At 1,500m above sea level, the cooler climate of Da Lat was a welcome change from the stifling heat and humidity in Ho Chi Min. The city was established in the central highlands of Vietnam at the end of the nineteenth century by the French. Today the French legacy lives on and its colourful wooden buildings would be more at home in the Alps than in the middle of Vietnam.
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| 'Chalets' of Da Lat. |
The city is surrounded by mountains, with a large lake in the middle. It is a favoured holiday spot among the upper class Vietnamese, particularly honeymooners, and the classy lakeside bars and restaurants reflect this. We stopped for coffee at one such bar and were devastated to have to pay two thirds of our room rate for a terrible salty brew. Money doesn't buy quality.
We spent a pleasant three days walking around the city, taking in the many tourist attractions and enjoying the weather, with the temperature in the early twenties it was like a British summer for us. The Vietnamese, however, weren't quite so accustomed to the colder climate and provided us with much amusement in their thick coats, hats and scarves!
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| You can take a horse drawn cart around the lake, hire a tandem bicycle, or (as we did) take a swan shaped pedalo out onto the water. |
A short walk from the city center are the Da Lat Flower Gardens, a pretty and shadey place to walk around and pass the time. Tour buses full of domestic tourists stop here briefly and we found ourselves stuck having our photos taken with several families who were more interested in us than the flowers.
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| National flag and a giant teapot shaped bush at Da Lat Flower Gardens. |
The train station in Da Lat is the oldest one in the country and now only serves a tourist service which travels 30 minutes out to the village of Trai Lat and then back. Although at first I only agreed to the journey to indulge Ric's love of trains, the scenery we passed on the train was stunning and well worth the $6.50 each. Even better, the temple we stopped to visit at the end of the line is by far one of the most beautiful and unique temples I have seen during my 18 months in Asia. Here are lots of pictures:
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| Da Lat Station; oldest train station in Vietnam. |
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| A large percent of the countries fruit, vegetables and fresh flowers are grown in Da Lat. |
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| Stunning, colourful Chinese pagoda at Trai Lat. |
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| Made entirely from mosaic porcelin. Can you spot Ric? |
Another of Da Lat's gems is the hotel/architectural wonder nicknamed 'Crazy House'. Built by Russian-educated Vietnamese architect Dang Viet Nga, the ever-expanding hotel is designed to show how man must learn to live in harmony with nature, instead of destroying it. Giant concrete tree trunks house several unique grotto-esque rooms, surrounded by vivid purple flowers, fairly light cobwebs and toadstool tables and chairs. Narrow, winding, stair cases lead you around, up and over the structures and cute little hidey-holes provide miniature seating areas for guests. It is an amazing place to spend an afternoon, I could have spent forever exploring the secret nooks and crannies of the Alice In Wonderland meets Gaudi hotel.
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| The roof of Crazy House has an impressive 360 degree view of the city. |
A ten minute bus ride from Da Lat centre is Dalanta Waterfalls, stunning natural waterfalls that have been turned almost into a theme park in the way that only Asia knows how. The bus drops you on the road at the top of the falls where you pay an entrance and then take a self controlled roller coaster down to the first level where you get your first glimpse of the waterfalls. This is pretty much as far as anybody goes as most visitors are on a whistle stop organised tour.
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| At the top of Dalanta Falls. |
From the busy top level we took a cable car down over the next waterfall, and then a glass lift down even further, where there were no other people. In dry season there are all sorts of activities to do at the falls, from swimming to abseiling. However, as were we visiting in the rainy season is was very quiet and as if on cue, as soon as we reached the bottom of the falls, the heavens opened.
How To Get To...
Dalanta Falls: Take the number 1 bus from the town centre, ask for the falls.
Cost: Bus = 5,000VND each way. Entrance = 10,000VND. Roller coaster = 45,000VND (round trip). Cable car = 40,000VND (round trip).
We Stayed At...
Hang Nga Hotel opposite the Sinh Tourist Office. $8 (£4.80) got us a large, new, shiny room with a balcony, hot water and a fridge.
