry traffic
Weaving a door / panel or bed base we never found out
View from 87th floor of Jinmau tower, Shanghai
Monika riding side saddle!
PAgoda tower, Suzcho.
Shanghai Skyline. Tallest building is World financial centre (rear of picture with blue outline)
Sellings!

World Financial Centre and Jinmau Tower
World Financial Centre at night.
Inside Jinmau hotel (Floors 50 -85 approx)
Bride on the Bund, Shanghai

Summer Palace

The marble ship built in 1755 and restored in 1893 after being burnt down. For a brief description go to :
http://www.travelchinaguide.com/attraction/beijing/summer/boat.htm
17 arch bridge

Roof of the Palace in the distance