Dalat - Canyoning

The relatively short journey from Nha Trang was one of our better journeys in Vietnam, and so we arrived in the mountainous city of Dalat at around 2pm. The first thing we noticed was the weather, a 'chilly' 25 degrees - how are we going to cope in England?!

In the afternoon we explored the small city and also booked to go canyoning the following day. That evening we had a really nice meal, a few beers and an early night.

We were picked up at 8.30am and made the short journey to the start of the canyoning. Over the course of the next seven hours, and after being kitted out with helmet, harness and life jacket, we faced several different and exciting challenges as we made our way through the canyon. Firstly, we abseiled down two dry cliffs of approximately 20m. We then trekked through the canyon until we reached a natural water slide, which looked uncomfortably dangerous. However, after watching our guide go down backwards without a helmet, we convinced ourselves that it couldn't do any harm to give it a go. It was great fun and we tried loads of different variations, including backwards and a train (see video end of post)!

Next up was the biggest challenge of the day; abseiling down a 25m high waterfall into a plunge pool. The rock was really slippery so every step had to be carefully placed to avoid a nasty fall. The task was made even more difficult by the fact that the water was gushing onto our legs and into our eyes. As we reached the bottom of the cliff we took a large jump as the rope ran out and we fell backwards into the plunge pool.

By now our adrenaline was pumping, and after a short lunch break we moved on to our last two activities of the day. First up was a 7m free jump, before abseiling into the 'washing machine'. The free jump tested Jen's nerves but she plucked up the courage and followed Joe off the cliff and into the water. The 'washing machine' was a great way to end a brilliant trip through the canyon. It involved abseiling straight underneath a huge waterfall, which spun you around and smashed straight onto your head - by the end you didn't know which way was up or where to go next!

Overall, we had a great time and it was certainly one of the highlights of Vietnam so far.