Solitude

Day 61: Da Lat (VN). Thoroughly exhausted by a combination of the altitude, the heat and humidity, Karen and I took a well earned rest 200 meters from the summit of Lang Bian. Neither of us said a word. Dappled sunlight filtered through the thick canopy of the rain forest high above us. The jungles echoed to the chattering of a thousand species. The intense heat enveloped us. It was just us and the jungle. Magical!

Fantastic though our experiences in Asia had been, we had found it extremely difficult to find our own space. It didn't matter how hard we tried to 'get away from it all', there always seemed to be somebody around the next corner trying to sell us a bamboo raft, a slice of pineapple or some fake Ray-Ban's! Today though, in 30 degree heat, on our 10 mile hike to the top of a 2,169 meter volcano, we finally found the piece and solitude we had been searching for.

Such was our elation that even the death of our camera (thank goodness for backups!) and the disintegration of Karen's boots (thank goodness for gaffer tape!) couldn't detract from our day.

Despite our sense of achievement, trying to make conversion over an early dinner proved to be extremely difficult for both of us. The heat and the exertion of the day had completely floored us - all it took was a single beer and we were both nodding off over our beef and vegetable noodles. By 8.30, as Da Lat started to shape up for an energy filled Saturday night, we were tucked up in bed counting zeds. Party Animals!