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Day #1 on the motorbike was fantastic!! We were a little apprehensive at first, especially going through the city where there is alot of traffic, horns constantly beeping and cars and trucks getting a little too close for comfort. But once we got out into the countryside we felt completely at ease and settled in to the trip. My driver's name was Son and Jonny's driver's name was Hiep. Son was very careful and I felt very comfortable with him. Hiep, on the other hand, had a faster motorbike and seemed to want to show off how fast he could go. While Jonny felt safe with him (for the most part), he seemed to be a bit more of a risk-taker. But, once we were out of the city and into the peaceful countryside, there were hardly any other vehicles on the road so dealing with traffic became a non-issue.
As we rode along, we saw a group of 12 women out working in a rice field. We pulled off to the side of the road to watch them work when they noticed us and started waving like crazy at us and squealed with laughter when we waved back and yelled, "Hello!" Son walked with us out into the field so we could get a closer look at what they were doing. Jonny ended up getting down and helping them which was met with a huge amount of delight, giggles, chattering and finger pointing. Even though Jonny couldn't speak their language very well, he still managed to charm the ladies and we had a great time interacting with one another. It was a great first impression of how the trip was going to be - we wanted to see more of the "real Vietnam" outside of the cities and we were definitely getting a chance to do that!
In regards to the rice production, we learned that mainly women work in the rice fields and much of the work is still carried out by hand. Fields are still plowed using water buffalos and seeds are planted by hand. When the seedlings reach a certain age, they have to be individually uprooted and transplanted to another field to avoid root rot. Irrigation is typically carried out by two workers using woven baskets on rope to transfer water from canals to the fields.
Despite the labor intensive production process, rice is the single most important crop in Vietnam, involving over 50% of the working population. In 2006, Vietnam exported around 4.5 million tons of rice, earning around US$1.4 billion.
After leaving our new friends in the rice field, we got back on the motorbikes and were met with an intense rainstorm that forced us to put on our heavy duty raingear. We stopped to dry out and get a coffee which is where we tried real Vietnamese coffee for the first time - we are hooked! The coffee is really thick, almost like a syrup and there is a layer of sweetened condensed milk at the bottom that you stir in. As our guidebook says, "the coffee will take the enamel right off your teeth." But somehow we immediately acquired a taste for it and are having it every morning!
The rain subsided and we continued on our journey. The scenery on the way to Dalat was so beautiful, especially since we were able to see it from a motorbike and not in a bus or a train. We were able to experience the wind and sun on our faces and felt the temperature get gradually cooler as we climbed to 1,500 meters into the highlands. We were also able to stop along the way whenever we wanted to take a photo. My favorite part, though, had to be interacting with all of the children along the way. As soon as they noticed that we weren't Vietnamese they would get excited, smile, wave like crazy and yell out, "Hellooooooooooooo!!!!" as we rode by. We would wave and shout "Hello!" back to them which would often send them into a fit of giggles and even bigger smiles. I will forever hear their voices in my mind!
Upon arriving in Dalat (population: 300,000), we had a late lunch saw some of the sights and then parted ways with Hiep and Son for some free time on our own. We explored the local market where we bought some fresh fruit and then Jonny spotted a stand renting tandem bicycles for $1/hour and insisted that we give it a try! What an experience - especially trying to navigate through the middle of the city around enormous roundabouts having motorbikes and cars whizzing by and honking their horns all around us! We just pedaled like mad and eventually made it to a calmer road that went around the lake and we could actually enjoy a pleasant bike ride.
It had been a long, but wonderful day, and we went to bed early looking forward to Day #2 of the motorbike tour!
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