fter nha trang, i headed alone to dalat, the place i had long wanted to go for its cool climate and natural setting. the first thing i saw was ho xuan huong (lake) and immediately i knew i had come to the right place. the terrain in dalat is hilly and the place is just beautiful. it was summer but the climate remains cool and it was a nice break from the heat in nha trang.

I intended to visit all the buddhist pagodas in dalat for my second day. in the evening, i stepped into a vegetarian foodshop and met truc linh who introduced four pagodas around the area. the next morning, while making a cup of coffee in the hotel kitchen, anh trung came along and asked if i'm interested to go for his tour ride. i asked him to take me to the pagodas and we settled for 60,000vnd.

My initial plan of spending a day away chatting with the monastics did not realize. the highlight, truc lam zen monastery, was a little touristic. most tours around dalat would have included a visit to this monastery. locals come here to visit and pray. i strolled my time away in the pagodas, so much that anh trung had to pay another staff to replace him for his afternoon shift at the hotel. he had thought it would only take 2 hours, we ended up in 5.

After the ride, i asked to be dropped at chua linh son. after visiting the pagoda, i met a young man outside resting on his motorbike. i asked for directions to dalat university and he suggested i should take a xe om (motorbike taxi) as it is a long way to walk. i replied that i have no more money and that i prefer to walk. moments later, he stopped me on the road and offered me a free ride to the university. i am very grateful for his generousity.

Dalat university is unlike those i see in hanoi or saigon. it is truly a conducive place for studying -- a quiet environment with hilly terrains, trees and fresh air. the buildings are separated into their respective faculties. as i moved up along a path, i saw a relatively small lecture theatre (compared to sg) with what seemed like hundreds of students squeezed inside. i walked to the back of the building and it was the end of the way. that was the highest point in the university. i caught sight of the big statue of buddha which seemed to be that from chua van hanh some distance away.

Most backpackers in dalat like to settle for a easy-rider tour, where they pay 10-12usd for 10 or more sights. it was highly recommended in the lp guide. i din like the idea and picked some sights and negotiated with anh trung for the price. anh trung speaks little english and merely took me around the sights.

While on the boat trip in nha trang, brother phap khong mentioned about bat nha temple which is going to be the future pv centre. it is located in bao loc, a town situated along the national highway 20 linking dalat and saigon. since it is along the way to saigon, i thought of dropping there for a day to visit the temple and the nearby damb'ri falls. i bought a ticket and asked the tour agency staff about the possible arrangement of stopping in bao loc for a day and continuing my journey to saigon on the next. they instructed the driver to drop me at bao loc hotel and advised me to stay there for a night and wait at the door the next morning to be picked up for the bus ride to saigon. upon arriving in the town, i was dropped instead at the tea centre and had to look for my own accomodation. i checked in to a guesthouse along the main road and called the tour agency to tell them where i am. i then arranged a xe om to take me to the falls and the temple for 60,000vnd.

The next morning, i waited along the main road to catch the bus. instead of stopping at my guesthouse, the bus passed it and went ahead to saigon. after 45 min from the agreed pickup time, the guesthouse owner called the tour agency only to find out that it is gone. i was furious. but luckily there are a number of buses picking up people to go to saigon. i got on one only to endure the horrible journey of sitting between two men smoking and talking loudly to each other. when i arrived in saigon, i demanded a compensation from the tour agency of which they paid.

On my last day in vietnam, i asked the guesthouse to arrange a taxi to take me to the airport, stopping by van hanh buddhist university to deliver the photo i took for the monastics and to see this place which i thought was set up by thay in his earlier days. it was a comfortable ride and everything went smoothly. i arrived at the airport early and while i was lugging my things into the departure hall for check-in, the guard asked to see my passport. shit! i thought. i left it at the guesthouse! i called the guesthouse immediately and while i was anxious and losing patience, what comes from the earpiece was calm and relaxed: "ok, i will go to the airport to look for you, don't worry." i had to laugh at how muddle-headed i am. the guesthouse man faithfully arrived to deliver my passport and then all went smooth, including my flight back home on tiger airways.