Vietnam: Dalat

Dalat has been on radar forever, as it is the name of the restaurant that introduced us to Vietnamese food. It was a hill station started by the French at 1500 masl. I was so hot in the blazing sun, I really could not feel any coolness such altitude was supposed to afford us.

Today Dalat is a sprawling city that seems to extend forever - John was pretty disappointed. Why isn't Dalat the second largest city in Vietnam?! It certainly felt that way. I too would have written Dalat off if it weren't for the art deco villa of Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, plus a few other interesting colonial buildings.

There was no fresh mountain air. In fact, the air was terrible as the Lunar New Year (Tet) is approaching, everyone seems to be remembering their ancestors by burning big piles of paper money, paper clothing, paper cars, paper houses(?); that is, whatever the deceased might need on the other side!

Nevertheless Dalat is hugely popular with tourists judging by the dizzying number of hotels. Maybe everyone is doing whatever artificial tourist traps await them in the surrounding areas.

We arrived in Dalat around noon and were ready for a couple of bowls of vegan pho for lunch.


Dalat's Night Market was crowded, smoky, and hot. We grabbed some chay (vegan) street food, and watched the local kids (4th below) and delivery drivers (5th).












Adjacent to the night market was a "field" of yellow potted chrysanthemums put in place for Tet. Wow! And nearby, temporary stalls to buy special Tet items like decorated mellons (2nd below).




And we finsished up the evening with a cold snack.


We spent only one full day in Dalat and wore ourselves out with a self-guided architectural walking tour starting with the Crazy House.


Institut Pasteur de Dalat


Bao Dai Summer Palace 3, designed by architect Paul Veysseyre. The interior, decorated classic 1950's, is bright and airy. The exterior has some of the best horizontal lines in Asia. Veysseyre was one of the top architects in Shanghai and Indochina.






















St. Nicholas Cathedral


The Du Parc Hotel Dalat and its elevator.




The terraces of Dalat Palace Hotel slope down to the lake.






The Pedagogical College of Dalat. And some townhouse just outside the college.




Ga Dalat (Dalat Railway Station), no longer operates as a station, but has been fixed up for train enthusiats and tourists with a cafe, souvenir shops, and a sightseeing train that runs several times a day.