Central Highlands

Travelling up through the Central highlands on the back of a motorbike sounded like a great idea but after a day negotiating the unpredictable roads around Dalat we decided against it. We'd even gone as far as arranging a meeting with 2 Easyriders who had 'befriended' us on the street. These chaps have been taking people through the mountains for more than 20 years and are hugely proud of their client-comment books. We almost took the bait but decided that 5 days would be too much, especially when you consider that you're sandwiched between your driver and your luggage. We heard about a freelance guide and after chatting with him for a couple of minutes we signed up for a 4 day tour that would take us from Dalat to Hoi An, the back way.


There were 4 of us in the hugely spacious minivan, Jacks, myself, Hun (the driver) and Quay (our guide) and we began our trip with a few quick stops in Dalat. The only 1 worth commenting on is the Crazy House, a hotel currently being built by an ex-presidents daughter. She did her PHD in Architecture in Russia and seems to have picked up a style that resembles Gaudi on heroine. I'd love to show you pictures but unfortunately our hard drive now has bird flu and all of our pictures are in some parallel universe!


Next stop was Lak Lake where we wandered through a traditional Ede minority village and were convinced by the locals to ride an elephant across the lake. We'd already had many elephant riding opportunities but the tacky tourism and the way that the elephants were treated had always put us off. That along with the fact that as Africans we don't really feel comfortable seeing such beautiful creatures being tamed and bullied by people wearing funny clothes. There were almost no tourists in Lak Lake and from what we could see the elephants were treated like royalty. I wouldn't recommend any long term elephant travel but both of us really enjoyed our ride. The elephant had a whale of a time and at one point had only the end of its trunk out of the water.


Along the way we learnt about the local silk, rubber, coffee, pepper and MSG industries, all very interesting and 1 highly amusing. After stopping at a family home, we walked up to the house to have a look at their pepper trees. Two kids inside burst into tears and the parents and our guide found it very funny. The mom had told them that we had come to adopt them. Our second night was in Buon Me Thuot which is the coffee capital of the country if not the world. In 2007 Vietnam made 1,5 Billion US Dollars from it's coffee which sounds great except for the fact that less than 8% of that figure goes to the growers who do all the work. I had mentioned to Quay that I enjoyed a good cuppa and he somehow managed to convince the people at the Trung Nguyen Headquarters that we were some coffee experts. We were invited into their main lounge and allowed to taste some of their different varieties. They really now what they're doing and their Legendee is truly a one of a kind. It is a coffee that has passed through a weasel and then roasted. Basically roasted weasel kak which sounds siff but I tell you right now it is superb.


We visited the Phoenix Airbase, a couple of war memorials and cemeteries and some old tanks but it was the huge expanses of barren land, where the Americans dropped Agent Orange, that made us sad. The chemical was used to destroy all vegetation and therefore expose the VC but 30 years later the soil is still useless and thousands of children have been born with defects as a result of it's presence. American War Veterans that were affected by the stuff have recently received payouts but a claim made by the Vietnamese was drop kicked over the fence.


The road took us through some wonderful scenery, past the Dray Sap Falls and the wonderful jungle and mountain landscape of the Ho Chi Minh Trail.


The best thing about the trip was Quay and Hun. As I'm writing this our time in Vietnam is almost up and if I am honest I'd have to say that we've both really struggled with the people. They're an incredibly aggressive bunch that occasionally loosen up after marinading themselves in rice wine. If you stay on the tourist conveyor belt like good little sausages you'll be exposed to forced smiles and rehearsed friendliness. Getting off the beaten track will show you the real people but will also expose a character that is fairly obviously entrenched with a hate for anybody different. This is certainly a generalisation and with our guide and driver it was not the case. Hun treated Jackie as if she was his granddaughter and Quay was like a long lost mate. We shared every meal together and there was never a dull moment. Saying goodbye was quite tough especially for Quay who with tears in his eyes told us that he was really going to miss us.