Canyoning adventure in Da Lat, Vietnam

After a few days touring around Saigon I began to get city fever. I have a fairly low tolerance for big cities (of all things) and the feeling of smog in my lungs and dust in my throat was beginning to get to me, so I decided to head to the countryside for a while and see a greener side of Vietnam. Just then a friend told me about Da Lat, a small town in the central highlands that has lots of outdoor activities such as canyoning.

Canyoning? As in rappelling down a sheer cliff face into a flowing river? Using a sorry excuse for a harness and a rope held onto by a Vietnamese man that weighs less than a full grown german Sheppard? Sounds right up my alley!

I woke up in Da Lat around 9 pm after 7 hours crammed into a sleeper bus and found my way to Da Lat Family Hostel, the most popular hostel in town and tried to check in… it was full. I should have known. Luckily there was a small guesthouse across the street so I posted up there in a private room for just $5 a night. I had dinner and a few beers with the crew at Da Lat Family Hostel while I booked my canyoning excursion for the next day.

I could write paragraph upon paragraph telling you all about the vintage harnesses, the nasty wet gloves we had to wear and the amazing group of people I got to spend the day with while ascending, descending, climbing, jumping and sliding our way down the river… but I spent a lot of time making this video so let’s watch that instead. Plus this way you get a first person view of all the whole adventure. Enjoy!