Off for the 5 day tour to Hoi An.

12/5 - I woke early and threw the curtains open to see how heavy the rain is, only light. I headed for the shower, but never made it, the little lass from the hotel knocked on the door and stood there with fried eggs, baguette and a pot of tea. The little tip came good, but she is a smashing lass anyway, really bubbly and smiley. It has saved me a trip out too. Ready to roll, so I sat in reception, the mobile shop, and waited for Khien, while he sat on his bike outside and waited for me, but we were only like that for a couple of minutes, before he popped his smiley face around the corner. He loaded up the bike and the little lass brought me a coffee, so I encouraged him while I sipped. Loaded up and we set off, in only damp conditions, not really rain. As we left the little lass shouted "Don't forget me". How nice are the Vietnamese. The friendliness is almost overwhelming.
We called in to Vietnam Airlines to get my ticket. The morning flight was full, so I got a ticket for the afternoon, no rush then. Now we are off, but not too far, only to one of the 3 summer palaces the ex-king had built in Da Lat. Khien doesn't have a good word for him. It seems he was a philandering puppet for the French, who spent the peoples money building summer palaces wherever he fancied. The palace isn't flash by todays standards. It is Art Deco, I think, and surprisingly palatial inside, done out mostly in gold and yellow. The flower thing with the colours. Every chance Khien had he slagged off the ex-king.
We moved onto another pagoda next, not as spectacular as yesterdays, but nice gardens. Khien was more taken with the women than the gardens. He blushed big style when I pointed it out to him.
The next stop was out of town a bit to Sap waterfall. There's a rollercoaster that will take people down and bring them back up, if they want. It doesn't spoil the natural look of the place either, it is well hidden. I was going to walk down and take the rollercoaster back, but Khien convinced me to take it both ways and I'm glad he did. It was great going down, you are in control of the brake yourself, so I let it rip, but paniced a bit when I saw the car in front of me looming. The trip was worth it just to go on the rollercoaster, but the falls are pretty too. Not huge, but set down amongst the jungle in a beautiful setting. Thank heavens for my stick again down here, the Vietnamese build big steps for little people. The rollercoaster ride back up was less spectacular, but I'd have been knackered if I'd had to walk back up, it is a fair old hike. Some blokes were clambering across the rail back up as I approached and the last one got his foot caught in the rail. I think I flapped more than he did, I had no control going back up, but he quickly scampered away.
Off we go again on Jack, heading down the mountain through some beautiful scenery. Next stop, Chicken village. It has a huge concrete chicken built there by the government to try and create some mystique around the village with a story made up around the chicken, in an attempt to keep the minority people here, that have been relocated. The government seem to want to control the several minority peoples within Vietnam and stop their nomadic ways. The kids are given free schooling, which is not normal in Vietnam. The story is a Romeo and Juliet type story. I don't know how it will make the people stay around, but then I am not Vietnamese, so don't know the psyche. The village is a dirt track, with wooden houses set back from the track. The houses have a large area in front of them that is used for the kids to play on or for sundrying crops. It is a very poor village with very smiley people. I hope they are as happy as they appear. The kids are especially happy when Khien pulls over, some are too shy to come over, but some come running over shouting for sweets that Khien had picked up along the way. His heart seems to be with the minority people, he talks about them often and I can hear the feeling in his voice. He has a theory that one day they will come to power in Vietnam, as the Vietnamese become more westernised and have less kids, but the minority peoples don't, so they will tip the balance of power. I have a feeling they will be intergrated before that happens. Khien had a good chat with some of the women and loves the kids. The dialect is different, but he gets by. He is a great lad, full of love and fun. Some of the houses are still made with bamboo thatch walls covered in mud, the floors are hardened earth and all the houses look neat and tidy. Not having too many belongings will make that easier. I think this minoriy people are the H'Mhon, they all seem hard working, there is a lot of activity in the surrounding fields, all the farming is manual.
Khien had asked if I fancied lunch at his Grandad's. It sounded like a good idea to me and it was. We rolled into the open yard and his Grandad was there in a flash. 62 and fit as a fiddle, he almost shook my hand off. Khien was earning his corn translating now. A glass of tea appeared before I could get my helmet off. Khien had told me of the Vietnamese tradition of tea being the first thing that happens whenever someone arrives anywhere at homes, businesses, restaurants and the grumpy old man told me it used to be like that in the UK when he was a lad. Another custom Khien mentioned is the Vietnamese give visitors 20 questions rattled off in quick succession and I got that too. Kids, married, home, age, my legs. It is like a formality and once it is over you can sit back relax and field the next 20 questions. The family here is Grandad, Grandmother, 3 uncles and aunties and about 4 kids. Grandad fusses around me like a mother hen and Grandmother just gets on with life quietly in the background, smoothly moving around and in between everyone. We went from the wooden out-building to the bricks and mortar house. I took my trainers off and was setting off for the house, when Grandad's flip flops appeared in front of me, so I donned them for the 10 yds walk. Nothing is too much trouble for anyone. More tea appeared in the house and the table was started to be set. Khien makes himself at home flitting around the house. Grandad keeps shaking my hand, smiling and laughing. He wishes me luck in health, wealth and everything going and tells me his house is my house and wants me to come back. Grandmother cooks the food with the help of the other lasses. There is all sorts laid on with as much rice wine as you want, but I took it easy. There's chicken, fish, beef, noodles, loads of different veg and there's eggs. Grandad is trying to fatten me up, he keeps putting chicken in my bowl before I can try anything else out. Yo, Vietnamese Cheers, is said a lot too, with the rice wine in hand. GET THIS LADIES, all the blokes sat around the table, whilst the ladies sat around a mat laid on the floor, Grandma and the 8 month pregnant auntie too. The Vietnamese are great at sitting on their haunches, I get really jealous. I mention to the blokes about the ladies sitting on the floor and was told that is just the way it is. The women come and sit at the table and chat whenever they fancy. The food was brilliant and now the fruit, rambutan came out and I had one put in my hand everytime it was empty, but I do like them. I have been invited to stay for as long as I want, whenever I want. Grandad wants us to stay tonight, so he can take me fishing and drink rice wine and beer. If I come back to Vietnam, he wants me to bring some wine from England, he says the wine in Vietnam is expensive and not good. I will try to call here again before I leave Vietnam. Coming here for a few days has to be better than sightseeing. Diep, my unofficially adopted daughter want me to call to see her before I leave too, she has made a present for me. It is all getting a bit overwhelming. Khien started to make moves to get us on the road again and about 30 minutes later we managed to leave. I have had a great time and would love to go fishing with Grandad, we'll see. I felt like a million dollars as we drove on and the sun was shining too. Khien stops regularly, to give Jack a rest he says, but I think he is looking after the old man on the back. We stopped at a bamboo bridge. I thought the one in Cambodia was rickety, this one is definitley not for heavy traffic. It is used to allow the villagers to get their crops over the river. There is no way I'd drive a motorbike over here, I have enough trouble walking over it. We are having a good laugh along the way, we are already good mates on the road. The rain came on and there was still a long way to go. The gortes trainers weren't waterproof against this. I had my Green Bay Packers cape on, but it only came to my knees, below that was drenched and I'm having a whale of a time, loving every minute. The scenery is great, rain or no rain. We are headed for Lak lake, a minority village and to stay in a long house overnight. Khien is having second thoughts and thinking about a hotel, worrying about the bloke on the back, but he relents when he sees how good a time I am having. The rain eased off a bit for the last few miles until we pulled into the cafe at the village, but not enough to dry us any. The cafe is run by the head man and Khien sorts out a longhouse for us and we have a beer, whilst it is readied. I felt sorry for the lad and lass who went off to ready it, the rain had started again, but they never flackered, just jumped on the moto and off they went. We even have to hand in passport and ID here, it is a way the bobbies make a few extra bob I reckon. We had quick look at the lake, the rain had stopped and the sun was dropping, not that we could see it. Khien set us up with some food for later at a cafe. It is more of a bit of spare space in case someone drops in. The canoes on the lake are hollowed out tree trunks and solid. The longhouse is on stilts and there's only me and Khien in it. It could sleep about 40 at a push. We got a mattress on the floor, a pillow and a mozzy net. I was dead excited, like a big kid. Khien took pity on me and gave me an extra mattress from out the back. We settled in, put on the sandals to give the trainers chance to drip and headed for some tea. The jeans will dry better on. Tea was a whole roast chicken and rice porridge/soup and both were well received along with a couple of beers. The family sat the other side of a curtain having a natter and a good laugh. The TV is on, but little attention is paid to it. "Good family life." said the Grumpy old man. Fed and watered we headed back. Once there, I asked Khien about the toilet whereabouts. He walked to the edge of the balcony and pee'd over it. Nature he said. It is still raining, so it will soon be diluted. Who am I to argue with the locals, so I pee'd over the side too, brushed my teeth and spat that over the side too, the toothpaste, not my teeth. I wont say in which order I did my ablutions.