The trips going well... a few weeks down and we're having a ball in Vietnam. I love everything about this place... the coffee, the cocktails, the food... the transport, the energy, the buzz. We're not the only tourists here and although there is expectation for us to buy, and we do sometimes... we're pretty much left to just enjoy the place.
We're making our way down the coast, lapping it all up. We're in Nha Trang, bit of history here and we're excited to be making our own. I love this place. Bit like the Gold Coast, but to me it's more laid back. I'm already planning another holiday here... I do that everywhere I love to go.
"Shall we go to Dalat, says here it's the most romantic city in Vietnam"
'yeah, well lets have brekky and decide. When do we fly out?'
We hop in the shuttle for our trip up. Roads are bumpy, driving is mad. It's not uncommon to be speeding head on into traffic and we get fluent in horn language. This'll come in handy for India. We pull into Dalat, past thousands of greenhouses and flower farms. They did say it was the flower capital of Vietnam. There's hotels on every hill and we're surrounded by a circle of lush green and French Chateau style buildings. This is cool.
We have one night to enjoy. Should've booked longer, but it's great to really make the most of the time, see what we can cram into just one night. We get to our hotel, in the centre of town, location is everything. There's things to do here, but what we really wanna do is hit the street. We walk everywhere, past the lake, through colourful alleyways, markets, and find the most interesting little cafes, bars and restaurants to enjoy. Must be why they call it romantic... the vibe is good.
We're learning how we like to travel. After all the crazy busy years, it's really nice to be able to chill and there's a whole world out there to see. We'll start where we want to go first then make our way to Europe... we'll make a plan.
Saturday May 14th 2022...
It was a crisp, autumn day in Wanaka. I'd just gone back to work the day before. Life was anything but normal, but we were coping together. An eerie silence followed an urgent phone call, a frenzy of activity and that was it. Just like that. Grief changes you as a person, it changed our family. I think it's made us more resilient. More determined to do the things we want to and less worried about the things we don't want to do. There was no funeral. Dad didn't want that, he wanted us to remember him living. He always loved an adventure, even from the comfort of his lounge. He was a true artist... nature he'd say, that's the real art right there. Off to Dalat... right now. K