Easyriders Dalat - Ho-Chi-Minh 11. – 14.1.2018

As agreed, we were picked up at exactly 8:30 am by our Easyriders Binh (64) and Hieu (47). They had strapped our large backpacks onto their motorcycles, put on their helmets, and off we went! Binh told us a lot about the history and the war in Vietnam over the next 4 days. Hieu took us to the local people and businesses, and told us about their daily lives and responsibilities. These 4 days were by far the most beautiful and exciting experience we have ever had! We didn't understand Vietnamese at all, but we managed to communicate with hand gestures and body language 😉. With our two bodyguards (that's what they called themselves), they made everything easy for us and tried to fulfill every wish we had. We got in touch with the local population and gained insights that would have been impossible otherwise! We truly became a part of Vietnamese life!

So, the first stop was on the side of the road, we got off the motorcycles, took off our helmets, and followed one of them to see something interesting. We did this about 100 times over the next 4 days 😉. But it was often welcome, because it helped us feel our sore behinds again 😊. On the first day, we visited a flower plantation (with Vietnamese and Dutch flowers...yes, the Dutch have their fingers in everything 😉) and a coffee plantation. The sweet coffee they produce is a specialty, famous for the natural fertilizer from the weasel. During the day, it sleeps in their stomach, and at night it is released as they walk through the plantation and distribute their droppings. Even as "non-coffee drinkers," we had to try the coffee and we really liked it...unfortunately, a little too much, as we later found out.
After a truly Vietnamese lunch, we continued and visited a side farm. Once again, we saw a barn where every family member, from grandparents to grandchildren, nieces, and nephews, all help out. They showed us the whole process, it was very fascinating. Then we continued through the breathtaking natural landscape, up and down a mountain! Always surrounded by scooters that carry more passengers than we can fit in a car 😉. The next stop: Elephant Waterfall! They patiently waited for us while we went on a hike and took pictures. Everywhere on the roadside, there were large sheets spread out with coffee beans drying. The beans need to lie in the sun and dry for about 10 days, and are turned several times a day, usually by the women. Either with a shovel or just by walking on them with rubber shoes! Hieu told us that the people are very happy and content, now that the harvest time is over and they can earn a lot of money from the dried coffee beans. They finally have more free time for their families and to enjoy life together.

On the roadside, we also saw stems lying there to dry. Hieu told us that traditional brooms are made from these stems. Next month is "New Year" in Vietnam, and it is important that everything is clean and tidy! Fortunately, in the new year, the old brooms are replaced with new ones. We stayed with a family that produces rice paper from rice powder, which is then used to make spring rolls, etc. The importance of the sun becomes evident again in all these businesses! We also stayed with a family that carves art pieces like Buddhas and frogs (which symbolize luck) from tree trunks. Different family members are involved in these activities as well. We continued to a cashew plantation. It was incredibly noisy and extremely hot. Six women were sitting there, opening each nut by hand after it was picked and roasted. Then they were dried and sorted into different quality groups. The best quality is exported, while the rest is sold on the local market in Vietnam. It made us realize what lies behind the products we are used to in the stores!

On the last day, everything had become more or less normal for us. People are creatures of habit, and so the traffic, the roads, and the houses, going up and down on the motorcycle, had become a bit normal for us. We even caught ourselves speaking English to each other 😉. Dropping trash on the ground and eating with chopsticks. Please let us forget all of this when we leave, otherwise the people in New Zealand won't be happy with us 😉. Of course, a real local market cannot be missed either. In the last two days, we were in a region where, according to our bodyguards, no tourist had ever been before, at least judging by the reactions of the locals. So, Hieu took us along and felt like a king with two foreign women. Many wanted to invite us to their homes, but Hieu, as our bodyguard, did not allow it...fortunately 😉. However, everyone wanted to take pictures with us, including their family members. The local hairdresser even wanted to cut Ilse's hair for free...we hadn't noticed that she looked so bad and needed a haircut 😉. Walking through the market, we seemed like giants compared to the Vietnamese people 😊. The people were so kind and natural. There was a different atmosphere compared to the city. Almost no one had a cellphone, and there was more of a sense of community.

In addition to seeing the height of the trees and the style of the houses, which showed that the country is still rebuilding after the war, Binh told us various stories and showed us different memorials. On the last day, in the vicinity of Ho-Chi-Minh City (or Saigon), we visited the famous Cu-Chi Tunnels. It is an underground system of about 250km, built on three levels (at depths of 3, 5, and 10 meters below ground), as everything on the surface was shot or bombed. Some weapons were made from bamboo, and there were various traps on the surface that impaled the enemy! We even got to go through one of the tunnels ourselves, although for European tourists, they had larger tunnels to visit. Still, we had to bend down and walk about 70m through the hot, narrow, and dark tunnel from bunker to bunker. That's when I accidentally hit my head and got a nasty bump on my forehead at the hairline ☹. (When we got back, Hieu immediately got ice to help cool it down a bit 😊). The Vietnamese people were very clever in many ways, even cleverer than the enemy, and for example, they made flip-flops out of old car tires, so that when the enemy saw their footprints, it looked like they were running in the opposite direction.

Vietnam is a communist country, and one wonders what tourists notice. In the countryside, every morning at quarter to 5 and at noon, a loudspeaker on the street broadcasts texts about politics, which is incomprehensible to us, just loud noise. According to Binh and Hieu, they themselves are not allowed to talk about politics, especially not with tourists. They don't have freedom of speech, but they accept the situation and are satisfied as long as they are healthy and have food. Throughout Vietnam, but especially in the countryside, you see the red flag with the yellow star, the flag of Vietnam that represents communism. You also see the red flag with the sickle and hammer (the sickle referring to Vietnam and the rice fields, and the hammer referring to communist Russia). At each accommodation, we had to hand over our passports, but when we asked why, there was no answer.

In addition to the Catholic village I mentioned earlier, the majority of the Vietnamese population follows Buddhism. Especially the influence of China can be seen in the temples. The Vietnamese themselves only know the female form of the Buddha. The Buddha that we know originally comes from India and/or China. There are also many monks and nuns. One noticeable difference in beliefs is that they see and accept everything. This means that you can't just confess something bad you've done and everything is fine again. As a person, you are not in the top 5 most important things in life. Vietnamese people are also very thrifty when it comes to spending money on themselves, but when it comes to their children, they will do anything to provide them with a better education than they had, and to ensure a better life for future generations. They also do a lot for the poorer population, as they believe that if they do good things, good things will come back to them.

After 4 impressive and incredible days, we arrived in Ho-Chi-Minh City, and it was a shock. It was much calmer compared to Hanoi. In that moment, sitting on a motorcycle instead of being in a taxi felt very uncomfortable. We even got chased by another motorcycle, but fortunately, nothing happened! Thanks to our backpacks! It was just crazy, and I felt so uncomfortable, like I haven't felt in a long time! We booked a room near the airport, and I hoped we would get there quickly! After checking in and bringing our luggage to the room, we went for one last coffee Suda with our bodyguards before they headed back to Dalat. We were a bit overwhelmed and lost in the city without our bodyguards. Yes, I mentioned earlier that the coffee might be our downfall. Suda coffee is drunk cold with ice cubes...we loved it so much that we unfortunately had too much of it and barely made it back to the hotel, spending the whole evening feeling sick and lying in our hotel room! Luckily, we had our pharmacy with us and could take something that made us feel a little better! But more than a cola for dinner was not possible before we fell asleep! Dilse decided the next day to take a later flight, at 5:50 pm, so we spent nearly a whole day at the airport, from 12 pm to the 5:50 pm flight. Time to write the blog and read, I've already finished my second book 😉. We are now flying to the island of Phu Quoc for 5 days to relax a bit and process all the impressions. Dilse booked a bungalow near the beach, where we hope to enjoy the sun and the dream beaches. See you soon!