I’m realizing now that I’ve barely written anything about Dalat, and it was amazing. First, Vietnam still has 0 COVID deaths. ZERO! Then we found this great little town, very few Anglo tourists, super green, very cool climate… around 70F every day. It’s a little rainy and traffic’s still a mess, but we loved it. We’ll do our debrief soon.
So, remember that Vin Mart on the first floor of our apartment with no beef, chicken, bread, pasta, etc? Out of business about one week after our arrival. Managed yourself right outta business. But our AirBnB was still pretty great. A 2 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with a plush balcony view, 20-minutes walk to downtown for about $1k/month. There were a couple good restaurants across the street, but that also meant we were involuntary audience to some awful karaoke a couple times a week. But, I mean, if you get thirsty, go across the street, get a four pack of cold Coke and a 6 pack of cold Saigon beer for $10!
Friday-Saturday night markets were a great rush. Lotsa people, fun for people watching. It’s especially great if you can find a great elevated balcony like the Ganesh Indian restaurant we discovered about 3 days before we left (and visited twice). To the Picky Eaters out there, Indian cuisine is fairly new to me, but I’m way digging it over the bone-in chicken that’s usual in Vietnam.
Before we arrived, I’d booked 4 tours in Dalat. The second one was the best, cuz of the people we met, but here’s a rundown.
The 3 Waterfalls tour was a killer bargain. We paid $38 for a 9.5 hour tour including Datala, Pongour & Elephant falls (mountain coaster awesome, but not included) + a coffee/pepper farm + a silk factory + a rice wine distillery/zoo/hatchery/cricket farm + a weasel (poop) coffee experience. I tried the coffee. My first time I remember trying coffee. Not convinced all coffee doesn’t taste like poop.
Second tour was awesome because it was a private tour for 1-5 people for the same price. We booked for 4 people and sought out 2 other people on the Expats in Dalat group on Facebook. One person who replied was Singaporean Kent, and he pointed out another guy, a Canadian named Ilan, who was appealing to the community for something to do that day, so we brought him in. This made the day SO much better than it otherwise could’ve been. The tour was the City Tour. We took a jeep up to the top of Jangbiang mountain where we couldn’t see the city below through the clouds. Next, the Domaine de Marie Church > the Railway Station where we lost Kent to the dark chocolate + coffee > then the Crazy House, a surreal maze of stairs and houses molded into plastic trees. The highlight of the tour was the conversation with worldly people with interesting perspectives and professions. We need more of this in our lives.
Next was the Dalat Zipline Tour. A high-ropes course that was more than we bargained for. They start you on the “easy” course, but the first obstacle was anything but easy. I thought it was going to be a kick back and glide everywhere, but they worked our butts off. There are 6 or 8 different courses of increasing difficulty. The first two kicked our butts. I’m surprised and proud that Eva attempted #2, but she came away with a wrenched neck that put her out of commission for almost 4 weeks.
Last tour – again, I work in Safety and Environment & feel the compulsion to do these sort of tours – was the Dalat Garden Tour. Evalynn backed out (or more accurately she necked out) and I couldn’t get Kent to join me again. This was the first non-Private tour of the 4. I was on a van with about 10 other Vietnamese folks… the only English speaker beside a guide who graciously kept be informed about what he was saying to the rest of the group. We visited Dalat View, a magnificent view that we’d wanted to check out, a persimmon/artichoke tea shop, a hydrangea flower garden, a tea farm, a strawberry farm and Dalat Fairytale Land the last stop in a downpour. $38 for 2 people.
Dalat was amazing. We discovered near the end of our stay that in order to extend our visa again (because nowhere is near as COVID-safe as being here), we needed to come to Ho Chi Minh (Saigon). We coasted our last 2 weeks, while Evalynn recuperated. I visited the Bao Dai Palace 1 with Kent. The coffee shop around the corner is cooler than the palace cuz of the view! Then we booked a bus to Ho Chi Minh. I’ll save that story for next time.
Tips:
-We didn’t find a lot of great restaurants in Dalat. Ganesh Indian was a revelation toward the end. We ordered a lot of Pizza Company (Pizza hut), Aussie Burger & KFC via Grab delivery.
-Kent pointed out that there are 0 traffic lights in Dalat. Traffic is anarchic everywhere in Vietnam, but it’s straight-up intimidating in Dalat, trying to cross a roundabout.
-Oh! Dalat Immigration told us that we had to go to Ho Chi Minh or to Hanoi to extend our Visa. Ho Chi Minh Immigration told us we had to get a Travel Company to “sponsor” us. The travel company told us that Dalat wanted tourists to leave to extend and that it’s their prerogative to direct us to Ho Chi Minh. Ask around, see what you can find. There may be somewhere closer.