Mood:  amorous
Topic: Asia Trip
First off - Today is December 20th - Happy Birthday to my sister Gina!

So we left Dalat in the best way possible. We rode bicycles. We signed up (at a price, sigh) for a two day cycling trip from Dalat to the coastal town of Moi Na. It was a great ride on beautiful roads through the mountains and then down to the dry flatlands and eventually to the coast. We were greeted by hundreds of "Hellos". Children laughing and jumping out of their bamboo huts; woman greeting us as they raked their coffee beans in the sun to dry; men cruising by on their motorbikes honking their horns to smile and wave. We seemed to pass through the villages when the school children were on their way home, looking sharp in their uniforms; the boys with blue pants, white shirts and red ties; the girls in similar outfits, or long asian shirts over slacks. All of the children wearing baseball caps and Pokemon backpacks.

Lots of kids on their bikes..some five sizes too big. We passed one young girl with her 16 month old sibling balancing Indian style on the rack. Another one had a 2 year old squeezing her eyes shut and holding tightly around her big sister.

The crops were well cared for and looked lush. The hillside plantations of coffee and tea were manicured by hand by women in conico hats and basket backpacks. As we moved into the dryer terrain, the fields were replaced by the jagged looking Dragon fruit trees. Eventually, we came to the coastal town of Mui Na and checked into a beach side bungalow style hotel. Twenty USD a night.. right on the beach and the weather amazing. We sat under a bamboo umbrella and watched kite-surfers hit the waves. This is a sport that basically attaches a parachute like kite to a snowboard. We watched one man that was very skilled and we saw him fly through the air, lifted by the wind.

Needless to say, we decided to stay an extra day in Moi Na, so we rented a motorbike and took off on a brand new road that meanders up the coast. This road was empty and hugged the coastline through the mountains and sand dunes.

We are now in Hoi An which is a lovely historic town that is famous for it's taylors. We were fitted yesterday morning for power suits, and returned in the evening for the first fitting. FAST. They are really well done and very inexpensive by comparison to home. We will be ready to get those jobs when we return. : )

-All the best
Molly