Dalat - Peter and the EZRiders.........

Thinking I was over the cold weather for a while, I was absolutely freeziing when I got off the bus in Dalat Wednesday morning.We were way up in the mountains and it was 5am. I had slept all the way and was glad to see a few lads with "EzRider" jackets outside to greet us.

EasyRiders are a group of Vietnamese motorbike drivers who offer tourists the chance to see the 'real,' Vietnam on the back of a motorbike. They original started as ex-war veterns who fought on the south Vietnamese/Americian side, who found it hard to get other jobs since they were on the 'wrong' side of the war. Now these lads are in their mid 50's, and are training in younger lads in their 20's to be EasyRiders. We opted for multi-day tour taking us from Dalat to Hoi An via the central highlands, a mountainous area in south Vietnam. The EasyRiders took us to cheap hotels en route, and to eat in local cheap places also. They tied the backpacks to the back of the bike, which made a very comfortable seat. Regardless, we were never on the bikes more then 20mins before there was a stop to see something of note, or in some cases, just a stop to walk a bit and stretch the legs.

After a few hours kip in Dalat, we hit the road for day 1 via Dalat Post Office to send off the Christmas presents. The motor bikes alone were a novelty at the start - and were just as exciting as the sights we saw. We would make it to Hoi An in stages staying in town and cities along the way. We had a lot of milage to cover on the first day but crammed a lot in regardless. First stop was the "CrazyHouse" - an Alice in Wonderland type place that is kinda, crazy. Its like a house thats in the shape of a tree and stuff - not the most impressive stop of the day.

We then headed into the countryside - and at each stop, one of the 7 EasyRiders would tell us the significance etc. We had 3 older guides and 4 younger ones, so we got the best of both worlds with the big group. We stopped off at a flower farm, where Peter explained how this industry is big in the highlands, and explained the country's transition from comunist to capitalism, and how if effected the farming industry. Other stops that day included bridges rebuilt after the war, curry plantations, an ethnic minority village but the highlight was visiting the silk worm factory. We saw everything that related to the creating of silk and the life cycle of the silk worm. It was really cool to learn and hear this. We even sampled the larva which are edible, and taste kinda nutty! We also stopped later at where the silk worms were feeding - thounsands of them crunching on leaves which made a very mellow backround hum. The mountain scenery en route was excellent and the journey was as enjoyable as the sights, even though I was a little tired. Dusk was beginning to to fall as we arrived on our base for the night, Lac Lak, a hotel on the edge of this lake that was very rural.

We lathered up on the bug spray and met the lads for dinner at 7.30pm in the resteraunt attached to the hotel. It was more of a community hall than a resteraunt but served good food and cool Saigon beer. It was Wednesday November 5th - and I enquired if there was any confirmation on who had won the US presidental election - but they said the news was at 8pm. While having dinner, Bean, one of the older drivers came over to me and said "Today - good day for world, we drink to Obama Americian President". He outlined that he felt this was good for Vietnam and Asia etc. I did get to see clips from the news, but in Vietnamese so didn't know what they were saying - will certainly remember that. Had an extra beer outside by the lake and hit the sack fairly early Wednesday night. Easyriders Day 1- so far so good...