Dalat

Vietnam's honeymoon town nestles in a mountain valley at an altitude of 5000 ft. (1500 m) above sea level and 300 km northeast of Ho Chi Minh City. Dalat is the main centre of the Southern Highlands region, it was not built by Vietnamese or Cham Kings, but by the French colonial masters, who preferred to retreat to Dalat from former Saigon during the hot season. The fresh air and cool weather all the year round attract newly weds from all over Vietnam. The area is dotted with lakes, waterfalls, evergreen forests and flower gardens.

The town, which today counts 130,000 inhabitants, was founded only in 1897. The French colonial administration and French traders built large European-style villas to create an atmosphere reminding of France. In the middle of the town, a beautiful lake (Xuan Huong), and to the North of it a Golf course, were laid out. Many of the villas have survived the Vietnam war undamaged and give the town a unique appearance. In the area around the town are several beautiful waterfalls.

Attractions:

Hang Nga Guesthouse & Art Gallery, nicknamed by locals the Crazy House by its bizarre architecture. It’s a counter-cultural gem created by artist and architect Mrs Dang Viet Nga (known as Hang Nga).

The Emperor Bao Dai's Summer Palace is a tan, 25-room villa constructed in 1933. The Palace stuffed with interesting artefacts from decades and governments past.

The Valley of Love, 5km north of the city centre, is a bizarre place where you can see the “Dalat cowboys, who dressed as American cowboys, getting a paddleboat on the lake or renting horses from the cowboys to ride around the lake. Further out, you can visit the villages of some of the hill tribes, such as Lat Village and the Chicken Village (with a huge statue of a chicken).

Xuan Huong Lake was created by a dam in 1919. Xuan Huong is the name of a Vietnamese woman poet, who dared to attack on the hypocrisy of social convention and the foible of scholars, feudal lords and kings by her verses.

Cam Ly Falls: The grassy areas around the 15m-high cascades are the habitat of horses and “Dalat cowboys”.

Dalat Golf Course is one of the best in the Asia. It was once used by former emperor Bao Dai

Lake of sighs (Ho Than Tho) is 6km north-east of the Dalat centre. Legend has it that, a couple met here and fell in love, but the man had to join the army without waiting to tell the girl. Unaware that the man was of fighting and afraid that his absence means that he no longer loved her, the girl sent word for the man to meet her at the lake, but he did not come. The girl sorrowed and threw herself into the lake. Thereafter the lake named the Lake of Sighs.

Lat Village is about 12km from Dalat centre, in the foothills of the Lang Biang Mountains, consists nine hamlets. Five of the hamlets are the residences of the Lat ethnic group and four others are of the Chill, Ma, Koho tribes., each of which speaks a different dialect.

Tuyen Lam lake is an artificial lake created by a dam in 1980. Take a paddleboat or canoe on the lake and enjoy the surroundings of the pine hills. Tuyen Lam Lake is about 7km from Dalat centre.