Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Some of this, some of Da-Lat!

Hey kiddies,

My travels have found me here in Dalat, which is just North East of Saigon, which is quite a change from the beach that Lily and I were sitting on in Mui ne. It is also very beautiful here. Rolling hills and countryside along with incredible farms and coffee plantations.



We rolled in yesterday afternoon, and after getting off the bus, we were immedietly followed by a member of the "Easy Riders"... self-proclaimed motor bike drivers eager to take tourists on one of thier signature "tours of Dalat". If you have enough money, they'll take you all the way to Nothern Vietnam on the back of their Hondas!



A little background on the Easy Riders: there used to be only 10 members, magically wisking travelers away to destination spots not offered by tourbuses and treks. Today, there are over 70 Easy Riders, complete with Jackets and badges that strategically find you as soon as you get into town. It's like they can smell you or something (despite the fact that foreigners stick out like a ladyboy defrocked at a strip club in Bangkok in this small town of Dalat). Once we realized that he wouldn't let us go without reading at least 3 testimonials in his little journal of goodies, we sat down for coffee and planned a day trip with Mr. Lou Lou and Than, and depsite the fact that it was a bit pricier than we had hoped ($20 for 8 hours) I think it was a good choice.



After a great night of dinner and market shopping, Lils and I retired to a movie and the cozy confines of our $6 guest house complete with winter blankets. We woke up at 8 and met up with our pilots for a day in the countryside. We hopped on the hoggs, and headed out of the hustle and bussle of downtown Dalat and into the winding forest roads. We saw everything from the silk factory, to "Crazy House" (you'll see in the photos later) to coffee plantations,