Day 8 - On the Road Again (back to Saigon)

Today we left our (awesome) hotel early to get a bit of power shopping done. This was really the first chance that many of us got a chance to check out the local goods from different ethnic tribes as well as enjoy the market without the overwhelming heat and humidity like in Saigon. We've tried hard to stay on schedule but we were all hoping to barter for some more shopping time!

After shopping in Da Lat, we made our way to another amazing "tourist" site - the Truc Lam Buddhist Temple. Even though it was full of tourists if you were dressed appropriately you could step inside and take a moment to breathe it is very serene. The monks do an amazing upkeep on this entire place. There are beautiful botanical and bonsai tree gardens, an even more amazing view of the lake and they just built in the past year a tram ride that stretches 3 km over the entire valley. I think we all paused for a minute to send a quick message to Buddha and whomever else that would listen that we would all make it home safe and sound.

On our road home we stopped for lunch and to shop for the Da Lat specialties - coffee and green tea! It was fun also to buy some new candies and snacks (like ginger candy, avocado juice, sweet potato/yam chips). to try on our remaining 4 hours on the bus. But as previous bus trips the singing and dancing always makes the time fly!

We were finally into Saigon by 6 pm and after a little bit of chaos were able to take the night off and pack for someone, and sleep for others. We have our last early start tomorrow to make our way to Tam Binh AIDS Orphanage, the last official day of the Aid Expedition!

We'll post pictures when we can!
Peace,
Caroline