Xuân Thành

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 were impressive featuring Vietnam's largest bell weighing 8.5 tonnes, a dragon made from 12,000 beer bottles and a 17m high lady Buddha made from 650,000 immortal flowers. Below the complex was a random area selling marble and wooden dining furniture for upwards of £15k, strange.

Finally getting back, we left for dinner and enjoyed Mexican burritos and quesadillas beside a pair of live blue parrots on a branch. 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 food and move the couple one table back. Needless to say our state of relaxation suddenly lessened, even more so when our food arrived.

Lastly we left for a nice cocktail bar with games and live music. On the way home we walked past a vendor selling the famous Da Lat speciality - a hot, sweet soy milk drink and it wasn’t bad!

So far, we're really liking Da Lat. Not really knowing what to expect we'd say the infrastructure is more developed than you might imagine it to be. The area definitely has a French/Swiss alps vibe with the town itself looking European - the slim houses are positioned close together with many of them painted either white or a bright bold colour.Read more