We base ourselves in Dalat, a large town with a French colonial influence - there are elegant chateau-style villas galore and it even boasts its own 'Eiffel Tower'- and check into a hotel in the centre. It's a big barn of a place, but, with the summer season over, there are hardly any guests.
It's night-time and we take a quick self-guided tour of the town, stopping at its central market to see the locals go about their business. Our first impression is that unlike Hoi An, our last port of call, Dalat is much less of a tourist town. Our second is how much cooler it is here - and we quickly learn that its where Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) residents come to escape the searing heat.
The centre of town itself is nothing to write home about - its main street a neon-lit strip of cafes and bars, but over the next few nights we dive into a couple of good restaurants, particularly the bistro-style Long Hoa and the cosy V Cafe which does a nice line in, not only excellent Vietnamese food, but live jazz and blues too.
Breakfast at our hotel the next morning is a tad surreal. The two of us find ourselves solitary diners in this immense ballroom-type annexe, with some five or six immaculately-attired waiters and waitresses. They are all extremely friendly and attentive, to the point of overkill. No sooner are we off our seats to check the content of the buffet than they are fussing around us. They mean well, but we can't help feel dozens of eyes on us, watching our every move.
Our bedroom, too, while fresh, spacious and spotessly clean, is supposed to have a view of the impressive man-made boomerang-shaped Xuan Huong Lake. It does - partially. The lake is there alright - in the distance. In front of it and smack outside is a tatty playground, with rusty carousel and swings that look as if they have been there since the 40s. We can't fault the place for cleanliness and service, but it lacks atmosphere and we are expecting to see Basil Fawlty frogmarch Manuel through the dining room door any time soon.
The next morning we take a 7km walk around the lake, which is flanked by a golf course, flower gardens harbouring hydrangeas, fushisas and orchids, and, on the other side, the top-of-the-range Hotel Sofitel Dalat Palace. On the way we pass by a number of horse-drawn carriage rides that have kitsch written all over them.
Where Dalat scores is that it's a great base for exploring the lush countryside around, and the best way to see it is riding pilion with the town's Easy Riders motorbike crew. They are local guides with a great insider knowledge of the area and for 20 dollars will strap you on the back of their high-powered machines, get their motors running and take you down their very own Thunder Roads.
Okay, let's go for it. Chris on one, John on the other. Our Free Rider (not all embrace the Easy Rider term. Local politics among the bikers, we understand) is Mr Dai Loy and a younger sidekick.
After a false kick-start - John, while clambering on to the back of Dai's bike catches his leg on the box at the rear and, with rucksack full to bursting and off-balance, tips backwards and is sent sprawling to the ground in hilarious fashion. Chris has missed a quite splendid photo opportunity of her husband looking like a dead ant, while there are hardly suppressed giggles all round.
Anyway no damage done (rucksack and motorbike helmet break fall), only to pride, so off we go in Born To Run style. This is the life, leaving the city behind and out into the surrounding verdant countryside, fresh air, clear blue skies and the sun on your back.
We climb and climb into the mountains - the second highest range in Vietnam - every twist and turn offering one breath-taking vista after another. There are frequent stops along the way - at veggie and flower farms, coffee plantations, a visit to an ethnic minority village to see the local ladies weave wonderful patterns into their embroidery. Dai Loy and his partner are proving genial guides and are always receptive to our many questions.
There's also a quick pit-stop to see how rice wine - some of it 70% proof - is made in huge vats. Chris bottles sampling a glass of the moonshine but, naturally, John does not want to miss out on a freebie of the alcohol kind. Verdict - fine nose, full of fruity rice flavour, smooth and full-bodied. Okay, caught in the moment again. Second bite of cherry and sensible answer please - never tried it, but imagine it to be like paint-stripper.
A quick lunch stop - and Dai Loy and mate (whose name we never really got to grips with) whisk us off to the popular Elephant Falls. You can't see much from the top, so we embark on a very dodgy and uneven descent - part path, part cliff - to the waterfall's base. There is a cave at the foot of the falls which we go through to feel the mist-like spray as the water roars over it. You can also squeeze behind the falls themsleves, but it's slippery and unsure underfoot, so discretion being the better part of valour we decide against. Good move, especially on John's part - having already had one tumble and now a glass of rice wine.
Nearby is the Linh An Pagoda. Inside are three large Buddhas, flanked by two more multi-armed ones. But the most spectacular sight lies in gardens behind - a huge Happy Buddha with halo (neon-lit at night). This jolly white giant of a fellow, who sports a huge grin and super-size belly, must be nearly 60-ft tall.
We round off a full day with a visit to the Cuong Hoan traditional silk centre at the nearby Nam Ban village. We enter a small factory and are shown how the fabric is made - from the sorting of locally-grown silkworm cocoons to the boiling, unravelling and dyeing of threads to the finished article of the gorgeous garments themselves.
Back in Dalat that evening we sit in the V Cafe listening to Beatrice, a cool and sultry jazz singer from the Philippines with a coffee-coated voice not dissimilar to Sade or Nora Jones, and reflect over a glass of the local red Dalat that this relatlively untouched part of Vietnam is unquestionably the real deal. It's off the beaten track a bit - but that is the whole point.
Tomorrow sees us head off to the island of Phu Quoc. It lies off the southern tip of the mainland and promises sunshine, swaying palm trees and a warm turquoise sea. Sadly, it's also under threat from unscrupulous developers, so time to go now before it's too late.
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