Da Lat is a lakeside mountain/hill town founded by the French as a sanctuary from the oppressive heat. Thanks to the cooler climate, Da Lat is famous for growing flowers and produce that can't be cultivated elsewhere in Vietnam. The architecture is a mix of Swiss-inspired chalets and modern practical Vietnamese buildings.
Da Lat is the first place we've been in Vietnam that isn't overrun by hordes of western tourists, because most of the tourists here are domestic! Da Lat is a popular Vietnamese honeymoon or weekend getaway spot. We had some great recommendations from our guesthouse for local eating places, so we had some of the best Vietnamese food of our whole trip.
Da Lat's most unique attraction is the Crazy House. Built by the creative visionary architect daughter of a senior communist official, the complex looks like something from a Hanna-Barbara cartoon (i.e. Flintstones) on acid. There are no right angles, and narrow, dangerous walkways wind through the trees and over the roofs. It's also a hotel, but the rooms are open for viewing during the day so you'd better not need privacy.
Da Lat's train station is the most notable example of the ski chalet style. There used to be train service from the main line up to Da Lat, but the tracks were wrecked during the war and scavenged for parts after the war. Now only a 7-km stretch of track is open, but there's a tourist train you can take roundtrip to a neighboring town with a fantastic elaborate temple.
The botanical gardens were also nice, but probably not in the best season.
I should mention, we overnighted in the Russian beach city/party town/tourist trap of Nha Trang on our way to Da Lat. I really wanted to take a Vietnamese train, but it's incredibly inconvenient on the tourist north-south "conveyer belt" because so many of the major sites are away from the tracks. We took a train anyway, and it was very disappointing. AC was broken and the windows didn't really open, so it was hot and there were lots of bugs. Not nearly as good as the sleeper busses, which are faster, cleaner, and go between all the major destinations.
We also finally lost track of our travel friend Gareth. We met Gareth in Phonsavan, Laos and shared the same bus to Sam Neua and again into Vietnam. We're traveling at roughly the same pace, so we ended up on a very similar itinerary for two weeks. Every time we thought we were someplace so big there's no way we would run into each other again, it kept happening. Five separate times just in Hanoi, and also Cat Ba, Hue and Hoi An. We'd forget about it, and then surprise! There's Gareth!
We're quite behind in blog posts; we're already in Cambodia now!
-Peter
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