Da Lat (and what costs what).

About two weeks ago...

It’s a very short flight from Danang to Da Lat, only an hour and twenty minutes, and after a bit of shut eye, coffee for me and energy drink (relieved to find out Vitamin PP is another name for B3) for Stray, we’d landed.

Body of water on the way to Da Lat

Shortly prior to landing

Da Lat's Lien Khuong International Airport had only recently been built when we were here last year and it was reassuring to see that the control tower was now complete. Purchasing a taxi coupon (200,000 VND) from within the airport is the only way to go, as it turned out, we paid less than half the metred price for the 30 minute drive along a newish highway and up into the mountains...albeit a trifle teeth clenching. Driving in Vietnam is something to be experienced (or not), especially if the guy behind the wheel thinks his last name is Schumacher.

A Vietnamese Wedding

Back in 2008 (I think) Stray and I returned to Vietnam for a second time. Before taking the trip, I'd befriended a reservations officer (Dung - pronounced Yuum in the south) at one of the hotels we'd be staying at, via email. If you haven't read some of the opening posts on Cooee you wouldn't know that we were lucky enough to catch a barge across the river and bicycle out to visit Dung's family farm to meet Mum, Dad and some uncles.

Ms. Dung, Stray between two uncles and Dad

Me, Dung and Mum

Last year we revisited the ancient town of Hoi An and Stray peddled out to the family farm once more to

Dalat digs

A couple of weeks ago Retire 2 Thailand was calling for alternative retirement locations and fond memories of Da Lat, Vietnam came to mind. Then more recently American Vietnamese was blogging about university student housing in HCMC (Saigon) and of course I had to add my two bobs worth about our experience with the same, but in Da Lat

Earlier this year we caught up with an old, young friend, Dung, in the picturesque mountain city of Da Lat (a MUST SEE).

Day 17 Dalat

We took a City Tour today, visiting a monastery by cable car, the Summer Palace, a waterfall which had a small roller coaster down the hill to where it was located, and a few other places. All in all, an enjoyable day and met a nice lady from Sydney, Audrey.


Stray had a massage by someone from the Blind Centre. He has found them to be the best value and quality. They have the centres in nearly every large town and city, and not just in Vietnam.

For dinner we went to Dung's friends place who rents student accommodation. The Vietnamese version of a Studio Apartment. Very small but functional.

Eight of us (Ms Dung, Mr Trường, Phương, Ms Anh, Linh, Dương, Stray and I) sat around a small table and enjoyed one of the best meals I have had so far in Vietnam. Of course the good company made all the difference.

Hot pot, which is a pot filled with a soup base, on a burner in the centre of the table and into it goes shrimp, squid, beef and vegetables. Poured over some noodles...it's DELICIOUS :) Finishing the evening with a drink at a local juice cafe.
Hello from Hcm as usual Snap has said near everything i would like to add thanks to duong and phoung whoes room we ate at and also dungs friends anh linh and girls name sounded like phoung aswell :P sorry for spelling errors
Its funny how the little things have the greatsest meanings dinner in this 3x3 room so out ways dinner in a flash resturant when the company is so exceptional

Day 16 Dalat

Stray has been suffering with stomach troubles, so I went out for a cup of coffee and bought back baguettes and butter for his Vegemite. We also asked to be moved to a quieter room...to heck with any views, always ask for a back room if staying in Vietnam. We caught up on some sleep and went to a cafe on the other side of the (dry) lake for a light lunch, where we chatted with a couple of Aussies for a while. The lake has been emptied while the construction of a new bridge takes place.

They suggested we see Crazy House. It's a 'sort of' hotel built by a Vietnamse lade who spent 15 years in Russia and was inspired by the work of Gaudi, in Spain. It is crazy in design and some parts are still under construction. I doubt whether anyone would actually stay there with the amount of tourists looking around.

Three Mini Bundies all in a row!
Dinner with Dung and one of her neighbours, Mr Trường.

Day 15 Nha Trang to Dalat

After quite an interesting night with a young lady from Holland, Estra, we headed to Dalat by bus. I wasn't sure if we would actually be on time to board...as Stray found a bottle of Bundaberg Rum on the shelf in a bar, a couple of doors down from our hotel. Say no more!

Say no more i got blind i didnt even see it coming ,the rums were like double or triples

i think i had about 7 of them and half way thru this evening i have no memory of

i did appologize to Snap and Estra the next morn appartently i couldnt walk and they both helped me back to our room I couldnt have been to baddly behaved because Snap is still talking to me :)

The bus (which was comfortable and clean) took the new road, which in parts, was not sealed and a bit 'hairy', especially when passing an on coming truck. We passed through some beautiful, mountainous scenery, which overlooked streams lined by boulders, waterfalls and exposed granite rock faces.

Overtaking on the mountain roads doesn't seem to be a problem, the driver just beeps the horn louder when going around blind corners. The trick is...don't look!

The rural area approaching Dalat is scattered with small (roughly made) farm houses made from timber, some milled, some logs. Pine I suspect, as the area has many pine plantations. They looked like they would be bloody cold in winter. I smiled to myself when I caught a glimpse of a computer set up through one of the windows and a satellite dish attached to the side of the house.

We arrived at 12.15 pm and the bus company provides a free taxi to your hotel, which we had not booked. No problem, he recommended one not far from the lake, which has been drained to enable the construction of a new bridge. US$12 per night, huge, basic, clean rooms, not much English at reception but heaps of smiles and a willingness to assist.

After getting settled we went in search of a memory card for the camera. Not having any luck on our own, we stopped and asked some school girls who kindly drew us a map. Along the way we asked a few locals if we were on course and they happily kept us going in the right direction. AU$28 later I had a new card inserted in my camera. Electronic equipment is one of the few things that is not cheap here.

We stopped to buy some cigarettes on the way back and noticed a man playing a guitar in the back of the small store. His wife, who served me, opened a book of English songs, some they had written and some, not. She happily sang us a few lines from a few songs. Lovely people!

Dung and her boyfriend, Minh, joined us for dinner and showed us the night market afterward. I bought a cardigan, as it was quite cool and Dung gifted Stray a jumper and me, a beautiful purple scarf.

Day 14 Nha Trang

Not much going on today, we both had a hair cut and took a rickshaw ride to the big market. I had in mind the large, modern Maximart Shopping Centre, but the driver took us to the local market instead...all good! I bought myself a Vietnamese hat so I would blend in...NOT.

I have noticed a couple of hotels, cleverly named Nice Hotel and Good Hotel. If I were to open one here I would call it Clean Cheap Hotel, because when travellers arrive and ask the taxi driver to take them to a hotel, that's usually what they ask for.

No photos today, I am having problems with the cameras. The existing photos are there, but I can't take photos, some sort of 'write protected' thing. Have just Googled the error and may have a solution.

We are off to Dalat in the mountains tomorrow morning by bus. It cost about AU$8 and is 3.5 hours long going on the new road. The first travel agent tried to put us off that idea, because she wanted to push an expensive tour, and told us it took 5 hours with no toilet onboard or stops along the way.

Stray (who is having a massage right now) has had trouble sleeping, so bought a natural remedy yesterday and slept pretty good last night...snored his head off. I'm looking forward to catching up with our friends in Dalat and Vung Tau and to FINALLY do some shopping in the last few days of our trip.

We only took carry on luggage and still packed too much, but it has made moving around the country much easier. You really only need 3 or 4 days worth of clothes because the laundry services are so cheap here.

Well, that's it from me for now.