Easy Riding Day 1: Dalat bound the long way round
15/08/08 Day 1 of our easy rider adventure… A few days ago we were looking for a way to get from Saigon to Dalat, but the quickest way would be nothing more than a motorway and a direct bus, not without its charms but we would be missing almost all of the central highland area. We knew of one way called the easy riders who are a bunch of bikers who work mainly out of Dalat and take you on their motorbikes the scenic way and also acting as a tour guide along the way but we searched high and low in Saigon and couldn’t find anyone who could arrange it to to from Saigon to Dalat only the other way… After an afternoon of searching we were just heading back to our guest house when we passed a pair of bikers with easy riders written on their bikes so we asked them and they took us for a coffee and we had a chat about when and where and how long, they seemed like really nice people from the outset so we settled on a 4 day 3 night trip to Dalat via the central highlands with various stops along the way… So our first morning started at 8:30, we took our bags downstairs had some breakfast and checked out while our easy riders strapped our whopping bags to the tiny racks on the back of their bikes. Then away we went, and with the bags strapped firmly behind us we had something to lean against. Getting out of Saigon was utter fucking chaos, It was like a river of mopeds all flowing from different directions but somehow no one ever actually fully stops, we came to some building work which turned the road into a bottle neck and mopeds were scrambling over the paths and across the oncoming traffic like a river bursting its banks. It didn’t take too long to get off of highway 1 and onto much quieter B road, we stopped for coffee to cool off for a while then set off along the leafy narrow roads past a noodle factory and after an hour or so we came across a river. It was a local ferry crossing which was nothing more than a flat boat with a tiny outboard strapped to the back, there were a few other people there waiting including a woman who had been and bought a duck for dinner that evening but obviously to keep it fresh it was still alive and kicking which poses a problem if your only form of transport is as a passenger on a moped… The solution, a duck in a bag… Like the goldfish you get from the fair only without the water it was brilliant! We were soon across the river and back on the bikes to eat a few more miles along the ever more rural country roads. It was a gorgeous day and really good to be on a bike as it really makes you feel close to the environment your passing through, we made plenty of coffee stops and because our two guides spoke pretty good English we chatted through them to the local people who were so friendly and curious especially the children. Towards the end of the afternoon we made a stop at a minority village where the people live by different customs and cultures to the main population and as we sat chatting with a few of the people more and more came out of their houses to see what was going on and have a giggle at the westerners with rings in their faces, and before long there was a big crowd gathered and mopeds were pulling over to join in it was an amazing experience and without our guides it would be completely lost on us. Their main topic of conversation was how beautiful Georgie is with her pale skin and yellow hair and how funny I am with ripped up jeans and rings in my face… We had a giggle and took some pictures which seemed to amuse them all then pressed on to a town called gia Nghïla where we were going to stop for the night, we checked into a lovely guest house and limped up the stairs to ease our sore backsides before heading out with our two easy rider friends for some local grub in the form of fried rice and vegetable soup at a place that would normally scare the bollocks off of you for fear of food poisoning. But it was fucking tasty and as soon as we finished Georgie and I went to our room and crashed out. We had done 148 miles, got up to 2500ft above sea level, were dirty, tired and FUCKING sore but we had had on of the most amazing days we have had since we started travelling,…
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