Mountains and Beaches

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We had booked an open bus ticket (on a VIP bus!) to take us from Ho Chi Minh City up through Vietnam as this meant we could get off the bus at our chosen stops and we didn’t have to worry about booking onward transport. We chose the option that would take us to Da Lat, Nha Trang, Hoi An, Hue and finally Hanoi. This would involve two stages being undertaken at night on a sleeper bus, so we were keen to see how good these would be.

Our first destination for a couple of nights was the city of Da Lat, nestled amongst the hills of the Lang Bian Plateau and formed around the man-made Xuan Huong Lake, which would see us at an elevation of just under 1500m. Unlike the steamy Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat provides the weary traveller with a slightly cooler temperature, very welcome indeed. This is obviously welcomed by more than just us two hot travellers as the city has been popular since 1893 when Dr Alexander Yersin first drew attention to its therapeutic climate when he was exploring the southern highlands of Vietnam. Four years later a convalescent hill station was set up and that, as they say, was that. The man-made lake, around which central Da Lat sits, was created in 1919 when the French dammed the Cam Ly River. Its popularity continued and even after the French left the city, after the 1954 Treaty of Geneva, its warm days and cooler nights still made it a popular destination. So popular was it that even during the Vietnamese War both Hanoi and Saigon agreed not to bomb the city which means it still retains a lot of the architecture of over 500 years mixed in, of course, with the more modern buildings that seem to be going up a pace everywhere in Vietnam.

The journey from Ho Chi Minh to Da Lat was really nice, giving us a flavour of what the Vietnamese lush countryside has to offer and after about 6 hours we arrived in the somewhat hilly city. Our hotel of choice for the few nights was Dreams 1 (as recommended by the Rough Guide) and another great choice. The hospitality was very good, the room was lovely with yellow roses providing that extra something and the buffet breakfast one of the best we have had since being in Asia and, according to a fellow traveller we met at breakfast, the best we would probably get in Vietnam. On our first walk around the local area, to get our bearings, we found an extremely nice looking bakery innocuously tucked in one of the backstreets where a little old lady, who looked about 100, frantically beckoned for us to go in and sample some of the delicious looking pastries - we made a mental note to go back there later. The guide book states that Da Lat is known for its twisting streets and steps and, as we found out, the guide book doesn’t lie. The surrounding lush countryside is a sign of the wetter weather it enjoys and as you might expect, during the latter part of the afternoon it rained. Not just a slight drizzle, but heavy, grey, cold rain - not liking that we made a hasty retreat to the comfort of our hotel room hoping our stay wouldn’t be a total wash out. Luckily the rain ebbed and we ventured out in the evening for something to eat at a restaurant called the Long Hoa, which turned out to serve delicious food and a very potent strawberry wine all in a very French ambience. The staff were really welcoming and after struggling with the chop sticks for most of the meal I felt it was time for some professional instruction. Well, after the first member of staff gave up trying to get my fingers to hold the chop sticks properly another tried and eventually, with the solemn instruction that I needed to practice a lot more, we left for the uphill walk back to the hotel.

Full of energy after a great night’s sleep in a cool temperature we were determined to get some walking in as we had struggled to go any distance in the really humid weather. Our planned destinations for the day would be a walk around the lake, about 7km, and then continue on to a place called the “Crazy House” and then Bao Dai’s Summer Palace. An absolutely delicious breakfast over and done with our plans abruptly changed when the hotel owner told us that the lake had been drained and advised us instead to take a route from the Crazy House to the Summer Palace and then onto Truc Lam Pagoda where we could get a cable car back to the town. We were a bit disappointed as we were assured that this route was only about 5km - we needn’t have worried because, of course, that is the Asian version of 5km!

We really didn’t know what to expect with our first destination, the Crazy House, designed and constructed by the architect Hang Viet Nga, and when we arrived we could understand the reasons why the locals had given the house its name. Luckily she is the daughter of the former president Truong Chinh, otherwise I am sure she wouldn’t have been able to get planning permission! It is an off the wall amalgamation of fairytale and nature, not in a cutesy way but an adult’s version of a fairytale. The outside of the building looks like a tree made up of knotted trunks and branches which are part of the walls, giving the impression that the house is part of the tree rather than a tree-house. There are small walkways, lined with brightly coloured cascading plants, which weave their way through a pond area, under a giant spider web, quickly skirting round a ferocious looking alligator, round mushrooms, under the legs of a giant giraffe and round the gnarled old trunk of the vast tree leading to bedrooms and a few small shops. The twisting, turning and winding staircases lead to the bedrooms where beds appear to be part the flowing structure of the building itself. There are no sharp corners, just smooth curves and gently flowing lines. The bedrooms are themed so in the Bear Room, there is ..........yes you guessed it........... a bear, and in the Kangaroo Room there is a ....................... kangaroo, but not a normal kangaroo, it has glowing red eyes giving it a somewhat demonic appearance. But as I said before it is an adult’s fairytale, not a child’s! It is a working guesthouse and not just a tourist attraction, although I am not sure that the beds look comfortable enough to stay there for more than one night, but as an overnight experience it might be a bit of a laugh. As you are walking around it feels like you are being given a brief glimpse into someone else’s imagination and for a moment it takes you back to those childhood fairy tales.

As a complete contrast, the art deco inspired Summer Palace of Bao Dai, is not necessarily what you would imagine a palace to look like. It is one of three palaces that Emperor Bao Dai kept in Da Lat and was built in 1933. The palace is set in rose and pine gardens and, unlike the previous building we visited, its somewhat boring mustard coloured walls are made up of clean straight lines with no forms of architectural ornamentation. Its only concession to curves is from the nautical-like portholes in its walls. Not an overly inspiring building from the outside and the decoration inside the palace makes you feel as though you are lost in a time warp. The furniture remains the same as when it was used as a summer retreat even down to the animal trophies on the walls, which were apparently killed by Bao Dai himself during one of his favourite pastimes. Whilst it is not necessarily the most attractive palace we have seen, or the most substantial, there is a lot of memorabilia on show which, although not awe inspiring in its monetary value, does provide an insight into the lost lives of the Emperor and his family.

According to the hotel owner just a few kms further on from the Summer Palace and we would find the meditation centre, Truc Lam Pagoda, at the top of Robin Hill so off we set at a brisk pace. Lucky for us the weather was just right for walking as the few kms turned into slightly more, but it was great to get out into the countryside and get a view of what life is like away from the city and the tourists. After an hour or so walking, we could see the cable car in the distance and felt we were heading the right way at least, and that the destination of the meditation centre would be just what we needed to relax a bit. As we got closer, however, we realised that none of the cars had been moving across the cable and wondered if it was closed and, if so, would there be some other form of transport to take us back to town as the thought of a long walk back wasn’t a happy one. Luckily on arrival we found that it had just closed for lunch and would be operating again soon - phew! Happy in the knowledge we could get back into town we headed off into the meditation centre. Bearing close attention to the sign depicting the warning that scantily clad men and women should not hold hands (lucky for us we were dressed appropriately) we headed up the steps onto a haven of peace. The meditation centre is housed in a Chinese-temple surrounded by crisply kept gardens and with chimes softly echoing the gentle breeze nothing could be more tranquil.

After an hour well spent strolling round the gardens and sitting in the quiet we noticed that the afternoon rain clouds were rolling in and decided to make a hasty exit to the cable car and our ride back to town. For about 15 minutes the cable car gave us a great view of the city and the pine clad slopes that surround it and at about £1 each for a one way ticket it was money very well spent we thought. We managed to arrive back at the hotel just in time before the afternoon rain set in, even though we made a quick detour on the way back in order to get some snacks from the market Cho Da Lat, which was crammed with stalls selling all manner of fruits, nuts and vegetables, and some lovely pastries from the small bakers I mentioned earlier. And yes, as we thought, they were absolutely delicious.

After another delicious meal in a local restaurant, a great night’s sleep and fab breakfast we headed off on the bus to our next destination, Nha Trang, for some well-earned R&R. The journey took us a bit longer than we expected, but as the bus carefully negotiated its way down the mountain road badly in need of repair it was not surprising. However, the journey did provide us again with some truly spectacular views of the mountains clouded in mist and the seemingly never-ending forests.

Nha Trang is Vietnam’s top beach destination and is supposed to have the best municipal beach in the whole of the country and we were about to find out if that was true. The area was once known as Eatrang, the “river of reeds” but has changed dramatically over the years and has now become home to over 300,000 people. We had a brief stop at the Cham towers Phan Rang en route to Nha Trang, but unfortunately only for a quick comfort break so we didn’t have time to have a look round them - shame they did look lovely from a distance.

We would like to say a lot about Nha Trang itself but to be quite truthful our daily routine consisted of going from our hotel, onto the beach , back to the hotel again, out for a hours walk along the promenade as the sun went down and then out for something to eat in the evening. If it all seems a bit of a sacrilege to come to a beautiful place like this and not explore any of its surroundings, our reasons are that when travelling constantly you really need to stop every now and again and just chill, otherwise you risk being too tired to appreciate the wonderful things that you do visit. We have to say that we enjoyed the beach very much. There were lots of hawkers stalking up and down the beach so each day we paid about 75p each for a sunbed and shade which meant that the beach guards kept them at a distance, although they did sit just outside the permitted perimeter and try and sell us stuff from there. The beach is very long and not hugely busy during the day, however this changes at dusk when it seems that all the locals come down for a well-earned dip in the balmy sea (fully clothed of course) and just spend time socialising or flying kites. So a walk along the prom in the evening puts you in the heart of a big party with lots of the locals just chilling and having fun and keen to stare at the holidaymakers. But a smile can usually elicit a quick shy smile back. The kite flying was quite special, aided by the almost constant westerly breeze, there were hundreds of families, out flying some amazing kites in the local square at the heart of the promenade. We ate at a number of the restaurants and found them all to be really nice offering delicious fare, the staff both friendly and attentive, although they don’t understand the concept of starters and can’t get all the food for the main course out at the same time (same all over Asia) - but this is just nitpicking. All in all we spent 5 lovely relaxing days in Nha Trang and would recommend it to anyone wanting to just chill out and recharge their batteries and we suspect that the surrounding area and the islands just off shore are just as lovely.

Suitably chilled we headed off to Hoi An on our first overnight bus for some retail therapy.

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Photos

Crazy House
Really crazy

Da Lat
The city in the mountains

Inspired
by nature

Fairytale
with a well known fairy

Look into my eyes
The Kanga room (don't shut yours)

Imagination
Some peoples are weird

Palace
or what passed for one in the 1930's

Oasis
Great place for meditation (or smoozing on the lawn)

Peaceful
until someone rings this huge bell

Chillin
of course taking the boats out would be far too tiring ...

Not Bad
An essential part of the Nha Trang routine

out of nowhere
the locals reclaim their beach from the tourists

Vietnamese evening entertainment
more enjoyable than watching X Factor

Not too shabby
Great beach and almost empty

Cham Towers
Like a mini Angkor

Oasis
the beautiful garden

Fit for a queen
a little one anyway