Compared to many of the bus journeys we had taken so far in Vietnam the ride to Dalat was a slow, if rather enjoyable ride, certainly when you got up in the hills and had a look at some of the stunning views. It was however, a rather slow bus ride, though this never seemed to stop the bus driver from using his horn every few seconds

It was evening when we eventually arrived in Dalat and, for the first time in months we were actually cold. Granted, it was probably somewhere around the low 20′s at the time but it certainly felt cold by comparison. We took the free pick up into the centre of Dalat and soon had a place to stay. It also meant that we had our first ever scooter ride in South East Asia when transfering from a full hotel to one run by the owners brother. It was quite fun though I was glad that we were on the quieter roads of Dalat and not in the centre of Saigon.

The next day we headed out quite early and had a look around many of the main attractions in Dalat. The best of these were probably either the Summer Palace, an Art Deco style building used by the last emperor of Vietnam and the Crazy House. This is a house designed by the daughter of the previous leaders of Vietnam. It lives up to it’s name as a truly bonkers place where you can stay the night. It is still an ongoing work and new buildings are being added to it all the time. The low point was clearly Camly waterfall, clearly man made with rubbish floating in the river the entire time, this was a a massive disappointment. We finished the day off with a nice Vietnamese steamboat (hot pot), which we failed to eat all of before heading back to the hotel and planning the next day.

Inspired by the cooler weather we headed out on the free bicycles the next day. These were slightly better than the ones at the homestay but I was still about a foot too tall for them. We headed off first to the Flower Gardens, arriving just in time to find some cover for the torrential downpour that started as we arrived. Luckily it soon cleared and we got to have a look around the flower gardens before hopping back on the bikes and heading off to Lake of Sighs, a nearby lake famed for the reported suicide of a local resident when she was stood up on a date back in 1788. It was a bit of a disappointment when we arrived but we had a quick walk around before heading back to the hotel.

The next day we headed off to Hoi An. This involved another lovely bus ride around the hill of Dalat, still spectacular if slightly more nerve racking due to a crazy bus driver, before having a brief stop in Nha Trang, from where we caught a sleeper train. Nha Trang is clearly the beach resort of Vietnam, and, as a result, is a little disappointing. Still we had a few hours to kill so we walked along the beach and visited the large Buddha temple before hopping on the train. We were a little apprehensive about this as we had a hard sleeper, which is particularly worrying in a country when every bed! We were also on the top bunk of 6 so would not have much space. Fortunately the trip was okay and it was easy(ish) to sleep on the train. Also the times of the train were good so that we did not have to be awake for too long as there was nowhere to sit.

Getting off the train in Danang we had a brief trip to the bus station before taking a local bus over to Hoi An. After the cooler climate in Dalat it was a roasting hot day and we were happy to get checked in and be rid of the rucksacks. We then headed out to explore the old town of Hoi An. It was a very quaint place with lots of old temples, meeting halls and houses to look at and explore. However, we cut our sight seeing short on the first day in order to do our patriotic duty, namely sit in a bar and watch the royal wedding! Overall I was a fan of the wedding and thought it all went rather well. It would have been nice to watch it with a cup of tea and a choccie biccie but I had to make do with a cocktail instead. It’s a hard life!

The following day we continued our look around the old quarter of Hoi An, before booking a taxi to take us back to the train station in Danang for the onward trip to Hue. (We had gone for the local bus on the way to Hoi An but went for the easier option on the way back so we didn’t have to worry about being late). The train ride to Hue was a very impressive ride, with some lovely views both over the coast and over the mountains. It is however a very slow train ride and you could probably keep up with the train on foot.

Arriving in Hue we had a bit of a hassle booking the train tickets partially due to the lack of tickets during the busy period and partially because of the lack of any queuing system and the need just to shout at the ticket seller, not easy when you don’t speak the language. After we arrived at the hotel we only had time for a quick wash before heading out for dinner at a Japanese Restaurant. This was fantastic as, not only did it serve great food, but it supported a local charity to work with homeless children. This is my kind of charity!

The next day we headed over to look at the old Citadel in Hue. However, instead we spent our time getting better train tickets, booking a place for dinner that evening, walking past the Citadel and then attempting to find three smaller pagodas and, despite looking in three, never being sure we found the ones we were after! That said it was still great fun and meant that, for Steph’s birthday dinner, we were booked in for a seven course meal. Spring rolls served as peacock feathers and cakes shaped as fruit served on stems were just some of the highlights of the evenings meal.

The next day we woke up ready to tackle the old Citadel proper. Much like the forbidden city in Beijing this was the palace and home of the last dynasty of Vietnam. It was a rather odd place, in parts quite striking and well restored, in others still ruins from all the fighting in the recent past. It was a great way to spend a day, wandering around and exploring. And with that, we draw a close on our time in Hue and now have the fun of a 16 hour train trip to Hanoi, getting in at the lovely time of 4:00am. Whoever said we had a cruddy train service has never been to Vietnam.

Since we got financially destroyed by the easyrider trip the day we wanted to be conservative with our money spending today.

Original plan: $8 for round trip to the Chicken Village by way of easyrider.
With not much to see the chicken village, I made some last minute additions to my easyrider trip for only $2 more.

Chicken village, home to the Gahal people, is referred to as such bc of the large chicken statue they have in the village (has a huge boy-meets-girl love story complicated by wealth, poverty, and dowry behind it). The Gahal people speak their own language, have their own culture, but have recently acquired a lot more money by way of selling the fruits & veggies they gather in the mountains. The government has recently helped them by providing electricity to the village, schools, hospitals, pens & school supplies for the children. I took a short walk around the 600 person village, which was filled with dogs, and children playing, older siblings taking care of younger siblings. The one person who spoke English in the village told me the story of the chicken and showed me how they hand-make their lovely scarves with neat, large, wooden piece of equipment.

Next, we drove by the elephant mountain and Lam lake, named so because apparently the mountain is shaped like an elephant, as we headed over to a rather small waterfall (Dalat is known for its beauitful waterfalls… I have seen better though).

Our last stop was the calm, peaceful, and well-kept Buddhist temple and its beautiful surrounding buildings, home to the monks. Located on the top of a hill, the floral gardens, strange yet beautiful trees, large bell ringing, and tons of monks roaming the area, the small Bhuddist center overlooked the beautiful lake. There was one area where it looked like the monks were breeding flowers (maybe even cross breeding!). I am under the impression that they grow all of their own flowers for their flower gardens, rather than just have a landscaper come in and do it all for them.

For our last few hours in Dalat we went to Dam market again… finally we got to visit a local market during the early hours of the day! I was SHOCKED, once again, by everything that I saw. I will list some of it for you:
Tons of chicken/ ducks/ baby chicks stuffed into a small cage and ready to be sold live.

In the meat section: Full (dead) chicken, skinned, placed sitting upright with a bag of blood hanging from their beaks. Piles of chicken heads. Piles of chicken feet. Full (dead) duck skinned. Piles of ducks feet. Pigs hooves. Pigs ears. Fully intact Pig heads chopped off the bodies and lying flat on the table. Meat lied out on a small carpet on the floor, waiting to be sliced so it can be sold. In addition, to guts, bones, entire pig skeletons shaved of all the meat.

Back of the market where the fish are held. I don’t think anyone is really allowed back there. Many large fish flopping around in a small bucket of water. Some type of large sea worms stuffed into small buckets of water. TONS of frogs all smooshed into a small bucket covered by a net… all trying to jump out. Not to mention that the smell was overwhelmingly disgusting.

Walking through the market I see a bowl of food that an Asian woman is eating at her little vegetable stand…. looked absolutely delicious. I made some motions to her so as to ask: Where did you get that?

She quickly had me follow her up some stairs to an area above the outdoor market and then all of a sudden I see this HUGEE local food court place. Looks totally different than your typical foodcourt (much more disorganized and smooshed together into a smaller space). I quickly got avelyn and showed her what I had just been led to. We both had huge smiles on our faces and knew we were about to have a delicious lunch… and we did! Vermacelli noodles with some greens, some peanuts, a piece of meet. It sounds plain, but this was an amazinggg dish. I even took a picture of the name of the dish from the menu…. and it only costs $1!

Then we got some 50 cent Vietnamese desserts from the place right next to our in the foodcourt. We got cocunut icecream on some fresh cut fruits, and a cup filled with clear jello, green jello, some sort of white liquid, some crumbles of some sort, some small sweet bean-like food, all topped with crushed ice. It seemed very strange at first but I really liked it! Before leaving the market to sit by the lake in the city, I tried a dried shrimp (very salty) and we got some very sugary banana chips.

The ride on the moped to the various destinations through both the city and the mountains was fantastic. The greenery was a beautiful sight on the outskirts of the city, while driving through Dalat itself is stunning (hilly city with colorful homes, such a unique little city).

It was finally time to load the bus for the supposed 6-7 hour drive back to Saigon.
In constant silent fued with the local sitting in front of me in regards to his chair being leaned ALLL the way back, so much so that I my knees were literally crunched, the bus ride ended up taking 7.5 hours. We didn’t know there would be so many stops of the way… we stupidly assumed it was a direct bus.

We were supposed to meet up with an australian couple we had met last night at our hostel in Dalat, but unfortunately they never showed up! I enjoyed the famous local beer, Saigon Beer, at our planned meeting spot… the open-air bar underneath Go2 club right on the corner of our street. It was delightful to have a beer out on the sidewalk in front of a big intersection… rather amusing seeing all of the workers @ Go2 trying to grab tourists to have a beer at their bar as well as all the Vietnamese locals trying to sell you their little goods from their baskets. The only shitty part about it was that we were at a tourist bar where all the prices are DOUBLE everywhere else just because it is all tourists.

While sitting with my beer in hand I showed some interest in one book one of the Vietnamese women was trying to sell— Cambodia: Lonely Planet Guide. We will be there in just 3 days and I knew it would be very helpful. Her asking price was 300,000 dong… I told her 70,000 dong ($3.50) is all I am willing to pay. She stood in front of me for almost 8 minutes or so until we finally settled at $4… I was happy with that! And of course, it is a pirated version of the book.

On the way back to the hostel, we walked around the block and I tried another new rice dessert. Black rice, brown rice with some type of raisin or something, and dark purple rice, with some sugar, some other crumbles, and some coconut shreds on top! LOVED IT!!! And all for only 45 cents or so.

PS: Finally found out how to access Facebook in Vietnam… you have to go to lisp4.facebook. FINALLY! It’s too bad I won’t be able to access a computer for the next 2-3 days!

Early morning tomorrow! Goodnight.
Sorry about the lack of pictures… Next week!

The 1,200m² showroom features thousands of flowerpot including 60 varieties of temperate and tropical flowers, especially specific flower varieties of Da Lat such as orchid, cymbidium orchids, lyli, big daisy, green apricot blossom.

According to Rung Hoa Company’s General Director Ngyen Dinh Son, the showroom is built not only for business but also for introducing species of flowers, especially Dalat’s flowers to visitors and flower-lovers.

(Source: VNA)

to Buon Ma Thuot, day 1

This day was pretty jam-packed full of things to do. We got up early, had breakfast at the Cyclo Cafe, checked out, returned Eddie’s passport to him, loaded the bags, and headed off. Ronald on Eddie’s bike, me on Tien’s, Eddie’s 20-year-old brother-in-law. Actually, he might have been 19 because of the lunar vs. solar calendar, but I didn’t ask his year, so I guess we’ll never know! Good thing they practically come out of the womb driving motorbikes or else I would have been nervous.

We stopped by to see the fisherman at work before heading out of town. Some of them were collecting rocks for building foundations for buildings. Pretty neat to see how fast they are with their hands and those tricky nets (see video below). Fearless against the crabs! Then we saw some women making rice paper. They get up at 5 am and work until 5 pm and make about 2,000 a day. They dry them on bamboo racks either in the sun or inside a room with fire (see video below). Sun-drying is preferred because there can sometimes be a smoky taste with the others. We saw brickmakers,
traditional bamboo boats
also women, who put out a nice 44,000 bricks a day. It was pretty neat to see where they cook the bricks and how they layer them up. We saw sugar cane, yams drying in the sun, and a furniture maker (made from crazy looking tree trunks).

We had a nice com ga for lunch (25,000) and instead of cheersing with Eddie, “com gia”, I said “com ma”, which apparently means “murder”. Ronald put soy sauce in Eddie’s coffee, and when he came back he tasted it and then told us something interesting: sometimes they make that mixture for men before they have sex “2 hours, no problem,” said Eddie, a direct quote…We got a nice laugh from that and our trip pretty much stayed in that mood for the rest of the time.

Random: saw a billboard with an animated, flesh-colored figure that was sort of doing a jig and putting on what could have been a top hat only it was a condom. I assume it was for HIV/AIDS prevention, but those words were the only thing I could read on the sign. Either way, I wish I had the hysterical picture it would have been
traditional boat
but alas, we zoomed past much too quickly.

After lunch we saw the coco trees and tasted the seeds. They look like garlic or chestnuts in their shape but are white on the outside and taste both sweet and sour. They make alcohol out of some of them and sell the rest for chocolate elsewhere. We then went to a museum because the prison was closed and then to the place we were going to be sleeping at. They showed us to a little cabin and Eddie helped us put up the mosquito net.

Dinner was to be at 7, so Ronald and I had some time to go see the waterfall before dinner. When we came back, we opened our door, walked inside, and found the room to be empty. I was confused and wondered if we had the wrong room and how we got inside with the wrong key when Eddie came over and told us they had moved us because the first one didn’t have hot water. He was hungry and waiting for us to go down to the asado where we would be having chicken and…dog.

The meat was really good and was
shrimp
accompanied by veggies and rice wine. I do have to say though that the dog meat was sort of fatty and the skin was like jerky, but it was still good. We played the chicken head game. This involves taking the cooked chicken head and putting it on a chopstick and then putting the chopstick in an empty beer bottle. Then you spin it around and whoever it points to has to drink! I started and flicked it — bad idea — the head flew off in another direction and Eddie had to retrieve it. The second time it worked and we played like this for a bit until they changed it to a carrot with some toothpicks sticking out of it…apparently the weight of the the chicken head was unsuitable.

After this, the owner showed us some tricks: one you had to take paper out of two shot glasses filled with water (one upside-down on top of the other) without spilling, another you had to put paper in, and another was with a chopstick and a cup of raw rice where you had to pick up the cup of rice using only the chopstick in the middle.

rice paper
now it’s dried and they tie it up to sell by the bundle
Ronald and I contributed some rum later on, but it was obvious they didn’t really like or want it because we finished ours and they had barely touched theirs. Then we went on a walk to look at the stars, accompanied by their 4 dogs (these will all be eaten soon), and took a particular liking to one we dubbed “One-eye” because it had one eye and that’s what we saw in the dark…

to the M’Nong, day 2

Woke up and had breakfast around 9 before heading to the Hoa Don Ban Hang waterfalls, one of which is the biggest in Viet Nam. The first one was the male waterfall, “Smoke”, but we couldn’t see it because…well, we don’t know why. Tien couldn’t tell us in English, so we just left and went to the female waterfall. This one was nice, but then we left to see a different one that doesn’t have a name. Eddie said that the waterfall isn’t always there, so you can sort of name it whatever you want and Eddie called it the “Rolando” waterfall after Ronald. They could not for the life of them get his name right. Pretty funny. We spent
brick making
on the left where the smoke is they’re cooking some bricksabout 40 minutes there and it was really pretty and the water was so nice. After this we went to the Ya Llom waterfall but there wasn’t much water so we left pretty fast.

For lunch we stopped at a local place for some nem nuong, fresh steamed roll. They bring you all the different parts and you roll it there with whatever you want in it. It was really delicious and I want it all the time. Got back on the bikes to continue and we were thankfully not blown off by the monstrous wind that was blowing all day. I can’t imagine having to drive in that let alone on a motorbike.

We saw the M’Lieng people’s long houses (a lot like the Haudenosaunee from the US) and then went to see the M’Nong village. The M’Lieng all wear their traditional clothes, but the M’Nong are more integrated and they wear whatever. Ronald took a picture of some “Gucci” flip flops we saw and I thought that was pretty funny…

Anyways, we walked around their houses, saw a kid cooking a mountain rat over a fire with his hands, saw their traditional boats, and then
finished bricks
the holes are so you can put cement, etc inwent to our resort. We were scheduled for dinner back at one of their houses, so we just washed up really quickly and headed back. Dinner was very fun and it was with the four of us and then I Khor and Hu something (sorry, I can’t remember her name).

History side note:
• In the M’Nong language, “I” (said like the letter e) is used for men and “Hu” for women.
• the women buy a man for marriage and then the man moves in with the woman’s family in their long house
*exception: now in modern times, the couple can ask permission from their parents to live alone and then they will be built a small square house that will become longer as their family grows
• the woman “wears the trousers” as Eddie says
• the women work and the men stay home to take care of the kids
• when a woman is about to give birth, she goes to the mountains alone and if she isn’t back within three days, the people in the village go to look for her
• many babies die from the above method of childbirth
• they only wear
drying in the sun
their traditional clothing for festivals and holidays
• when guests are over, the woman is the waitress and will not eat with the company — she will serve everyone and then eat dinner later

We had fish, rice, yummy sauces, veggies, pork, and an omelette for us since we don’t eat fish. This was all set up on a mat on the floor and then we played a drinking game. Hu something’s cousin came over and we opened up a new jar of rice wine. They took a raw pepper and put it under a bowl on top of a plate. You shook it and then everybody got a chance to spin it, pass, or open it — if it was pointing at you, you took a shot! Ronald and Hu something’s cousin were unlucky and got the pepper quite a bit, so there was some seating rearrangement and we kept going.

We said goodbye and thank you around 21:30, paid them for dinner, and were heading back home when we decided to go to karaoke instead. The first place we tried was full so we settled in to a different one and I Khor came to join
preparing to cook
the woman on the inside gets a stack of bricks from the one outside who gets them from another girl who is running back and forth from the massive brick pile to the ovenus! Two other women came too, but I have no idea who they were. I Khor was obsessed with Ronald and held his hand and put Ronald’s arm around him. Ronald started air drumming and I Khor was like “No drums, just hold me” and put Ronald’s arm over his shoulders. He didn’t actually say that, but that was Ronald’s astute interpretation. Karaoke was all in Vietnamese, and boy did they go at it. Just like Korea, it is not for just fun but to show what you got!

I Khor left and we left, and it turned out that it was only about half a minute’s walk to the front gate of the little resort…pretty nice! Our drivers stayed, but luckily no after-effects were apparent the next day…

to Da Lat, day 3

Today we were supposed to meet them at the reception at 7:30, but that didn’t really happen, so when we got there we went to eat breakfast while they tied up the bags.

Today we saw a black pepper farm — weird looking things — and then ate some coffee beans off the tree (very sweet tasting) before seeing a silkworm farm. They
ronald
he found these glasses at the wooden furniture maker’s housedon’t make the silk there, so another stop was to a silk factory (see video below).

Lunch was another random assortment of deliciousness and then we saw the humongous Happy Buddha. I didn’t know it was going to be so big and I literally gasped out loud. When we got closer we noticed other figures sort of draped nearby and then when I looked inside it looked like they were storing beans of some sort. After we saw the elephant waterfall (lame) and then we were off to Da Lat! They brought us to the Quang Chien Hotel ($8 for one room) and left.

We decided to have a quick walk around before Ronald needed to work at 6 or 7 and headed in the direction Eddie pointed us which was supposedly the downtown or center area. Basically we got lost and wandered around trying to find our hotel. Along the way, we did stop for some terrible, over-priced food (except the coconut shredded drink which was absolutely delicious. Seriously, I need to learn how to make that), and then walk past the tourism information before crossing the river and wandering around where we found the real center.
red coconuts!
There were bars and restaurants that were all tourist-geared, so we knew we were in the heart of it. We bought some ice that then melted because of our long journey home. I think we’ll try to leave to go to Saigon on a night bus tomorrow. Maybe in the morning. Da Lat is pretty boring and we don’t need to do the eco tours again. We shall see…

It was 6:00 and the alarm clock was ringing already… so happy new year to Europe!!! We were sending some happy new year sms back home. Around seven o’clock we got picked up by the driver who was going to take us to Da Lat in the central highlands in Vietnam. It was going to be a long drive, but after 2 or 3 hours we got joined by our guide for the next 4 days: Bao. Bao’s not just any guide, but he’s a really good bird guide. We arranged a birding trip in Da lat, because birds are my biggest passion and there are several birds in the Da Lat plateau you can’t see anywhere else in the world.

It was 16:30 when we first stopped to do the first birding in the area of Di Linh and I loved it so much and we saw a lot of good birds. (for anyone interested in the whole trip report of this birding trip, go to www.easystringer.web-log.nl) We arrived in Da Lat around 20:00 and had a lovely diner and we got to know Bao and his driver Ahn a little bit better.
The next day I got up at 5:30 and at 6:30 we were already birding hardcore style! I saw some key species I was looking for and missed some, but there was still enough time. We went back to the hotel for some lunch and Bao took a nap, while my mom and I went to a pagoda (not the one we actually wanted, because the cab driver wasn’t able to read the map, but it was still nice and some locals helped us to get back to the hotel) and spend the afternoon with some culture instead of nature. When we got back at the hotel, Bao was already waiting to go birding again and so we went birding until it was dark, and I loved it!

The next day I got up even earlier and we went to climb the mountain Lang Biang for some more hardcore birding. Again we some very good key species and again we missed some, but that’s how it works with birds and there was still some time left to see the missing species. We got up to the mountain with a really old jeep which was quite fun and we went down by foot. Bao met some friends of him at the foot of the mountain who were paragliding and after he talked with them for a while we drank a nice Vietnamese coffee and then got back to the hotel for lunch. After lunch I did some studying (yes, they make sure to keep me busy in even in the holiday) and in the afternoon we visited a lovely pagoda and after that we tried to see some of the missing species but they were not performing today.

5:15 and the alarm clock went off again and the last day of hardcore birding had begun. We managed to see the most important missing species in the morning, but failed to see the second one in afternoon. But still, I was very confident about our trip, after all we managed to see all the key species but one and we saw a total of 110 bird species in 4 days birding (which is about 50% of all the species in the plateau).

Besides of all the birds a saw I had a really great time with Bao. He is a 32 year old conservation biology professor on the HCMC university, the only twitcher and ringer of Vietnam, he is the head of the Bird watching Vietnam company and he has a wife and son, who he loves much. I really got intrigued by him and how he handles his whole life and manages to keep birds such a great part of his live (he even earns his money with birding!) and a truly hope I was looking at a Vietnamese version of myself in 15 years, at least in a general way. We also talked a lot about studying abroad and there is a real possibility that I can do my internship for my master in biology in Vietnam, because we talked a lot about this and the possible projects which are running and which could be possible for me to take part of. We’ll definitely keep in contact and I hope to see him again in 2 of 3 years as my supervising professor!

Our trip to Da lat ended at 18:00 when our little plane left to bring us back to Ho Chi Minh City. I loved Da lat very much, even besides all the birds and Bao. It has a lovely climate, because of its elevation and the surrounding nature is also quite different from the rest of Vietnam. There are a lot of pine forests and some places can look like Canada! There’s also a big French influence you can feel everywhere. Also the food is different from the rest of Vietnam as a consequence of the climate. The local people even manage to make wine (which is quite tasty) here!

So I had a bunch of good experiences in this part of Vietnam, I managed to see a lot of bird species and I even was able to do some networking which will be handy in the future for my study! Tomorrow morning the alarm clock is set at 6:30 (I really hate this thing) and we will leave together with Duong and her family to the Mekong delta for a one-day-trip, so no time to get bored around here!

The average temperature is is 17°C, and does not exceed 25°C in the hottest season. In the early mornings, the city arises to mystic fog over the lake. Its temperate climate is ideal for agriculture, and in recent years the number of farms and plantations around the city have grown rapidly. It provides most of flowers and vegetables for the massive markets across the south of Vietnam. Dalat is also very well-known for its variety of flowers and orchids as well as expansive pine forests, which may remind travellers of home more than the tropics in the valleys below.

Dalat is another one of those Vietnamese towns that began as a French resort area. Whatever else might be said about the French, they certainly had good taste in choosing sites for resorts, and Dalat is living proof of that. Designed to be almost a Swiss alpine village, the French urban planner Ernest Hebrard designed the highland town with broad boulevards, elegant villas, a golf course, open green spaces, schools, and modest homes.

Luckily for Dalat’s modern visitors, the city was virtually untouched during the American Vietnam War, however its popularity amongst amorous Vietnamese couples has lead to a fair amount of kitsch ‘attractions’ and this combined with the booming agricultural industry means the town is now much busier than the tranquil hill station of the past, with more and more concrete buildings, karaoke rooms and ‘mini hotels’ springing up across town. These days to enjoy the best of Dalat it is best to use the town as a base to explore the hills and nature surrounding it than to expect too much from the town itself.

Sightseeing in Dalat

The first thing the visitor to Dalat will probably notice is the architecture. Since the city was built up primarily by the French and the Catholic Church, Dalat is an interesting blend of French colonial architecture, paired with lovely Jesuit structures and Vietnamese pagodas.

One site almost all Dalat’s guidebooks will lead you to is the Hang Nga guesthouse, known more commonly simply as ‘Crazy House’. Built by Hang Nga, Ph.D. graduate of Moscow State University’s architecture program, Crazy House is a honeycomb of strange rooms and hallways that also serves as a local hotel. Instead of straight lines and corners, Crazy House is all curves, as if its concrete had melted, dripped, and then hardened into its unusual shape.

Another building worth touring in Dalat is Binh III. Emperor Bao Dai built three different villas for himself in Dalat, and although all of them have been restored and made public, it’s Binh III that’s the most impressive.

To stay in Vietnam like true royalty, however, book your room at the Sofitel Dalat Palace, a luxury hotel that’s been lovingly restored and sits atop a golf course. With a lobby fit for a monarch’s ballroom, artwork adorning its restaurants and suites, together with the modern comforts of satellite television and mini-bars, there’s nowhere else in Dalat that offers such plush luxury. Even if you can’t afford to stay in the Sofitel Dalat Palace, at least have a cocktail and dinner there in one of the three bars and two restaurants. After dinner, dance downstairs at PK’s Disco.

Xuan Huong Lake is a popular destination with honeymooners; you can stroll around its outer banks, or hire a paddle boat and go out for a spin. However, be warned that the lake was recently drained, and won’t be filled back up until January or February 2011.

Xuan Huong Lake isn’t the only lake in and around Dalat, though. Just 5 km north of the city centre is the Valley of Love, where a lake was added in 1972 to make its picturesque, peaceful beauty even more attractive. On the other side of town lies the Truc Lam Pagoda, the second biggest Zen Buddhist centre in Vietnam, surrounded by Tuyen Lam lake and pine forests.

Just 20 minutes from Dalat lies the Lang Bain mountain; at a height of 2169m above sea level it isthe highest mountain in the Southern Vietnam. It is a popular spot to climb and enjoy stunning vistas of the surrounding areas and it is also possible to camp. For those who don’t feel quite so energetic it is also possible to catch a ride to the summit.

Getting to and around Dalat

It is quite easy to get to Dalat as there are daily direct flights from both Saigon and Hanoi. The flight from Saigon takes just 35 minutes while buses run every two hours and take 6-8 hours from Ho Chi Minh City. The best time to visit is November to May, as there is less rain and a pleasant temperature – but be prepared for it to get chilly in the winter months. It is a great place to rent a motorbike of your own to explore the hills, or you could take on one of the ‘Easy Riders’ who have earnt a great reputation as excellent guides to explore the area and Vietnam as a whole.

Vietnamtravel.org

Local residents have a legend about a young couple who lived on in Langbian mountain. The boy, named K’lang, loved his girl friend, Ho Bian, very much, but they couldn’t marry because their two clans had a long-standing feud. The two decided to commit suicide together to keep their love alive forever. After their death, their bodies were buried on the top of two mountains, which eventually merged into one, called Langbian – the name of the faithful boy and girl.

A project to develop the mountain and its surrounding area into a tourist resort got underway 10 years ago. The mountain has now become an attractive destination where visitors can enjoy its great natural beauty and explore the cultures of the local ethnic minority people.

Nguyen Thi Kim Giang, Vice Director of the Langbian tourism area, says careful attention is being paid to protecting the environment and preserving the natural landscape. Visitors to Langbian resort can climb to the top of mountain, walk down to Dankia hill, and take advantage of newly available food and beverage services, while enjoying Gong performance by ethnic minority groups.

It’s a poignant moment when visitors arrive at the peak of Lam Vien Highland. From this vantage point, the land stretches as far as the eye can see.

Ngo Thi Khanh Ha, a tourist from Nha Trang City, says she was very proud to have conquered this 2,169m peak. Despite her weariness, it felt good seeing Dalat city from high above. This was the second time Ms Ha had been to the Langbian tourism area.

Dankia hill, which rises to a height of 1,950m, lies 4km from Langbian peak. The hill has been made into an inviting rest stop for tourists passing through the area. It has a large restaurant that serves local specialties, and tourists can camp here overnight and enjoy a panoramic view of Dalat City, twinkling with lights.

Liangbian offers gong performances by K’Ho ethnic people and the ‘100-year’ Valley – a modern resort providing guest with accommodations, karaoke and travelling services, and tennis courts.

Last year, the tourism area attracted over 300,000 domestic and foreign tourists, an increase of about 35 percent over 2008.

Ms Kim Giang says tourists come to visit Langbian mainly because it remains underdeveloped. If more infrastructure is built, she says, tourists might no longer love it. Tourists especially like such activities as mountain climbing, ecological research and hang-gliding.

About 300 kilometers from HCMC, Da Lat City, capital of the central highlands province of Lam Dong, exhales its own poetic and romantic charm with its beautiful mountain scenery and delightfully cool mountain weather. Peak season is from the first month of the lunar year and lasts until summer. During this time there are a number of festivals and tourist services tend to be priced higher.

On the other hand, tourists who visit the flower city in the low season can still enjoy the beautiful landscapes of the small city without spending a lot of money. Hotels and lodging houses nestled in corners of the city are at ‘soft’ prices, for example from VND 150,000 to VND 200,000 for a stay at two-star hotel and about VND 80,000 to stay at lodging house.

To experience the romance of valleys, magnificence of waterfalls and art of ancient houses and pagodas visitors can rent a motorbike to ride around the poetic city, or a tandem tourist bicycle, for only VND 50,000 to VND 80,000 per day.

When heading to Da Lat, tourists should be sure to stop at Prenn Waterfalls, located at the foot of Prenn pass and about 10 km from Da Lat City; a panoramic view of the falls can be enjoyed from the cable car for just VND 8,000 per ticket. Alternatively, a visit to the forest and Au Lac Temple nearby can be arranged with a hired carriage (VND 50,000 a unit) or jeep (VND 150,000 each for four people).

An adventurous and fascinating trip awaits tourists at Datanla Waterfalls, located about 3 kilometers from Prenn Waterfall, on a roller coaster bob sled which runs from the top of the cliffs to the bottom of the falls, for VND 35,000 per round ticket. The descent is breathtaking and exciting, but guests surely will find the landscape of the falls equally stunning and invigorating, as the falls create a sheet of silver pouring into a pool of water.

Next stop must be Cam Ly Waterfall, which is a well known as a tourist-magnet for domestic visitors and the home of horses and Dalat’s cowboys. Peace and tranquility is found in the nature and poetry of nearby Than Tho Lake (lake of sorrow).

At Mong Mo Hill (dreamlike hill) area, tourists can enjoy a relaxing and pleasant time wandering on this “little” Great Wall, listening to the sounds of water from the artificial waterfall and sensing the soul of the upland region at a cong chieng (gongs) performance of the local ethnic minority artists every weekend.

The most impressive venue may be Hang Cop (the cave of the tiger) Waterfall, so called because at the foot of the waterfall there is a large cave where a fierce tiger was trapped by people. On the descent to the bottom of the fall on old stone paths, adventurers will see abundant, violent waterfalls breaking off into small streams and falling over huge rocks. It is really a scene of the most attractive and majestic wild landscape.

Dalat owns many attractive landscapes from waterfalls to ancient pagodas and houses influenced by French architecture and Vietnamese charms. A two week holiday here will pass quickly exploring these and other sights.

Last but not least, Langbian Mountain is an absolute must for anyone wanting to conquer a peak of over 2,000 meter high, with endless views of green mountains reflecting the silver rays of the sun.

The 10ha tourist site is hugged by 170ha of sloping pine trees and green grass hills. Strolling on the hill, tourists can hear the sound of pine leaves chanting in the wind and indulge in the colorful flowers on the path to the hill as well as in souvenir shops.

Golden Valley features a harmony of natural and man-made beauty. Under the shade of pine trees and green grass is a rock garden with several types of precious stones, such as chalcedony and agate, in different shapes from simple to meticulous, carved by nature and the hands of artisans.

Large rocks lie along the sloping path to an artificial waterfall mysteriously named Thai Cuc Area, Luong Nghi Lake. Here, tourists can forget the sorrows and worries of daily life as they lie on the soft grass slopes of the hills under the pine trees and contemplate the blue sky. Lost in the immense ever-green pine forests are not only typical highlands plants, such as peach blossom in spring, cherry, yellow mimosa in sparkling silver leaves, red pine and p’mu, but also maple trees from Canada.

Golden Valley is a valley of pine trees, flowers, rocks, lakes and waterfalls. Orchards and flower gardens bloom with life while man-made streams, lakes and waterfalls create the tranquil harmony of an Asian philosophy of balance with the surrounding landscape.

After touring the park, tourists can stroll along the hill slope to Dankia-Suoi Vang Water Plant, which is near the park, to sense the tranquility of the central highlands at the immense blue lake in the shade of pine trees and peaceful winds. Here, tourists can enjoy a party after catching fish in the lake.

Early one morning, strolling among the low hills and wandering through sinuous alleys, I found a small restaurant with the simple name: Banh da cua (drypancake with crab). Hot steam vaporized from the crab soup and pieces of tomato and soya-cake were on a plate of banana flower, rau muong (water spinach), chilly, lemon and fish sauce; the hot bowl of bank da cua seemed to dispel the cold weather of the city.

Banh can (also called banh khot) – a southern specialty of small, fried rice flour pancakes is also a favorite in Dalat. Cooked in small clay dishes over a low-heat coal pot, the rice cake is flavorless until it is added to diluted fish sauce, stir-fried with green onions, and tiny pieces of deep-fried pork fat bits. Then it gives your taste buds some excitement. Pick two cakes and dip them into a bowl of sauce, pile some green onions and fried fat atop the cakes and the cold weather of the misty land disappears to make room for tasty favors and new experience.

This dish is popular in South Central coastal provinces such as Binh Thuan, Khanh Hoa. Locals often enjoy this dish with fish sauce in mix of garlic and chilies.

When wandering under the shade of pine trees tourists should stop for a hot banh trang nuong mo hanh (grilled girdle cake with onion oil). On the blazing cooking-fire, a thin griddle cake is grilled with onion oil and a layer of eggs or beef. Tourists also called it the “Pizza of Dalat”.

Visit Dalat at least once to discover splendid landscapes of waterfalls, hills and rivers; to contemplate the architecture of ancient houses and pagodas; and to experience the typical dishes of different regions.