Da Lat - City Tour

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Geo: 11.9679, 108.43

Our hotel offers a number of tours. Today we opted for the city tour which costs about $ 37 each including tip. Some of the attractions were included and others there were optional activities. The tour time lasted about 6 hours. The guide was very good, spoke good English and accompanied us throughout.

We asked the driver to modify the schedule slightly. A couple of activities were more of the tourist sales type. Instead we included the Crazy House. This was started in 1990 and is an ongoing project. The architect was trained in Moscow but much of her work has been in Vietnam. It is very much a work which breaks traditional ways of design and thinking. Getting around also requires a great deal of care. There are also rooms available for rent and multiple gift shops.

The Bao Dai Summer Palace was the part time home of the last Vietnamese King. The building was quite austere. It was used when the weather was too hot elsewhere in the country.

The cable car took us over a couple of valley areas. The predominant crops here are strawberries and many, many flowers which are grown in the greenhouses and exported to other countries. We were interested in trying the strawberries but our guide said the locals don't eat them because of the pesticides.

We had a brief stop at Tuyen Lam Lake which is a man made lake. The water is used for irrigation.

The Dalat Canyon is a recreational area which includes the Datania Waterfall. We took the "roller coaster" both ways. The falls included an appearance by the local "Sasquatch".

Lunch was at a local restaurant. The food was excellent and very nicely presented.

The Old Railway Station is the most ancient in Vietnam. The railway had to travel over steep hills so sections of the line operated like a cogwheel. There were both steam and diesel locomotives at the station.

Our guide pointed out that in Da Lat there are no traffic lights, no air conditioning but there is a nuclear experimental facility.

The Valley of Love is another man made lake and recreational area. It is about 137 acres in size with about 10.5 acres of lake. There were many beautiful flowers and gardens as well as an unusual fountain. Our guide would not let us get away without the obligatory picture.

Final stop was a visit to the temple and monastery atop one of the hills.

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