On the Vietnam travelling circuit Dalat is a famous stop for its scenery and cool climate. Dalat is also famous for the Easy Riders. Motorcyle riders who take tourists on tours of Dalat and furthafield. I spent 3 days on the back of Mr Titi's motorbike. Its a great way to travel and to get off of the beaten track. Dalat is the Cameron Highlands of Vietnam. The French came here to escape the humidity of Saigon. In many respects its similar to the Cameron Highlands the scenery is lovely but the town is unlikely to win any beauty pageants. 
The first day I did a day trip around Dalat. There is quite a bit to see in the surroundings of Dalat. We stopped in a couple of Pagodas and went to see how various things are made. Dalat is up in the hills and the roads are undulating. The French introduced pine trees here and it makes for a nice aroma. It is noticeable that the hills have been cleared of most of their natural vegetation. Mr Titi said that the change has come in the past twenty years with the government bringing northern migrants to resettle in the area. The clearing has increased as the price of coffee has risen. Of the stops the best by far was Elephant Waterfall. It is a stunning waterfall in a picturesque setting. It seems that the heavy rain that greeted my arrival in Dalat happens every afternoon. I wasn't aware of this and when we returned inthe afternoon I got completely soaked. I would recommend heading out in the morning and getting back before the rains come. On the return to Dalat Mr Tit gave me the hard sell for a longer tip. I agreed to 2 days because the day charge at $60 was too much for any longer.
The best part of the next two days travelling was getting out away from the normal tourist circuit. It was great to cruise along on the back of the mtorobike and enjoy the scenery. It was funny to see the reaction of locals as they did a double take when they realised a foreigner was driving by. We left Dalat at 8.30am. Out from Dalat we stopped at Tuyen Lam Lake. It is a very big lake with a pagoda on top of a hill. We headed down out of the hills to Chicken Village a very touristy small village that apparently got its name from the number of chickens that lived in the village. A giant concrete chicken sits in the middle of the village. From there the next hour was a bit dull we stopped to see more things being made before the scenery changed for the better. More green rice paddies appeared and we started to head back into the hills. We made our way up over mountain passes to see some stunning views. At random points Mr Titi would drop me off to walk and he would wait up ahead. I got some very strange looks from Vietnamese driving passed wondering how a random foreigner got himself into the middle of nowhere. We stopped in K'bong No for a coffee. It was a very small town sitting astride a river. We arrived in Du Lich the night's stop at 5pm. I wandered around the town as the sun was setting. The town was not pretty but the scenery surroudning it certainly was. I also had a strange encounter with the wildlife. I was walking down the main street after buying some water when an elephant suddenly appeared next to me. The mahoot didn't bat an eyelid and the elephant strode off into the distance. We stayed at Du Lich Mo Trung for $8 I got a fan room with single bed and cold ensuite. It was a good evening spent with a few more Easy Riders and their passengers. A lot of rice wine was drunk. The next day we left at 8.30am to drive down to a local village just outside of Dalat. From there we stopped at a brickworks and continued on to Gia Long and Dray Sap Falls. Two extremely impressive waterfalls. We then arrived in Buon Ma Thout at 2.30pm, a touch early for my liking.
Mr Titi was a safe driver and relatively chatty. He gave quite a bit of commentary although alot of this was lost in the wind noise. I did find it a bit uncomfortable when we would wander into people's homes at the end of which Mr Tit would declare "You take picture now". Actually at the end of every commentary or side trip would be the order "You take picture now". I assumed that as an Easy Rider he has an arrangement to go into people's homes. Most of the time the owners were oblivious, sometimes they were welcoming, and at other times I got the distinct impression that we were not welcome. I got the impression Mr Tit didn't have my best interests in mind., He got into a sulk when I choose the cheaper option for the stay in Du Lich, even though it turned out a number of other Easy Riders were staying there with their passengers which made for a fun evening.When we arrived in Buon Ma Thout it was 2.30pm. I had paid for two full days at $60, 2.30pm was not a full day. I had felt like Mr Titi was riushing me during the stops but then he seemed to be the previous day and we didn't arrive until 5pm at Du Lich. The arrival in Buon Ma Thout was furthered soured by the receptionist at the guesthouse Mr Titi took me to lying about what time buses left for Nha Trang. She said there weren't anymore, I asked around the corner and they said there were two still to go. When I confronted her she wasn't in the least bit apologetic, simple saying "I think you stay here tonight". I found somewhere else. Mr Titi was there and didn't do anything to help me, he seemed more intent on getting his commission. I wasn't going to give my money to the lying receptionist so I wandered around town looking for somewhere else to stay. A task further complicated by the completely wrong Lonely Planet map. It turned out that finding cheap accommodation in Buon Ma Thout wasn't as easy as I hoped and I ended up getting a moto out to the bus station (15,000VND) where I stayed at Ban Me Hotel five minutes walk away. After some negotiation i got a twin room, with fan, and hot ensuite for $10. I seemed to be the only guest, its best days were long gone but it was acceptable. I had dinner at one of the roadside cafes. The locals were extremely surprised to see me wander in and even more surprised to see me eat the food. I left Buon Ma Thout on the 6am bus to Nha Trang for 70,000VND (4 hour journey).
I got one of the Open Tour buses from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat. I went with TM Brothers Open Tour Bus for $6. I wouldn't recommend them. The journey to Dalat took seven hours. The bus was only a quarter full but the seats were small and uncomfortbale. It wasn't helped by the bus driver constantly using the air horns which seemed to be mounted inside the bus next to my head. There was torrential rain on our journey up to Dalat and when we pulled our bags out from underneath they were soaked through. What annoyed me further was that we were dropped at a place and they tried to hard sell us a room. I suppose it wasn't surprising as this is how the Open Tour buses make their money. The advantage of the Open Tour buses is that they depart from Pham Ngu Loo, although we still managed to leave an hour later than scheduled. I would avoid TM Brothers or TM Cafe in the future and use a different operator.
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