Dalat

Okay, yes, we are officially behind in the updates! Whoops - where has the time gone? In 9 weeks we will actually be back in Australia and before then Jaom and the boys go to the United States (in late May) for a family wedding and Andrew has a bucket load of work.

So to more of what we have been doing ..... with Rex and Judi with us during Tet (in February) we took the scenic (but long) car ride up to Dalat - the nearest and most popular town in the hills. The fresh air and cool breeze were a welcome respite for the French and they were for us as well. One morning I was even afforded the luxury of going for a jog and not breaking into a sweat the moment I stepped outside.

Getting cool in Dalat is what you do. Obviously so much so that our hotel's indoor swimming pool was not heated so that Flynn and I only lasted a couple of minutes before we started to go blue. But Dalat has another side to cool, with a couple of fantastic cafes with live jazz music. Just round the corner at the V cafe, Jaom and I boogied to the sound of Curtis King and LeRoi Jones - the wildest aging rocker who lives in Saigon. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWDyx1fCEXA

The boys enjoyed the amusement theme park nearby with the washing machine driven dodgem cars and the hollow elephant which you had to climb through its rear end in order to smile though his large round eyes.

Other highlights in Dalat were the Crazy House (an unbelievable rabbit warren of twists and turns), high tea at the Sofitel (in the most opulent renovated Art Deco building atop the hill overlooking the lake), and simply walking the streets watching people with more jumpers than Russian in a Moscow winter and seeing the different faces of the hill tribe people in the market.

The Crazy House is crazy indeed.

The Sofitel - a renovated French colonial resort

But the most spectacular day of all was when Rex, Jaom, Flynn and I hired a guide to take us on a trek through the hills. We walked through pine forest and rainforest, up hill and down. In total we walked about 12kms - and Flynn did the whole lot all on his own, he was a real trooper. He whinged once or twice and the guide took him aside and distracted him and soon all we could here was Flynn rattling off all the names of his friends and school and he was as happy and a pig in mud! Our reward was a boat trip across the lake, an ice cream and scenic ride on the sky rail over the hills and forest.

Guess who took this photo above?

You know, while you do all these fantastic things, you travel here and you travel there, probably the best gift for us is that our boys get on well with each other - at least for the moment! They may have their times of strife when one gets under the skin of the other (although they manage to get on our nerves more than each other!!) but overall the boys travel well and are the best of mates. Thick as thieves - which spells fun and surprise for the future!

Flynn and Hamish in winter pyjamas and with their Tigger in Dalat

As with all holidays it was time to depart. The flight back home was a short half hour - about the equivalent from Melbourne to Albury. And although Rex and Judi were with us for a few more days, it seemed that we were back at the airport all too soon again wishing them a safe travel back to Australia. It was terrific having them around and while sad to say goodbye, we knew that Jaom and the boys would see them in a few weeks when they all meet up in the United States.

Tet was over and Andrew was back at school. Even Jaom began to pick up more days as an emergency teacher at AIS. The end of February was looming and that meant the preparation of Flynn's birthday party, a day he had been eagerly and impatiently waiting for so that he could be just like all his friends .... 4!