<p>Hinged by the Cam Ly River, and nestled at an elevation of just under 1500m among the pitching hills of the Lang Bian Plateau, the city of DA LAT is Vietnam's premier hill station, a beguiling amalgam of squiggly streets, pictur-esque churches, bounteous vegetable gardens and crashing waterfalls, all suffused with the intoxicating scents of pine trees and wood-smoke.<br />
It was Dr Alexander Yersin who first divined the therapeutic properties of Da Lat's temperate climate on an exploratory mission into Vietnam's southern highlands, in 1893. His subsequent report on the area must have struck a chord: four years later Governor-General Paul Doumer of Indochina ordered the founding of a convalescent hill station, where Saigon's hot-under-the-collar colons could recharge their batteries, and perhaps even take part in a day's game-hunting. The city's Gallic contingent had to pack up their winter coats after 1954's Treaty of Geneva, but by then the cathedral, train station, villas and hotels had been erected, and the French connection well and truly forged. By tacit agreement during the American War, both Hanoi and Saigon refrained from bombing the city and it remains much as it was half a century ago.<br />
It's important to come to Da Lat with no illusions, though. With a population of around 200,000, the city is anything but an idyllic backwater: sighting its forlorn architecture for the first time in the 1950s, Norman Lewis found the place "a drab little resort", and today its colonial relics and pagodas stand cheek by jowl with some of the dingiest examples of East European construction anywhere in Vietnam. Moreover, attractions here pander to the domestic tourist's predilection for swan-shaped pedal-boats and pony-trek guides in full cowboy gear, while at night the city can be as bleak as an off-season ski resort.<br />
Despite all this, Da Lat remains a quaint colonial curio, and a welcome tonic to heat-worn tourists — all in all, a great place to chill out, literally and metaphorically. If the cool air gets you in the mood for action, you could try trekking to minority villages, mountain-biking or rock-climbing, but you'll need a permit and a guide.. Horticultural enthusiasts might like to time their visit to coincide with the annual Flower Festival, which takes place each December </p>
Vietnam Airlines have daily services that connect Dalat to Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi...
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Da Lat
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World Heritage in Vietnam
- Son Doong Cave History
- Structure of Son Doong Cave
- Son Dong Cave
- Stone Stele Records of Royal Examinations of the LE and MAC Dynasties
- Buddhist Sutra Woodblocks of Truc Lam Zen
- Art of Don Ca Tai Tu Music and Song in Southern Vietnam
- The Space of Gong Culture in Central Highlands of Vietnam
- Nha Nhac - Vietnamese Court Music
- Ca Tru Singing
- Quan Ho Bac Ninh Folk Songs
- Xoan Singing
- Worship of Hung Kings in Phu Tho
- Giong Festivals at Phu Dong & Soc Temples
- My Son Sanctuary
- Hoi An Ancient Town
- Complex of Hue Monuments
- The Citadel of the Ho Dynasty
- The Central Sector of Imperial Citadel of Thang Long - Ha Noi
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