Mortorcycle diaries Day 1

Day one

‘I knew there would be no regrets about this journey and today has just confirmed my predictions. We have seen so much and learned more about Vietnamese culture and history in one day then I have in the past 3 weeks!’

Dalat is situated in one of the highest points of the central highlands and having been in tropical weather for the last 6 weeks, we are cold to the core. Wearing the only two jumpers I have in my backpack, gushes of cold air still manage to flow up my sleeves and down my neck as I cruise around on the back of Lulu’s Honda. Indifferent however, I’m smiling from ear to ear as I gulp the pure, unpolluted air and take in the stunning scenery. It certainly cannot be described as untouched in the Laos sense, as rampant agriculture has stamped its mark on every inch of the land. With its cool and equally sunny and rainy climate, the rich soil here is serves as a vegetable patch for the whole country.

Our two guides, Lulu and Phuk take us around numerous farms growing a vast range of flowers, vegetables, fruit, and this areas most lucrative product, coffee. Oh Vietnamese coffee...how I miss the super strong shots of espresso served dripping through tiny aluminium percolators resting precariously on top of a glass and sweetened with a huge dollop of condensed milk. In a similar way to the Italians, coffee culture is ingrained in (predominantly male) Vietnamese life and tiny cafes, often no more then rickety wooden shacks with plastic tables and child sized stools can be found on every street corner.


One of the most interesting places we visit that day is the silk factory where we see the fascinating transformation of a worm into an intricately patterned silk scarf! Inside the deafening, primitive factory women’s hands move at such speed and skill they are a blur.