There were four fellow travellers on board as I boarded the otherwise exclusively Vietnamese bus to Da Lat. Two of them were sat at the back and to all intents appeared to be friendly, talkative sort of people. As soon as the engine started up the one in the aisle seat turned glassy-eyed and spent the entire journey staring down the center of the bus in complete silence. Later on I tried to politely spark up a conversation with the second guy. He responded by adopting the sort of quizzical, absent-minded expression you generally only ever see on a baby’s face when they are busy pooping their nappy.
The other two people were from Wales.
I returned to my seat and made quick assumptions that Da Lat probably wouldn’t be the sort of bustling hub of travel where I could drink beer, hang out, and ’shoot the shit’ with the cool kids.
To do so, however, would be missing the point of this town. If you want to drink beer and have memorable discussions with other travellers, go to Hanoi or Saigon. If you want to get paralytic and have blackout-filled discussions with other travellers, go to Nha Trang. Whereas if you want to escape the cruel coastal sun for a few days and take in some delectable scenic sights with the Easy Riders, make your merry way to Da Lat.
Which pretty much sums up my plans for this charming place. The refuge from the heat is a welcoming one, save the 900 million thousand liters of rain that have already fallen from the sky. None of that matters however when you’ve got a grand 150cc motorbike and a friendly, knowledgeable Easy Rider to whisk you away to the central highlands, the “real” Vietnam.
And if the day I’ve had with my rider today is anything to go by, the upcoming three days are going to be filled with adventure, fun, and great memories. We’ve already seen the local area with its French and Chinese colonial buildings, some impressive waterfall action, a magical factory where they turn silkworm residue into fancy garments, and “The Crazy house”, a part Dr Seuss and part bad mushroom-trip extravaganza built by a local eccentric with far too many Dong burning a hole in her purse.
So with the warm-up ride out of the way, I now look forward to the real action which begins at 8:30 tomorrow morning. I may not be “born to wild”, having my own personal rider and tour guide as I do, but right now I’ll settle for “born to be moderately daring within the confines of a pre-arranged excursion”…
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Tagged: Da Lat, Easy Rider, Vietnam