Da Lat

The sleeper bus from Nha Trang to Da Lat was actually a success. I didn’t really sleep as it was mid afternoon but was able to lay back and relax in the four hours the journey took. Given the route was through twisting mountainous roads I didn’t expect much comfort and although cosy, I was pleasantly surprised.

Da Lat is a high altitude city, the largest of Vietnams central highlands region and as expected was much cooler that the rest of Asia and quite refreshing. We arrived late afternoon and went straight to check-in. This was unfortunately the first time we opened the doors to a hotel room and were disappointed despite the £6 a night cost. Thinking it’ll be fine as we are only here for 3 nights we ignored the issues and left to explore. While wondering around we decided we should change rooms so asked around until we found a nice little homestay for the same price per night. We checked out the room and it was much nicer. With that off our minds, we walked the market and enjoyed some BBQ skewers for dinners. Da Lat is a really busy city around the central area just off the lake. While walking the lake, Jess was asked for another photo so happily obliged of course. We weren’t sure why this time as although few there were other tourists around.

The following day we rented a scooter to head out into the mountains and explore. First we stopped off at a very busy looking bakery just by our hotel for breakfast and also got some delicious freshly made Vietnamese chicken baguettes for lunch costing a little over 60p each. It turns out Lien Hoa, the bakery, is busy from morning right until late evening and it’s easy to see why! They sell all sorts of pastries, cakes, breads and desserts, not to mention their subway style fresh baguettes. Heading south riding past Datanla waterfalls, we saw the popular cable car strung across two peaks. Knowing there was a downhill coaster near the cable car, we changed path and headed in that direction in the hopes of finding it. Luckily we did so decided to stop and have a go forgetting it was a Sunday however. Tickets were reasonable but the queue was not although that was our fault for choosing a Sunday. Nevertheless after an hour or so we got on and had a blast… for about 15 seconds until we caught up to the guy in front. With his camera out, I’m sure he was filming a timelapse though the woods instead of enjoying the ride. Jess wouldn’t let me nudge him so we sat behind and enjoyed the scenery. Thankfully there were two parts to the coaster and luckily he wondered off before we got onto the next. This time we enjoyed the ride! Minutes before the final ascent back up the rain came and stayed for an hour or so. We stayed dry before finally deciding to continue our mountain ride and luckily within minutes the rain stopped! The first route was south around Tuyen Lam Lake only taking an hour and as you’d expect the views were amazing! Heading back towards Da Lat, we decided to carry on riding and this time rode north towards another mountain range. Taking an hour and a half this route was just as stunning. We saw miles of industrial greenhouses spread across the valley in what looks like a huge agricultural production area. These mainly grow vegetables, flowers and fruits and is a major center of agriculture throughout the country.

After the ride, we returned to Da Lat and stopped off at the Linh Phuoc Pagoda. This mosaic looking complex was built from glass debris, old pottery and porcelain pieces back in 1952. The buildings are impressive featuring Vietnams largest bell weighing 8.5 tonnes, a dragon made of 12,000 beer bottles and a 17m high lady Buddha made from 650,000 immortal flowers. Below the complex was also an interesting area selling marble and wooden dining sets for upwards of £15k, random??

Finally getting back we left for dinner and enjoyed Mexican burritos and quesadillas for a dinner beside a pair of blue parrots. 10 minutes in the parrots decided to attack the couple next to us flapping on their heads and over their dinner. The girl ran out screaming ‘f**k this s**t’ as the staff walked over to put the parrots back. The solution: give the parrots some seeds and move the couple one table across. Needless to say our state of relaxation lessened especially when our food came out.

Lastly we left for a nice cocktail bar with games and live music all night. On the way home I walked past a vendor selling a Da Lat specialty - a hot, sweet soy milk drink. It wasn’t bad!Leia mais