Dalat

---

We arrived in Dalat late in the evening after a 9 hour bus journey. While the distance between Saigon and Dalat is only several hundred kilometers, single track roads combined with mountains made for a slow journey. On the bright side we did end up chatting to a lovely young Vietnamese lady called Thao who gave us some of her fruit, advised us on where to go in Vietnam (and showed us pictures of the places on her iphone), taught us some basic vietnamese (chiding our accents) and sorted out free transporation to our hostel.

Once we arrived at ‘Dreams’ we were met by the delightfull Mrs Dung who showed us to our room resplendent with giant bed, satelite tv and power/massage shower and told us that breakfast was between 6 and 10 am and that the sauna, steam room and jacuzzi on the roof terrace was free to use from 5 untill 7. Realishing in our good luck we promptly went out to the nearest restaurant and had rice pankakes for supper - they were amzing and our waiter, taken with Emily and her giant peacock earings, gave us a lesson in how to construct the perfect roll and which sauce to dip it in depending on the ingredients in it.

The next day we came down to a buffet breakfast which caused gasps of excitement from Emily - plate after plate of fresh mango, pineapple, dragon fruit, bread, jam, peanut butter and two cooks who cooked anything involving eggs and bacon to your order. After almost an hour I eventually dragged Emily away (with much moaning) and we spent the rest of the day exploring Dalat on foot.

In comparison to the streets of Saigon, Dalat was an oasis of calm and natural beauty - imagine a small market town in the french alps complete with repicla eiffel tower radio mast, beutifull lakes, lots of attractive fauna and mountains all around.

Our first place of exploration was the ominously named 'crazy house' - It seems that the only daughter of a now deceased Vietnames President had studied architechture in Moscow, but rebelled against 'confromist' architechture and started creating outlandish buildings with the money she had been left and the odd commision. ( Although these were few and far between as some of her creations were deemed so extraodrinary by the local peoples comitee of Dalat that they were destroyed in the name of good taste!) Crazy House was the most well known of these said creations and after a brief foray it was easy to see why - Dali drunk would probably be the best way to describe the buildings collective style with couuntless random animals, bridges, windows and ornaments melded into the flowing super strucutre. Indeed so fluid was the strucutre it was almost impossible to get out of the damned place, but after an hour or so we eventually emerged and headed up one of the hills to Emperor Bao Dai's summer palace.

Contrasting Crazy House which defied classification, this building and the interior decor was straight out of the art deco era. The house itself was only mildy interesting, but the views from the upper floor and the picturesque gardens made up for it and after a pleasant walk in said gardens we decided to go and find some lunch.

The rest of the afternoon was taken up with wondering around the lake in the middle of Dalat - having looked at the map I thought it was only a 3k walk, it turned out to be a 7k one but pleasant all the same. In the evening we subsequently cooled off in the rooftop jacuzzi at our hostel were we got chatting to a Danish family whose English was almost better than ours and ended up watching the Top Gear Vietnam special much to the amusemet of Mrs Dung's sons.

The next day was probably one of the best we have had so far - after chatting to Mrs Dung about hiring a motorbike for the day (she said it was a bad idea as the traffic was too bad) she arranged for a couple of university students to take us into the countryside and show us a couple of sites. With glorious weather and lovely countryisde it was a wonderfull day- we visted a Pagoda, Elephant waterfalls were we spent a good hour clambering over rocks following our perfectly balanced guide much to his and every other tourist in the areas amusment, a silk factory and a buddhist monastry situated on top a hill overloooking a beutifull lake and in the evening we had a delicious supper with Thao, whose English while faltering, extended to ordering some of the best food we had had in Dalat.

The next stop was Nha Trang.

Alec.



Dalat

We arrived quite late in Dalat, having trundelled along the extremely bumpy narrow roads that took us up into the mountains in which Dalat is located. Luckily we had already booked our Hotel at Dreams, managed by another Matrona like woman Madam Dung. Discovered that we had made an extremely good discission as the place was lovelly.

Once settled we went out for a meal at a Restaurant that Theo had recommended, and was also mentioned in the Lonely Planet (the Bible of Bibles). Being just across the road from us it didn’t take long for us to get seated and be presented with an opulent feast of Vietnamese cooking. After a hearty meal, being late and tired we went to bed.

The next morning we went down for breakfast to find an entire table full of excellent food, most of which was fresh fruit, so I was in heaven!!! After stuffing ourselves we set out for a day of site seeing. First stop, was the bustling market. There we took in the delightful smells, sites and sounds (of a Carbrooke Christmas!) of the Dalat market. Next came the crazey house, which really was crazey. The house had been built and designed by a woman of aristocratic Vietnamese birth who had studied architecture in Moscow. The house was an unusual combination of glass mosaics, concrete wood, swirls and curls, which made it look like something out of a fairy tale book; a mixture between Dali, the crooked man that lives in a crooked house, and the Ginger Bread House. Though bezaar it was definitely good fun.

We then walked on to our next site, Bao Dai’s Summer Palace. Bao Dai was the last reigning King of Vietnam and being so had Palaces all over the place. This one was of a definate 1930’s design, very art deco inside and out. So was quite simplistic and a little dull to look round. But the boards of background information inside were interesting and the garden was quite nice to wonder around. After that, we then headed into the center again for lunch, which is the first and last bad meal we’ve had in Vietnam. And then spent the rest of the day leisurely wondering around the very beautiful lake.

In the evening we treated ourselves to a couple of drinks as we enjoyed the roof terrace jacuzzi of our Hotel. We got talking to a Denmark couple, who apparently had taken a couple of months out of work in order travel around South East Asia with their children. We then had dinner and watched the Vietnam Special of Top Gear!

Second day in Dalat (sorry this is rather detailed!)

This day was I think one of the best we’ve had so far, for the sole reason that we got to have a ride around the Vietnamese countryside on the back of scooters/mopeds. Madam Dung organised it for us, getting two University students (one studying Tourist Studies and the other electrical engineiring) to take us out for the day to Elephant Falls (where we experienced our inefficiency, comparitive to the Vietnamese Student, at clambering over the elephant rocks), its Pagoda, a silk factory, and to some lovelly lake (which neither of us can remember the name of) with a religious sanctuary up the hill from it looked after by Monks and Nuns . The students had made the outing great fun and we found that it was an excellent way of exploring the surrounding countryside. I am now very tempted to buy my own moped once I get home!

For our final night in Dalat, we arranged to meet up with Theo for dinner. We treated her to a meal at a Restaurant of her choice, which really was excellent, and she treated us in return to an after dinner Ice Cream (YUM!). The flow of conversation wasn’t great, as despight her level of spoken English I don’t think she quite understood us a lot of the time. However, we got to ask her about such things as her role in Tet holiday, what it was like to spend it for the first time away from her family (she had just recently been married), and so on. She also got to ask us some things about what we do, whether we were going to marry soon (!!!!!), what food is like at home, how she was impressed at how well we could weild the chop sticks, etc. Anyway, a great night and end to our stay in Dalat.

Emxx

---

Photos

Crazy House
It really was crazy! What happens when an eccentric woman is given the money to express herself! (Emily in 50 years!)

Easy Rider
Me, my driver and my flowery hat - a combination made in heaven.

Easy Rider 2
The beauty of Vietnam and travelling by bike.

A Muddy Bottom
The toll of following a Vietnamese guide over rocks.

Emily's Muddy Bottom
Don't worry Mum they are now white again!

The HUGE Buddha
... and tiny Emily beside it.

The Silk Factory
A picture right out of the 19th century.