Dalat and The Easyriders...Day 1

The crazy house
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As the weather was so bad, we decided to head further south but inland to Dalat, a french colonial town in the central highlands.  After a 7 hour bus journey, we arrived to be met by an Easy Rider, Mui.  We had read about the famous Easy Riders in the Lonely Planet guide.  They are a group of bikers, who act as tour guides and chauffer you round on the back of their bikes.  After a lenghty discussion with Mui and his friend Nip, we decided to book ouselves onto a 4 day/3 night tour to Saigon.  It cost us $215 each which we thought was costly but we hoped it would be worth it.

The crazy house
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Day 1

..they think we are like aliens sent from above!!

Mui and Nip picked us up at 8am, tied our backpacks onto the back of their bikes and off we headed (with a helmet i might add!)  It was cool to be amongst the traffic but not as scary as i first thought.  Oyr first stop was the crazy house built by the former PM's daughter.  It reminded me of a Hansel and Gretal type house but it was cool all the same.  Rob reckons she did a lot of acid in the 70's!!!

The man making a chicken coup
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We continued on and stopped so see how the Vietnamese make a living, for example through flowering (which they got from the Dutch), growing mountain rice and picking radishes in fields.  They all earn a pittance.  We stopped at an old man's house to see him making a chicken coup out of something similar to wicker.  He made other things as well which he would sell for 1 euro! Mui found a bong which they use to smoke tabacco.  Rob had a go but ended up coughing his guts up!  I declined!

Rob trying to smoke the bong
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Vietnam is famous for its silk so we got to see the entire lifecycle of the silkworm and how the silk is made and used.  The funniest part was the mating of the butterflys which the male and female do for 6 hours nd then the male dies, from exhaustion i reckon, and the female lays the eggs!!  The embryo which is lefy in the egg is then eaten by the locals!!!

Mui and Nip took us to visit the ethnic minority groups.  There are 53 ethnic minority groups in Vietnam who make up 20% of the population.  The government took control of these tribl groups and moved them onto the roadside so they could control them.  The 2nd group we met invited us in for a cuppa.  We met a grandmother who couldnt understand why my eyes were so blue.  She thought I was Jesus' daughter, Maria and i had been sent by God!!!  She was so happy to have us there.  She asked if she could touch us so i held her hand and her face lit up!!  Mui explained that they don't see westeners and they think we are like aliens, sent from above!!  They don't know anything of the world outside theirs.  In the 3rd tribe we met, we met a 19year-old girl and her 2 sisters.  Their parents had had 7 girls and longed for a boy.  She thought i was beautiful and again was so happy to have her picture taken with me!  The last tribe was the houses on stilts, where we met a 73 year old man in his pitch-black hut, who tld us a bit about their local traditions, such as weddings which last for 4 days!!

A silkworm
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Our final stop ws to see how the famous rice wine was made.  This is 30% proof and as the people don't have the money to buy 10 beers, like we do, they drink rice wine and get drunk pretty quickly and have no hangover the next day...bliss!!!  I tasted it and it was disgusting but i smiled and went...mmm...mmm!!!

Just riding along the bike, you really get a good feel for the 'reaal' Vietnam. The people are so friendly (especially the children) and they all wave at you and shout hello.  As soon as they see a Westener they get so excited!  Mui and Nip are 2 very genuine and funny guys.  They have a huge knowledge of their country.  We were having dinner that night with them and Nip was wearing a Adidas top when all of a sudden, Mui said, After Dinner I Do A Shit!  Nip replied, All Day I Dream About Sex!!!  Classic!!