Da Lat: city of flowers, honeymooners & eternal spring

We read and heard great things about Da Lat and were looking forward to our visit…but we didn’t take to Da Lat straight away. Maybe it was the cooler weather (Da Lat has a mild cool climate all year round) or perhaps our expectations were too high?! In the end, however, Da Lat won us over.

With less than 72 hours in Da Lat, we decided that we would explore the town on day one and jump on the back of a motorbike to explore the countryside on day two. Having loved the street food in Saigon, we were also eager to continue sampling the local cuisine. [Note: for those who have more time and are looking for some adventure, canyoning and mountain biking are also popular activities.]

As we discovered on day one, there is not much to do or see in Da Lat town. Although much quieter than Saigon, Da Lat is not particularly nice to explore on foot and we struggled to escape the constant buzz of motorbikes. We did, however, enjoy a visit to the Crazy House. Designed by a Vietnamese architect (who studied in Moscow), the house, with its mish mash of quirky buildings, colours and winding staircases could be mistaken for a Salvador Dali creation. 

Da Lat is very much a local tourist destination, popular with honeymooners due to its picturesque parks and countryside. We had a quick visit to the Flower Park, it didn’t blow us away but it was nice to have a wander and take a few snaps.

Without doubt, however, the best thing about Da Lat was the food! With a combination of research and just seeing what’s popular with the locals, we filled our bellies with delicious (and super cheap) local eats: 

• Nuong Poc Poc – walking past on our first night we were drawn in by the buzzy atmosphere. The place is popular for hot pot dishes and bbq. We barbecued some tasty five spice beef and washed it down with a cold Saigon beer. 

• Ha Noi Quan – there only seemed to be two dishes on the menu. Ban Cha (pork and noodle dish) and Pho Bo (the classic beef noodle soup) at 35,000 Dong each (just over $1.50) – bargain! We devoured both after a big morning of exploring. 

• Quan Hoa Sua – we noticed this place on our way to the night market as it was heaving with locals dipping what looked like pastry rolls into their smoothies. We stopped on the way back to our hotel and chose a couple of rolls for takeaway. They were soft, fluffy and filled with custard (as well as super cheap at 4,000 Dong each, about 20 cents). I have since found out that these delicious parcels of goodness are called banh mi oc que nham kem. 

• Lien Hoa – a bakery favoured by locals and tourists. We got some takeaway banh mis (for 15,000 Dong each, about 75 cents). The chicken banh mi was fresh and much more to my taste than the mystery meats banh mi we tried in Saigon. 

We also had the delicious mi hoan thanh (an egg noodle pork and dumpling soup) but in our excitement forgot to take down the details of the place. Last but not least, we tried the so called Da Lat pizza. A very simple snack favoured by kids. Basically, it is rice paper topped with egg and other various toppings. Ours had some very pink mystery meat, what looked like dried fish flakes and chilli sauce – great umami flavour and a good kick of spice! There are quite a few vendors making this snack at and around the night market.

On day two we were picked up by two guides from the Dalat Easy Riders Club (http://dalat-easyrider.com.vn). There are many companies now with similar names and websites offering pretty much the same tour but after some research we selected these guys as they are one of the original tours. The guides were friendly, informative, and very good riders – both have been working with Easy Riders for nearly 20 years. Most of the tours follow a similar itinerary (for a standard price of $25 pp) and include (amongst others) stops at the dragon pagoda, coffee plantation, elephant waterfalls and an ethnic minority village. 

But for us the best part was gliding down the winding roads and taking in the stunning patchwork of hills. The central highlands are home to many flower and vegetable farms and also coffee plantations. Vietnam is the second largest coffee exporter after Brazil (although whereas Brazil exports Arabica beans coffee, Vietnam mainly exports robusta beans coffee). 

Although the tour normally goes from 8.3oam to 4pm, we finished slightly earlier – a couple of the stops were closed because of Tet (Lunar New Year) and we opted to skip lunch. This worked well as we were keen to check out a cute coffee shop,  Bicycle Up, that we spotted the night before. And our tour guides were eager to go home to their families in preparation for Tet. 

We stayed at Dreams hotel (there are a few, ours was at 140 Phan Dinh Phung) which was clean and good value (about $30 per night with a decent breakfast). The staff were super friendly and helpful! They also have a sauna and a steam room which Daz loved. 

They say the best way to a man’s (and in this case also woman’s) heart is through his/her stomach and with its awesome food Da Lat won our hearts (and filled our bellies!).

Next: Tet celebrations in Hoi An with Jen and Luke.