Đà Lạt, Vietnam

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After Saigon I chose to go to Da Lat based almost completely on its weather. Its in the central highlands and much cooler than any place I have been since leaving the states in January. I have been sweating for four months. Luckily Da Lat is fantastic; there is no other city like it in Vietnam. The city of about 100,000 is centered around a lake surrounded by hills and mountains. In the center everything looks stacked upon each other. The French built a lot of villas here and used it as a vacation spot to get out of the heat. Some say it is a little remiscent of the French Alps. A clean, colorful city surrounded by pine forests in the mountains.


There is not a straight road here. I kept getting lost while riding a motorbike around town, but somehow would circle back around to the lake or central market. This town reminds me a lot of a town called Gramado in Brasil, almost kitschy in its European references. Its not my favorite word, but "charming" seems very apropos. This is the Vietnamese people's favorite place to honeymoon. There are a thousand little cafes, they have swan boats on the lake and are famous throughout Vietnam for the flowers they grow.

Hang Nga's Crazy House hotel is a icon of Da Lat. This deranged hotel/architextural experiment sits in the hills above the lake with a spectacular view from the top. Hang Nga is a Vietnamese woman who studied architecture in Moscow and returned to Da Lat to build this and several other buildings in town. The hotel is completely surreal. Lonely Planet describes it as Gaudi meets Alice in Wonderland. That is pretty accurate.

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