Day five (we decided to do an extra day from Dalat to Nha Trang because we were loving it so) of our easy rider adventure begun with a chilly morning in Dalat, I say chilly and what I mean is about 20 degrees, but that’s damn cold for us, its been a long time since we’ve been that cold… We had some breakfast in our hotel while our riders strapped our bags up, the lady cooking the breakfast and watching the desk had a small baby that was crying and making a fuss so she just plonked it down on the sofa with us while she finished whatever it was she was doing… Now I don’t like kids at the best of times but Georgie was playing around with it making it laugh and stuff for a while but then as always happens the little bugger started to cry, now its not something I like to advertise but I’m actually very good with kids especially babies, I used the fail safe method of giving it a bunch of keys and showing it how to rattle them… Hours of fun. Seeing as we were checking out I figured by the time someone wrestles the keys of the little lady we will be long gone, and that’s just what happened as we threw a leg over our bikes the lady eased the keys from the babies tiny fingers and just like that all hell broke loose, but thankfully it was soon over shadowed by the sound of our bikes roaring into action. We made a few more stops on our way out of Dalat at the old railway station which was a lovely little place and lovers lake where there were lots of honey mooning Vietnamese people bobbing around on little pedlo’s. Then back on the road through the hills and away from Dalat, a little pit stop for coffee and then the most amazing road we have seen yet, with views stretching for what seemed like forever, deep valleys just a few feet away and gorgeous blue skies it was just beautiful. The hills seem to catch all of the clouds and from way up on them looking down over the blue skies of Nha Trang was amazing with every winding mile the temperature sharply rose, it was like having a giant hair dryer constantly fixed on us. We pulled over on a bridge stretching across a massive valley to take of our jumpers and go have a look at a hidden waterfall, it was tucked away behind a hillside a short walk from the bridge, it wasn’t a massive waterfall only a trickle really but really really tall and cool and at the bottom an almost perfectly round pool just like a natural hot tub and the view from it was awesome, etched in the middle of the valley but way up on a shelf of granite it looked out over the bridge and to the hills behind and then out for miles and miles to Nha Trang. Back on the bikes and back along the stunning roads gradually coming down from the hills and back to flat land and another stop, for lunch at a lovely Vietnamese cafe where we had our last meal with our riders and generally loved the scorching hot weather of Nha Trang. We had a gentle ride into Nha Trang our guides all the time pointing things out and generally being top chaps, saw a moped crash which I think shook everyone up a bit, they seemed OK though and then they took us right to the beach strip and found us a wicked cheap hotel for us to crash out in… And that’s what we did, wandered for an hour or so then crashed out, sad it was all over and pretty fucking tired we were asleep in seconds…

Back to the beach was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Learn how to make money travel round the world with you

Day four of our easy rider adventure started pretty early with a morning walk around the beautiful Lak lake and then for breakfast with our biker chums. A short walk around the other side of the lake to visit a minority village where whole families live in great big long houses with no separate rooms at all, it couldn’t be in a more picturesque setting and Georgie was loving it because they had alot of little pot belly pigs running about all over the shop. We strolled about for a while and all the time our easy rider guide Mr Hai talked us through and he even went as far as telling us what newly weds get up to… Apparently for 3 days after they marry they try for a baby and they have a special style where they actually roll up and down the length of their long house whilst nuts deep! And there’s no carpet! They even had elephants in the village which will swim across the lake with you on their back if you fancy but we had to press on, although not before a nice cup of coffee. We stopped for petrol just outside the village up on a hill and the view back down across the lake was awesome. Back on our way and next on the list was a small textiles centre which was built by the government for the unemployed women in the area to provide an income, I’ve never seen fabric being woven by hand and fuck me sideways it looks complicated! They had massive bamboo looms with about a million bits of thread coming from all over it, pedals, sand bag weights and all sorts. It was so mesmerising to watch but after a few minutes one of them noticed the state of my jeans so they all stopped working to have a giggle. Back on the bikes for a steep uphill hack along yet more stunning roads and past some awesome views on the valley below, everyday we the most beautiful scenery we have ever seen and then the next day just tops it! Another stop this time for some noodles in a little roadside shack and as we do herd of cows strolls past, followed by a fella with a stick who seems to be trying to keep them all together. One of our drivers has a novelty horn on his bike that can make the sound of a cow, a dog and a horse and so he gave it a push and one of the cows went fucking mental! The poor fella was going overtime with his stick to keep it in line but it wanted blood. As we pulled away he used the horn again and we saw them all scatter off into the forest and the chap came running after us shouting… Very funny!!! More amazing views from absolutely stunning roads as we climbed slowly higher into the hills and another stop at a coffee plantation where we were told all about the production of coffee and learned about the coffee black market years ago following the war. A few more scenic miles brought us to a small town and a silk factory, where they take thousands of silk worm cocoons with the worms still inside, float them in hot water and attach them to a massive machine which unwinds them and fills up giant spools with their silky goodness. The weaving machines there were just that, all mechanic and really old too, they were amazingly loud and had big cogs and wheels it was like silk factory you could barely hear and the heat was unreal. You could tell that many a finger had been lost to those buggers. Another coffee for the road and off we went a few miles to a pagoda where they have a giant Buddha probably 40ft tall all fat and smiling set in beautifully maintained gardens overlooking the town. More bike action and even more hills, we could feel the air getting cooler as we climbed and now we were at such a height that we couldn’t see the bottom of the valley below any more only the steep green sides of the neighbouring hills, we were so high that clouds were hitting the hills and gliding across the road as we drove through and you could feel the moisture in the air, we were getting near to 5000ft and near to our destination of Dalat city… Our last stop before Dalat was at a flower garden where they have row upon row of greenhouses to grow all sorts of flowers and roses for the rest of Vietnam, where its too hot to grow them. Then. Dalat, a beautiful little city with Scandinavian type houses clinging to the sides of hills and the clods overhead seem so close you could touch them, by now we were all pretty damn cold and as we drove through the city to our hotel everyone else was in proper winter coats with hats and gloves on, not really that cold by English standards but the coldest we have been for a long while. We stopped once in Dalat city at the crazy house which is a guest house/work of art, its exactly what would happen if you gave an architect a shit load of LSD and let him get on with it. Its actually quite amazing with stairways going off in all directions and great big animal fireplaces in all the rooms with glowing eyes, dripping walls and crazy colours… Toadstools and crocodiles… fucking weird but really cool, then as we went outside to head to our hotel a man was sat there with his shoes off using one as an ashtray just having a massive row with himself lying on the floor. Our drivers told us that he was a student with the owner/architect of the crazy house and was mad that she was rich and he wasn’t… more like she could handle her acid and he wigged out!!! We headed up the road and checked into our lovely hotel and immediately dashed back out for food at a nearby western café, we have loved the food all the way through Vietnam but we had serious cravings for some western grub and nice warm cup of tea… So we did and it rocked! Seeing as it was pretty chilly in Dalat and Georgie only had a flimsy cardigan she somehow managed to convince me to drag my arse around yet another night market in search of a jumper, against my will we had a wander, got some local coffee to take home and a jumper for Roo before hitting the hay hard…

Easy Riding Day 4: The peaks of Dalat was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Learn how to make money travel round the world with you

Day three of our easy rider adventure started with a bit of a lie in, a buffet breakfast and then back on our hogs, by this point we were starting to get over the sore bums and after the initial sit down a little wriggle sorted it all out. We stopped first at a local market in town and one of our drivers showed us around and told us all about all the weird and wonderful stuff which was really good because if he hadn’t told us we would never know… They had everything from paper cars to burn at a funeral to dead baby cows, a delicacy for the sick or old. We wandered about and Georgie stroked all the livestock then grabbed an iced coffee before heading out of town. It was a beautiful day with only one big cloud in the sky and as we left town it started to rain a little so we took shelter in a roadside cafe till it passed then carried on our way. A few miles out of town we stopped at a small farm that grew a little bit of everything but mainly mushrooms, they had thousands and thousands all hanging in a dark shed in small bags of mud, we had a go at picking them and as we were we came across a small stock of little bunny rabbits which Georgie started stroking and feeding and generally fussing over… Until that is the farm lady came in grabbed one by the ears, took it outside to where she had a giant python and tossed the little bugger in! I made sure Georgie didn’t watch but I couldn’t take my eyes of it and lets just say the python gave the rabbit the cuddle of its life! We bought some durian fruit (the smelly one) from a stall just outside and then away we went again. Everyday the scenery had been more and more amazing and today was our first day winding up the sides of massive hills on fantastic roads staring over the edge as we leaned around the bends. We stopped a few times to take I the views and grab a descent pic or two and it just blew us away, it was just stunning and the best bit was it was only going to get better! We pulled over for some lunch at a little noodle shack which was probably the best noodle shack in the world, it was perched on the road and the other side was a huge lake framed by absolutely massive hills, almost too much to take in. We sat and scoffed our noodles completely mesmerised by the landscape and watched as the shadows of the clouds rolled down the hills and up the next one. After noodles was the durian fruit, we were all set to be gagging all over the place but to be honest it weren’t all that bad… I don’t think ill be eating it all the time but we both noshed our portions up no probs. Back on the bikes again for the last leg of our days journey, it was a short day only about 35 miles but absolutely gorgeous and we winded our way through the valley between the hills to a backdrop of rice fields and farmers in their conical hats plucking rice and ploughing fields, it was like something from a postcard. We ascended over another hill and got our first look at Lak Lake our destination for the day and it was beautiful! We followed the road into the Lak lake entrance and pulled up at some very swish lakeside villas indeed, it was raining a little so we checked in and got our clothes on the dry then as the rain passed and the sun came crashing over the hills we took a stroll around the edge of the lake taking in the beauty and peace of it all… We met up with our drivers for some grub in the floating restaurant and stayed a while having a drink and playing games with them before taking one last wander around the lake in the super bright moonlight before hitting our ‘o’ so comfortable beds…

Easy Riding Day 3: Lak Lake was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Learn how to make money travel round the world with you

15/08/08 Day 2 of our easy rider adventure… We slept like logs and getting up and ready for 8:30 check out was a bit of a killer, our easy rider chums packed our bags up and tied them on to the bikes and as we climbed on we both looked at each other with a pained expression on our faces, our bums were still bloody tender and at that time in the morning we could both feel every mile we had done the day before and some! We only went half a mile into the town for coffee and breakfast which was at the same local restaurant as the previous nights dinner and in the daylight it looked even worse but again the food was mighty delicious and the people nothing but amazingly friendly, we had a Vietnamese breakfast which consisted of noodle soup, beef for me and vegetables for Georgie. lovely! Now back on the bikes and away we went. We didn’t have as many miles to cover so more stops for food and drinks but as the morning turned into the afternoon and we got further into the stunningly beautiful hills the rain came rolling in, luckily our boys had waterproofs so we pulled over and got suited and booted and they kept us surprisingly dry. As the rain came and went it opened up the most stunning views of massive sprawling patchwork hills with small farmer houses clinging to the sides and rice fields on the lowland beneath being tilled buy bulls and people in traditional conical hats. We passed big sweeping hills which make up the Cambodian border no more than 20ft and even joined the Ho Chi Minh trail where it comes from the Cambodian border and followed it north the same way the American soldiers did when they were off to cause trouble with the V.C’s all those years ago. We could have been comfortable on a bus, we could have made the journey in a day and we could have done it cheaply but even in the pissing rain and with sore bums the views and the people we met made it so very worth it. A real experience that greatly outweighs any endurance we have to go through. After a few hours of beautiful highland roads we arrived at Dray Sap Waterfalls, first we saw a “small” waterfall or that’s what our biker pals said but it actual turned out to be fucking massive, the biggest I have ever seen by far set amongst lush green hillside with a fine mist in the air and a giant roar from the crashing water. The swell at the bottom was insane it looked like a giant hot tub and you tell from up where we were standing that if you went in you wouldn’t come out again. We didn’t stay too long because we were back on the metal steeds and off to Dray Sap falls the bigger of the two. We pulled up at a small visitor centre and as we did we saw the first whit face we had seen since we pulled off the highway near Saigon, also and easy rider going south to Sagion. We had to trek for about 15 minutes before we came to a massive suspension bridge which takes you over the river about 100m from the falls and it was just awesome even from this distance we could feel the mist coming from them. Another 5 minutes on foot brought us right to the edge of the falls and this close you we had to really shout to hear each other, in dry season the water is low enough to be able to walk along a walkway behind the falling water but unfortunately there was far too much water for us to try so we just took some pictures and gorped at it for a while… By which time we were well soaked for the spray. We climbed back up the trail and into the forest to a small natural pool coming off the main river and flowing much slower, our man in the know assured us it was safe to swim so we figured we are already soaked why the fuck not… Stripped off to our cossies and splashed around for a while… Not too long though in case he was wrong about the crocs… We set off again for the final 10 miles or so of our 99 mile day and finished up quite nicely in a town called Buon Ma Thuot, a small, friendly quite quiet town famous for its Vietnamese coffee and a very very nice hotel courtesy of our riders. We had had a pretty gruelling day and after a short wander through the town and grub we hit the hay hard…

Easy Riding Day 2: Georgie & Aaron’s motorcycle diaries was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Learn how to make money travel round the world with you

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,…

Easy Riding Day 1: Dalat bound the long way round was originally published by HappytimeBlog - Backpacking around the world - Learn how to make money travel round the world with you