Arriving in Da Lat, I wished I'd spent longer on the beach in Nha Trang instead as it was cold and raining up in the mountains. I found a very basic but friendly hostel and ventured out into the famed "alpine climate." I walked around, trying to find the central lake, but ended up going round in circles as I only had a useless map printed on the back of the hostel business card. I eventually happened upon it after walking along the same road three times (to the mirth of the shopkeepers). It was pretty dirty - as I stood there I saw people chucking bald corn on the cobs and lychee shells into the water. After posing for some photographs for some Vietnamese tourists (I don't know why either), I walked up to the cathedral and then tried to find the Presidential Palace, but after scabbing a map from a fancy Novotel, I realised it was a long way. I mooched around the market, visited a pagoda and some rather sparse botanical gardens before catching a bus down to Ho Chi Minh City the following afternoon.

When I was travelling around China, I had a battered old walkman and one tape that I'd had to borrow from a friend, having accidentally shipped all mine in a package home. That tape was Abba's Greatest Hits and by the time I got to Hong Kong - after many lengthy bus and train journeys - I was about ready to slit my wrists if I heard "Take a Chance" one more time. It made me laugh when, after a few hours of tinny Vietnamese music, Abba came over the bus speakers...