Vietnam Royal Tourism

Da Lat Overview

A slice of Europe in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, Dalat found favour with the French rulers for its cool climate. Today, Dalat’s mild temperatures are popular with Vietnam Royal Tourism’s travellers, as is the town’s attractive landscape of colonial villas, gardens, lakes and rolling hills.

Dalat’s colourful market features locally-made specialities such as artichoke tea, candied fruits, coffee and the finest cool climate vegetables and flowers in Vietnam. Visit the former summer residence of Vietnam’s last emperor, Bao Dai, and meet Dalat’s famous artist monk Vien Thuc in his studio lined with thousands of his quirky compositions. The brilliantly coloured silk weavings of the K’hor tribespeople are a popular purchase, as are finely detailed silk embroideries.

Dalat is quite different from anywhere else you'll visit in Vietnam. You would almost be forgiven for thinking you'd stumbled into the French Alps in springtime. This was certainly how the former colonists treated it - escaping to their chalets to enjoy the cooler climate. The French feel is compounded by a radio mast shaped like the Eiffel Tower and the local bohemian artists' predilection for swan-ning around in berets. Dalat is small enough to remain charming, and die surrounding countryside is blessed with lakes, waterfalls, evergreen forests and gardens. Local products include silk, garden vegetables and flowers (especially beautiful hydrangeas), which are sold all over southern Vietnam. But the biggest contribution to the economy is tourism: more than 800,000 do - mestic tourists and another 80,000 foreigners visit here every year. It's the country's favour ite honeymoon spot and still retains the final word in Vietnamese kitsch. The Dalat area was once famous for hunting and a 1950s brochure boasted that "a two-hour drive from the town leads to several game-rich areas abounding in deer, roe, peacocks, pheasants, wild boar, black bear. wild caws, panthers, tigers, gaurs and elephants'. So successful were the hunters that all of the big game is now extinct. The closest you'll get to the formerly diverse fauna are the taxidermied specimens about town. The city's population includes about 5000 members of hill tribes, which make up 33 distinct communities in Lam Dong province. Traditional dress can occasionally be spotted in the market places. Hill-tribe women of this area carry their infants on their backs in a long piece of cloth worn over one shoulder and tied in the front. The City of Eternal Spring, Dalat's temperature hovers between a pleasant 15°C (average daily minimum) to 24°C (average daily maximum). Effectively Dalat has two seasons - dry (December to March) and wet (April to No-vember). Despite the mild temperatures, by the end of the dry season the lush green surrounds turn to brown. Even in the wet season, mornings normally remain dry - allowing time for sightseeing before the deluge begins.

Sights & Activities

XUAN HUONG LAKE

Created by a dam in 1919, banana-shaped Xuan Huong Lake was named after a 17th-century Vietnamese poet known for her daring attacks on the hypocrisy of social conventions and the foibles of scholars, monks, mandarins and kings. The lake can be circumnavigated along a 7km sealed path that leads past several of Dalat's main sights, including the flower gardens, golf club

HANG NGA CRAZY HOUSE

A perfect combination of Dalat's bohemian tradition and its taste for kitsch. Hang Nga Crazy House is a guesthouse in the form of a giant surreal artwork. The architecture is Gaudi-meets-Alice in Wonderland and cannot easily be described: there are caves, giant spider webs made of wire, concrete tree trunks and scary-looking animals with glowing red eyes. Yes it's tacky, and exceedingly commercialised, but many are astounded to find such a countercultural construction in Vietnam.

CREMAILLERE RAILWAY STATION

Dalat's pretty station is now largely decorative. Railway enthusiasts will be interested in the old locomotives on display, including a Japanese steam train. From 1928 to 1964, when it was closed because of VC attacks, the cog-railway linked Dalat and Thap Cham. It's unfortunate that the line has never been fully replaced, as it would provide a great tourist link to the main north-south lines. A section of track has been re-opened, allowing you to ride in an historic carriage 8km to Trai Mat village (30 minutes) and back again. Once in Trai Mat, most travellers make a requisite stroll over to visit the ornate linh Phuoc Pagoda. This colourful pagoda was built between 1949 and 1952, and recent renovations included the installation of an 81/2-tonne bell in a seven-tiered tower. Remove your shoes when entering the main temple building, where an amusement-park dragon guards the gate. Once inside, visitors are greeted by a 5m-high Buddha sporting a five-ringed neon halo. From the ground floor, take the left-hand .staircase up to the 2nd-level balcony area for great views.

BAO DAI'S SUMMER PALACE

This Art Deco-influenced villa was constructed in 1933 and was one of three palaces Bao Dai kept in Dalat. The decor has not changed in decades, except for the addition of Ho Chi Minh's portrait over the fireplace, but the palace is filled with artefacts from decades and governments past and is extremely interesting. In Bao Dai's office, the life-sized white bust above the bookcase is of the man himself;the smaller gold and brown busts are of his father. Emperor Khai Dinh. Note the heavy brass royal seal (on the right) and military seal (on the left). The photographs over the fireplace are of Bao Dai, his eldest son Bao Long (in uniform), and his wife. Empress Nam Phuong. Upstairs are the living quarters. The room of Bao Long, who now lives in France, is decorated in yellow, the royal colour. The huge semicircular couch was used by the em-peror and empress for family meetings, during which their three daughters were seated in the yellow chairs and their two sons in the pink chairs. Check out the ancient tan Rouathermique infrared sauna machine near the top of the stairs.

DALAT FLOWER GARDENS

An unusual sight in Vietnam, these gardens were established in 1966. Flowers here include hydran geas, fuchsias and orchids. Most of the latter are in special shaded buildings to the right of the entrance. All in all it's a very nice and well-kept cross section of Daiat foliage, along with some crazy kitsch topiary. The Dalat Flower Gardens front Xuan Huong Lake

DOMAINE DE MARIE CONVENT

The pink tile-roofed structures of this hill-top convent , constructed between 1940 and 1942, were once home to 300 nuns. Today the remaining nuns support themselves by making ginger candies and selling the fruit grown in the orchard out the back. The French-speaking nuns are pleased to show visitors around and explain the work they do for orphans, the homeless and children with disabilities. The shop sells handicrafts made by the children and nuns. Mass is celebrated in the targe chapel, Sunday to Friday.

ADVENTURE SPORTS

Dalat's cool climate and mountainous surrounds lend themselves to all manner of outdoor activities.

takes the term call 'ecotourism' seriously. It offers canyoning, abseiling (rappelling), rock climbing, kayaking and treks to minority villages. Ccycling tours of the Dalat area , as well as a two-day ride 120km downhill to the sand dunes at Mui Ne Beach

CABLE CAR

Dalat's newest attraction, this cable car dangles along a 2.3km wire to Quang Trung Reservoir . Needless to say, the views are stunning but it's not for the faint-hearted.

GOLF

The Dalat Palace Golf Club established in 1922, was once used by Emperor Bao Dai. Visitors can play 18-hole rounds on this attractive course on the shores of the lake

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