Dalat to Mui Ne ....by Motorbike

After Nha Trang, I decided to go to Dalat for a few days mainly because this city in the central mountains is at 1500m and therefore is refreshing cool compared to the coast.

In order to visit the surrounding countryside I booked a tour with a local "easy rider". I took me to many places around Dalat (temples, waterfalls, farmers and much more). This tour was so great that I decided to travel to Mui Ne with the same driver... so off we went, with all my luggage on the motorbike. These three days on the bike were just fantastic. Not only did my driver Binh (alias Dunhill) show me the most amazing countrysides. He also told me lot about the Vietnamese life, especially about the farmers. Since the reforms in 1990, when they got back their land after years of cooperatives, they are doing very well. They are responsible for their families (have to pay education and health care by themselves) but on the other side they are free to grow what they want. Many grow coffee as primary resource. But as coffee only allows for one harvest a year, they have alternative sources of revenue, such a growing mushrooms, tea or flowers. These alternatives provide them with a regular source of income. Many of the farmers have been able to build very nice houses - in stone and often very imposing.

We spent a the night in Di Linh, a small city between Dalat and Mui Ne. While I was walking down the main street, most of the kids were waiving and saying hello, and some women came to touch my white skin. It was an incredible experience... we could not communicate except for exchanging large smiles, but we all seemed to enjoy meeting each others. It was one of the few moments so far, where I really had the feeling to be close to the Vietnamese people and having finally left the tourist track for a few precious moments. Below are a pictures from the trip:

Silk factory - production of silk from the initial cooking to take off the cocoon to waving the material

Distillery in a farm house producing local alcohol from rice:

The Crazy House in Dalat - guesthouse built by a local woman architect, there are several strange buildings and each room has a special theme - mainly representing different animals.

Bao Dai's summer palace, built in 1933 and inspired by art deco. I very much liked this building very typical of that period:

Views of farmland around Dalat:

Coffee :

Views in the countryside:

View from my hotel room in Di Linh:

Here some pics from the production of rice noodles: the rice is cooked in water and then dried in big squares before being cut into noodles (below):

Mui Ne, a small beach side resort, is famous for its sand dunes and for relaxing. After my trip on the motorbike I spent two days here - just relaxing, reading and enjoying the beach. Tomorrow I am off to Ho Chi Minh City.