Easy Rider-Dalat to Dak Mil

I arrived safely in Dalat on Saturday afternoon, met my guide and driver Lee and spent the evening at the night market savouring more local delights.

My Easy Rider experience began at 9am on Sunday morning. My bags were strapped to the back of the bike and off we went. We did a few short stops near Dalat to get me in the mood. We visited The Hang Nga guesthouse originally built as a personal project by Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga and known locally as the Crazy House-you can see why from the photos. We stopped at a coffe plantation, a silk factory where I saw silk from worms transformed into material,  the elephant waterfalls and the Linh An Pagoda, home of the Happy Buddah. This was all great but firmly on the tourist trail.The heavens opened as we had lunch and this allowed me to wear the rathe stylish bright orange waterproof that Lee had brought for me. it was actually lotsof fun riding in the rain and certainly refreshing and cool. The low light also led to some nice photo opportunities at the  Bang Lang Dam and at Lake Lac, our final destination.We stayed in a traditional long house in the village of  Buon Yon, which was atmospheric and rural but full of other Easy Rider groups...all of us feeling intrepid I am sure but not quite escaping from the tourist trap.

This morning I was awoken abruptly at 5am by the sound of music and counting blaring from a nearby radio, apparently it is an exercise class broadcast evry morning!! Anyway it was a hot and sunny day and  there were hundreds of butterflies everywhere.  I  also came face to face with a few elephants, who used to be used by the farmers but are now a tourist attraction, We made our way slowly to the Draysap waterfall tand the Gia Long falls via a marble and granite masonery and a brick works, vietnam is a very busy place. We also had  a leisurely stop at a cafe with hammocks, where we chomped on green mangoes and chilli salt. We swam at the waterfalls which was lovely and we met up with another couple of Easy Riders.  The weather was so different from yesterday, today Vietnam was green and vibrant. We arrived in Dak Mil, a town close to the Cambodian border at about 5 and an early night is in order. it is great to be out of the big city and see some more of Vietnam. It is much quieter everywhere and although we have been on the tourist trail tonight is far from that.