Having had some chilled out beach action in Nha Trang, we were ready for change of scenery. Where better to head for than the mountain city of Dalat in the Central Highlands region of Vietnam. Another bus journey awaited us but a mere 4 hours compared to the dreaded 12 hour stints on night buses. I was really looking forward to checking out the views from the bus in daylight, especially as we were heading up into the mountains.
The bus crawled through many a sleepy town and village before making a slow, steady progress towards the mountains. The views were amazing as we climbed higher and higher and soon we were as high as the clouds. It was such a nice change to be able to look at the scenery as we travelled on the bus. Our usual journeys happen in the dead of night! My journey was somewhat spoilt however after our rest stop, as a small boy proceeded to throw up his noodles in the aisle right next to me! Soon the mountain city of Dalat came into sight and on first viewing I was not overly impressed. The guide book had described the city as 'little Paris' so I expected quaint French architecture and pretty little streets. We found small parts of the city like this but on the whole, it's not a very pretty city. However, it was a nice change from the places we had been previously and had a totally different climate - we had to wear a jumper! At times it felt as though we could have been in any city in Europe rather than in Central Vietnam.
On the plus side, we had struck gold with our accommodation here. We stayed in an amazing guesthouse called 'Dreams' with the lovely Mrs Duong as our host. She made the most AMAZING breakfast ever, a real family affair with all the guests sat round the same table and a jaccuzzi, steam room and sauna on a rooftop terrace - what more could you need! Having not been overly impressed after our wander round Dalat, she advised us to take a tour around the sights and surrounding areas with the 'Easy Riders'! Originating in Dalat, the Easy Riders spend their time riding around with tourists, showing them the 'real Vietnam'. What a life hey? We were both unsure what to expect from the Easy Riders but it sounded like fun so we agreed to a tour the next day. I think that this was quite possibly the best decision we have made on our trip so far!
At 8.30am the following day, we were greeted by two smiling Vietnamese bikers - Joseph and Ted (yes they really were Vietnamese!) As soon as the intoductions were over, we had helmets fitted to our head (Joseph found it very funny how small my head was - rude!) and we were off! I was actually really comfy on the back of my bike as it had a small seat and back rest so I could sit back easily and definately wasn't going to fall off. Tom was not so lucky and had to hold on tight!
We rode through the streets of Dalat, pretty slowly if I'm honest (they weren't speed demons, thank god!) and soon arrived at our first stop for the day, the Dragon Pagoda. Now we've seen a fair few pagodas in our time away so far but these were pretty different. Imagine the Disneyland of pagodas and you're half way there! There was also a temple, which Ted took great detail in showing us round and also told us about 'bell mail'. Basically, every temple has a huge bell that the monks generally use to communicate with Buddha. Ted told us to have a look underneath the bell to see the hundereds of letters stuck to the inside - 'bell mail to Buddha', brilliant!
We climbed back on the bikes and headed out into the countryside, it was beautiful. There are fields, not rice paddies, growing friut, vegetables and coffee - a totally different side to Vietnam. We stopped to admire the view and for Joseph to give us some history about the area, especially about the war. These guys were brilliant for explaining everything about their country, in great detail. From politics and religions to mountain tribes and village life, they knew absolutely everything and were only too happy to talk about it. Tom was in his element, especially when talk turned to the history and politics of the country! I'm sad to say that I knew very little about Vietnam before coming away but thanks to these guys, I've learnt a great deal.
Further on, we were given some time off the bikes to climb a hill and take in the view of Dalat city. It looked pretty impressive from the top so I set about taking some pictures and got the fright of my life when Ted appeared through the trees to give us some more history about the war. Turns out, the hill we were on was a major look out point for the South Vietnamese army and he was able to point out the trenches and bunkers to us. He was able to give amazing detail and some personal experience as he served during the war under the South Vietnamese Army.
Back on the bikes, we headed further into the country, riding past giant greenhouses full of flowers and many coffee plantations. We stopped at one plantation and Joseph told us about the different types of coffee that they grow (robusta and mocha were the two we saw) and watched the beans being expertly picked from the plants. Later in the day, we had the slightly disturbing experience of seeing weasels (trapped in tiny cages) being fed coffee beans, they poo them out and they are collected to make really expensive (and pretty disgusting in my opinion) coffee. Much like we saw in Bali with the mongoose. Neither were treated particularly nicely and I'm really unsure as to why anyone would want to drink this coffee anyway?
Our next stop was quite possibly my favourite of the day, Elephant waterfalls. No, there were no real elephants to be seen but the formation of the rocks at the base of the waterfall are said to look like elephants. They just looked like rocks to me but hey, I'm not going to argue! The waterfall was pretty difficult to get to so Ted came down with us to show us the way. The guy is incredibly fit and at times I struggled to keep up. I'm sure that my wearing sandals to scale the side of a waterfall was part of my downfall - I managed it though and the sandals survived too! I felt a bit like Tarzan at times holding onto vines and clinging onto exposed tree roots but it was so much fun and totally worth it when we made it to the bottom. Ted was so excitable and took my camera from me and insisted on taking photos of us. He took us right to the base of the waterfall and we got absolutely soaked, slipping and sliding everywhere! Wet through, we climbed up alongside the waterfall for more photos. Ted continued to snap away with the camera as we climbed back up to the top, shouting "no one else will ever have photos like these!" He truly is a madman! On reaching the top, we posed for some more photos with stone elephants (classy!) then went to check out the 'happy Buddha'. I have to say that it was by far my favourite Buddha that I've seen so far - all Buddha's should be that happy and smiley!!
When we eventually returned to the bikes, the guys ushered us into a local cafe across the road for some lunch. The four of us sat down at a table together and they ordered a small feast for us. There was so much food and it was all really tasty - they both made sure that we try a bit of everything. A total bargain for all the food that we ate and it was really nice to sit down with our guides and find out a bit more about them.
After lunch, we were whisked away to a local house to see silkworms and boy did we see some silkworms. Literally hundreds of them on bamboo frames outside their house, spinning small silk cocoons around themselves. Once the cocoons had formed, they are collected and sent to the silk factory. That was our next stop, where we saw the cocoons being washed and the now dead silk worm being removed. The silk is then fed through a machine and spun into huge reels to create any number of silk products. We saw a pretty ancient wooden machine weaving a pattern onto the silk. To be honest it looked as though it may have fallen apart any second but the finished products were beautiful!
We climbed back onto the bikes and headed to our last stop for the day, the 'Crazy House'. It is a pretty surreal Gaudi-esque building, with weird and wonderful rooms and staircases to wander around. I suppose it's a bit like a messed up Alice in Wonderland - we climbed up a giraffes back, walked through giant cobwebs, sat at the worlds smallest table and chairs, had our photo taken with a giant eagle and egg and climbed to the top of a Hansel and Gretel style house (Dan Clarke this is the place for you!!) A truly bizzare end to the most amazing day!
We both felt really sad when we arrived back at the hotel. I can really see why so many people pay these guys to take them all across Vietnam for weeks on their motorbikes. They were both fantastic and gave us both a day we will never forget! Despite first impressions, we had a great time here. Another bus journey awaits to take us back down to the coast - bring on the beach!!
Lots of love, Shell xxxx
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