Global Gary

Sometimes you arrive somewhere and you just feel it is special. Da Lat is special. We loved Da Lat and could easily have stayed longer than the two and a half days we spent there.

Da Lat is a city in the south of Vietnam initially developed by the French in the early 1900s as a resort destination. It has a unique climate being 1500 metres above sea level. When we arrived it was around 25 degrees Celsius, a welcome change from the mid 30s of Mui Ne that we had come from. The architecture is a mixture, some French influences remain and there are impressive European-style villas and hotels. The first thing we noticed was the dancing/ musical figures on the roundabout near the large Xuan Huong Lake, right in the centre of Da Lat. This is a spectacular vista during the day and at night is a vibrant hub for street food and markets, where you are serenaded by the sound of car/ bike horns and the fragrant smells of food being cooked.

Magnificent 7 // Da Lat, Vietnam

1. Experience Mr. Rot’s “secret” tour
2. Go crazy over that house
3. Swan around on Xuan Huong Lake
4. Smell the roses- and orchids and… in the Flower Garden
5. Visit the Linh Phuoc Pagoda
6. Take in the waters at a Da Lat waterfall
7. Spend some time in the Lam Dong Museum

Getting there –

We took a private taxi from Mui Ne, which was a door-to-door service.  It is around 150 km and took nearly four hours.  Our driver decided, unilaterally, to stop for a 30-minute lunch break after about an hour and a 15-minute cigarette break an hour and a half later.  The roads up the mountains were steep, narrow and had many blind corners, none of which seemed to bother our driver!  Nevertheless we arrived in one piece and were delivered to our hotel.  The cost for the journey was around £70 which, although more expensive than the bus, was much more convenient.

Where we stayed –

Our hotel, The Dalat Wind Hotel, is a two-star hotel and costs around £50 for two nights. We had a good-sized room and a functional wet room. There was no a/c, but we had a patio door which we left open at night. The hotel did not do breakfast but was good value for money because of its great location in Golf Valley near the lake

Where to eat –

Anywhere and everywhere. We found lots of street food at the markets and an abundance of local restaurants. We even tried a bowl of fried crickets, which I really enjoyed!

Magnificent 7

1. Experience Mr. Rot’s “secret” tour.

Let Mr Rot and his cousin Jesse show you their beloved Central Highlands. This is a “secret” tour as Mr Rot does not want you to have any preconceived ideas of where they are going and what may unfold.  There are no pictures and no set itinerary.  We were picked up from our hotel and we were the oldest in the group by many decades.  The rest of the minibus was made up of eight young travellers, all in their early twenties, all from European countries, all delightful company.  This is not much of an explanation. I implore you to take this tour if you are in Da Lat.  You will need to book up this full day tour in advance.  The cost was around £65 for both of us.

2. Go crazy over that house

The Crazy House (official name Villa Hang Nga) is one of the most popular tourist attractions in Da Lat. When we visited a coach unloaded its tourist cargo and gave them a set time to look around. This is anathema to us. We like to take our time and absorb what we are seeing.

The concept of this fairytale house was to bring people closer to nature. The central structure is a tree. But what a tree! Snakes for banisters, giraffes and a whole host of natural creatures and flora appear somewhere. Our favourite section involved sea creatures which revealed itself from behind a giant shell.  This is an architectural masterpiece, with shades of Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, Dali and Disney. You can actually stay in the house as it is a one-star hotel, but without much privacy until tourists depart at 7 pm. Stunning and crazy at the same time, it cost around £5 per person to enter

3. Swan around on Xuan Huong Lake

This is a huge lake. We walked along one side of it to the Flower Gardens. There are pretty Swan pedalos available which are very popular. As you walk around the lake there are lots of places to stop, grab some shade and people watch. This is very popular with families. Evenings are different, as food stalls appear and it is a hive of activity.

4. Smell the roses- and orchids and… in the Flower Garden

This 7000 m² park is located at the end of Xuan Huong Lake, and has the biggest selection of flowers in Da Lat. There are themed areas, excellent topiary, viewing points and perhaps the most extensive selection of plants I have ever seen. Popular with families, it is a great place to spend a few hours. Visiting the flower garden costs around £3 per person.

On our visit there was also dragon dancing to celebrate the Year of the Dragon. 

5. Visit the Linh Phuoc Pagoda

Linh Phuoc Pagoda, was built from debris of glass, pottery bowls and porcelain between 1949 and 1952 in a remote residential area. This is a popular tourist attraction and a functioning Buddhist temple, so in certain areas photos are not allowed and knees and shoulders must be covered. There is a lot to see and some interesting architecture. There is even an exhibition – if that is the right word-  of the Buddhist take on what hell looks like!  Look out for the dragon with scales made from broken beer bottles. The pagoda is free to enter.

6. Take in the waters at a Da Lat waterfall

There are a dozen or so waterfalls around Da Lat.  It depends what you are looking for.  We visited Elephant Waterfall.  Its name comes from the resemblance of the rocks to elephant tusks. This waterfall is surrounded by lush greenery, and there are different viewing areas. There are a number of steps to climb and a bit of scrambling over rocks is required to get to some of the viewing areas.  This is probably not the most visited waterfall. Pongour Waterfall is one of the largest in the area. Datania Waterfall is unique in that you can ride a rollercoaster down the waterfall.  Prenn waterfall offers all sorts of other activities besides looking at the scenery. Read up about them first as some are very touristy and not our cup of tea.  All have a small charge to enter them, usually around £3 pp.

7. Spend some time in the Lam Dong Museum

This is not the most exciting museum we have ever been to, however it is worth (a relatively short) visit. Why? Because it is a bit of a hotchpot of themes with some unusual exhibits, for example a 3,000-year-old stone xylophone. The traditional dress and implements used by the indigenous peoples of the Central Highlands were interesting.  There was also a section devoted to the Vietnamese wars with the French and Americans as well as the rise of the Communist Party.

Of Note

There are just as many motorbikes and scooters in Da Lat as anywhere else.  Given the narrow streets, you will have to walk around bikes parked on the footpaths on to the road.

There seemed to be a lot fewer tourists in Da Lat than anywhere else we visited.  At our hotel we were objects of curiosity as we were the only non-Asian guests staying there.

Take cash.  Our hotel didn’t take cards.  Nor did our taxi from Mui Ne. Nor did one of the restaurants we ate at, or the Central Market vendors.  This is not a problem – there are plenty of safe, functioning cashpoints – but it is best to always have 2-3 million dong in cash (around 3 million dong = £100).

The Maze bar (aka the 100 Roof Bar) is popular in Da Lat.  Our fellow travellers on Mr Rot’s tour loved it.  There is a maze of winding tunnels and rooms, in a similar architectural style to the Crazy House, that lead up to a picturesque roof garden.

There are many things we did not see owing to limited time in Da Lat such as the art deco Da Lat railway station and the Bao Dai Summer Palace (look them up online). In hindsight we would have spent an extra day or two here

Fun Fact

The bell tower at the Linh Phuoc Pagoda is the tallest in Vietnam.