Dalat, Vietnam, 17-19 July 2012

We got off the bus in little Dalat, Jo with a minor concussion from smashing her head into the ceiling from a hitting a pothole at speed, around lunchtime. The hotel we were dropped outside had a cheap room, included breakfast and was a minutes walk to the centre, so we didn't venture far in search. The guy working there was very friendly and tried to flog us his fake Easy Rider tour. We were quite taken with the idea, but went in search of the city first before deciding. We found a dirty market selling every ingredient possible in every state of decomposition from the smell, then the lake with it's romantic 'swan' pedalos. We couldn't resist and climbed in our floating chicken, sorry, I mean 'swan' and had a lovely hour on the lake. We went off in search of a drink and then onto an official Easy Rider cafe. We got chatting to a couple of the guys who run it in Dalat. They do long trips up and down the country, or just daytrips around the countryside. They were set up almost 20 years ago, and have been such a success that lots of people try and claim the name Easy Rider. The guys we spoke to were the real deal. The big selling point was they were the same price as the guy in the hotel, but with the bonus of letting me ride a real bike instead of a moped. We booked up for the following day, and got some directions to the crazy house. After a 10 minute walk, we got to the house designed and built by a female Vietnamese architect to bring tourism to the city. It took her a long time to get built because of the look and design, but her dad was a famous politician so that must have helped. The place is currently having a big extension put on the side, and the whole lot looks a bit like if Salvador Dali made The Animals of Farthing Wood. There are lots of rooms with big beds in that you can stay in, but during the day is just for people to look at. I would love the idea of having something similar built in England, but it would never happen. At one point there's a walkway only 500mm wide with sides about the same height, no handrail and a 30ft drop below. Quite scary for those not fond of heights I'd imagine. I was well chuffed as there were no barriers up to stop you walking into the extension parts. I had a good mooch around, then we took some more pictures and left as it started to get dark. We wandered back, bumped into the Raptors who were two lads on my boat in Halong Bay, then had a lovely dinner in a very slow service but charming restaurant that wouldn't look out of place in the middle of nowhere in Northern France. When we eventually tumbled into bed I discovered that though we'd only been in Dalat for a few hours, we'd taken 130 photos already. The next morning we were up early for a good breakfast before our motorbike tour. We met our guide, a guy called Quan, but known as Buffalo due to his size (and as we'd later discover, his appetite). I was shown to a little Honda CB125, and Jo and I were both handed helmets you wouldn't let your child use on a skateboard. Jo was pretty scared, but as soon as we were out of the city she was loving it, sat behind me taking pictures as we sped through the countryside. We first stopped at the Dragon Pagooda which true to its name had lots of dragon statues, then onto the valley to see all the farms of stepped fields below us growing strawberries, avacados, spring onions, pumpkins and more. We then stopped at a hill that after a 20min hike took us up to views over the whole valley and Dalat. A little further on we stopped at some greenhouses where they grow flowers. These weren't as high-tech or vast as the ones in Holland, but were developed by a Dutchman who came over years ago, married a Vietnamese girl, and set it up as he saw the ground and climate conditions were perfect. Was quite cool, especially the rows upon rows of them made out of bamboo. En route to the coffee plantation, we stopped to try some red coffee beans, which are quite sweet, then another stop to see hundreds of huge spiders who had made a home between a row of trees and some power cables above. It seems a lot of mozzies and flys must be around as these spiders were easily 4inches in diameter, and all pretty fat. Jo freaked out a bit and almost leapt off the bike into the middle of the road. We got to the coffee plantation where a family live and work. They grow the coffee beans, then feed the red beans to a load of weasels they keep who love them, but can't digest the actual beans themselves, just the skins. The weasel poo is then harvested, cleaned and dried and used to make an expensive but quite smooth coffee! They also made normal coffee, just by drying out the beans, and with the dried out skins they're left with, they burn them to heat pots of rice and make rice wine! Nothing goes to waste, and the result is some 'happy water' at about 75% proof! We sat and tried some coffee, then rode off to the elephant waterfall. The elephant waterfall looks pretty cool from the top, but the best bit is climbing down and getting behind the bottom of the falls. We teetered across the wet slippery rocks and got soaked in the backdraught of the spray, then back up to another temple built above the falls. I'm not sure why this temple was so grand, but it had a couple of Buddha with many hands, the three Buddhas representing past, present and future, and outside a huge happy Buddha (the fat, bald Buddha sat on the floor laughing). By the time we'd done all of this it was about 1, and we were starving, so we went for lunch and Buffalo ordered a set menu for the 3 of us to share. There was loads of food, including; frog in banana leaf that looked and tasted like a really strong coarse English sausage, beef with vegetables and ginger, various spring rolls, morning glory (a green vegetable wilted and lightly pan fried with some pork fat and garlic), chicken, pork belly chopped into bitesize pieces, fish in an oily broth, and loads of little crabs, lightly fried. Oh, and a massive bowl of rice of course. Was lovely food, and the frog and the crab especially good. I was worried it was going to cost a fortune, but only 45k VND each (about £1.30). After our hearty lunch it was onto a silk factory where they harvest the silk worms, boil and spin the silk thread, spin it again to thin it out, then again to dry it, then there were a few looms making doyleys and table cloths and the like. There were also ladies hand sewing pictures in silk. The pictures, depending on size take 2 to 5 months to complete! We left the silk factory fascinated and educated.   Next we stopped at a small family house with a lean-to made of tarpaulin under which the family made brooms out of a coarse straw harvested further into the mountains, and then a little further on again at another small house where big round shallow baskets, a bit like upside-down jar lids, were made of woven cut down bamboo. They are then taken and sold at market for use at drying coffee, tea leaves or chillis. Whilst we were there the mother of the house cleared seats for us and made us some artichoke tea (we'd never heard of it either, but it tasted really good!). We asked Buffalo if we should pay for the tea or something, but he said no, it was just the woman being friendly. Felt very humbled by this, as they worked in their one room house, they would still give the little they have to strangers. We rode on and stopped at the coffee plantation again for a bit to let the rain that was falling in the valley ahead of us clear before continuing, then stopped briefly at a minority village, where one of the 50 odd minorities of Vietnam live, with their own customs and dialects. We carried on and soon found the rain, so we stopped for some sexy polka-dot ponchos, then ploughed on back to Dalat. Our last stop was the old railway, built when the French still occupied, with steamtrains and cogs to get the trains up and down the mountains. We got back into the cafe and had a coffee to warm us up (due to its altitude, Dalat is quite cool, and the rain only made it worse), thanked Buffalo for a great day, and went back to the hotel to chill out. We lazily ate at the same place for dinner as the previous night, then packed up ready to get the bus early the next morning to Saigon!