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Monday morning Jeff and I crept out of Casa de Andrew and John not to wake the boys from their slumber. The place was a complete hole, and random neighbors were coming back to retrieve bowls and plates from the night festivities (take note of this comment for later). As bad as we felt leaving it a mess and as much fun as we were having in debaucherous Saigon, it was time to leave. The boys and the whole couchsurfing experience definitely made Saigon such a memorable place for us!

At Ease with the Easy Riders

Casey Lary
2007-04-21 23:11:26

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towards the lake as a man on an elephant passed us. We watched as the sun continued to set over Lak Lake. During dinner we met an incredibly nice Aussie named Ken who shared with us his crazy travel stories, and gave me antibiotics for my disgusting toe. We ate a huge feast with Lam and Hai. We paid for most of the meals, yet at 50 cents for lunch and 2 dollar dinners, it was chump change. The best part of the Easy Riders was spending time with them. They weren't just our chauffeurs. They became our friends. We shared cultural differences, we learned how to eat Vietnamese food like the locals, how to order coffee, we taught them English, shared some good laughs over some beers, and every once in a while I would bust a move with Hai. With not much to do and an early rise, we went to bed fairly early. Like Dalat it was
cold so we snuggled up in our blankets, falling asleep to bad karaoke in the distance.

If falling asleep to bad Karaoke wasn't enough, we were woken up by the roosters at 4:30, followed by the pigs and cows, and then at 6 a stereo started blasting Vietnamese music. That morning we were supposed to ride an elephant across the lake. Then we found out it cost $20. Rip Off?! Since Jeff and I had already ridden an elephant, it only took us across the lake and back, and was that expensive, we opted out. That did not go over so well with the elephant guy. He got mad at us and started yelling mean things in Vietnamese to our Easy Riders. Lam and Hai were on our side, telling us we didn't have to do anything we didn't want to do. Finally our side one, and Hai and Lam said it was time to go....now.

The rest of the day we made the journey back to Dalat. We were unaware that it is common for Easy Riders to take their passengers to other destinations (Mui Ne, Nha Trang or HCMC), and just planned on heading back to
Dalat. The ride was still fun yet something to think about if you decide to ride with them someday. We backtracked ...