Da Lat

Da Lat is a small city away from the coast which in Vietnam travels is unusual as Vietnam is a long slim country and it's very easy to just follow the coastline. I wanted to go to Da Lat to experience a different climate for a while, the weather here is warm, sunny, not humid and a comfortable temperature. I'm sitting here writing this and it is raining (not seen rain for a while) due the weather most of the vegetables and strawberries that are consumed in Saigon comes from this area, famous for farming especially flowers and strawberries!

A long journey to get here which was mainly my fault due to a wrong booking which I was unable to cancel but adds to the fun.

First day as usual I had a good explore and as its quite small and there were a few main places I wanted to go, I explored and found places of interest at the same time.

I went to the flower park, I saw the cathedral, I walked through some beautiful areas, round the Xuan Huong lake, Lâm vien square, Jersin Park and took a little train for a ride through the thousands of farms and greenhouses, briefly saw the Linh Phuoc Pagoda (had to run to get my train back), went to the crazy house, it was crazy, then finally to the night market.

I ate only food local to the area, banh can and banh trang nuong (from the night market, a thin pancake with pizza type toppings but really thinly spread!) both were delicious, the banh can was also a great experience as well as being delicious. It's little pancakes cooked with quails eggs (you can have them with meat or shrimps if you choose) and then served with a delicious broth and green mango. The pancakes are cooked in these cute little individual pans with little clay lids. I asked if I could take a photo and they were more than happy. I had managed to find a place with no tourists and it was so busy! A treat sign.

My second day in Da Lat was a lovely hike and paddle board with a tour company but only me on the trip. We hiked to the top of the Pinhatt Hill, 1696 metres above sea level), where there was a beautiful view of Tuyen Lam lake, alpine forests on the way up and jungle on the way down. Great way to get out and see the surrounding areas of Da Lat. Dung (sounds like Zoom) was a great guide and good company which is good as there were just the two of us.

My final day is a short one as I've got an overnight bus to Hoi An but I managed to squeeze in a little visit to the Linh Son Pagoda, a few more coffees including a delicious salt coffee! A gorgeous lunch and now I'm waiting for the bus. Also blessed with rain on the walk here , I love a rain cover, one for me and one for each rucksack!

Really enjoyed Da Lat, glad I made the decision to visit, it's not all about the real life mario karts which was my concern (I did not do the mario karts but have a look on line!)Read more