Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [133]
Sofitel Dalat Palace 12 Tran Phu 063/382 5444, www.sofitel.com/asia. Da Lat’s most magnificent colonial pile sits in manicured grounds, still radiating its 1920s splendour. All rooms are lavishly appointed and decked out with period furnishings, including clunky telephones and massive bathtubs. US$151 and over
Thien An 272a Phan Dinh Phung 063/352 0607. Run by the owner of Dreams, this place offers the same benefits of smart rooms, big breakfasts and internet use a few steps further from the town centre. US$11–20
The central highlands | Into the highlands | Da Lat and around |
The City
Central Da Lat forms a rough crescent around the western side of man-made Lake Xuan Huong, created in 1919 when the Cam Ly River was dammed by the French, who named it the “Grand Lac”. The city escaped bomb damage, and a French influence is still evident in its central area, whose twisting streets and steps, lined with stone buildings rising to red-tiled roofs, cover a hillock located between the streets of Bui Thi Xuan and Phan Dinh Phung. Your first stop should be at the market, Cho Da Lat, which stands on top of the hill, a charmless reinforced-concrete structure housing a staggering range of fruit and vegetables. Strawberries, beetroot, fennel, artichokes, avocados, blackberries and cherries grown in the market gardens surrounding the city are all sold here, along with a riot of flowers. Artichoke teabags, with their diuretic properties, make quirky souvenirs, and candied Da Lat strawberries are also sold at many stalls. Montagnards carrying their chattels in backpacks are a fairly common sight at the market, especially early in the morning when they come to trade with stallholders.
The central highlands | Into the highlands | Da Lat and around | The City |
Around Lake Xuan Huong
It’s a pleasant 7km cycle or walk around glassy Lake Xuan Huong, or if you’re feeling lazy, go by electric car from the western end of the lake (10,000đ). Head eastwards around the north side of the lake along Nguyen Thai Hoc, and you’ll soon leave the bustle of the city behind as you pass between the lake and the extensive grounds of Da Lat’s golf club. A small island in the lake and (usually) a cluster of minivans signals that you have reached Da Lat’s flower gardens (daily 7.30am–5pm; small entrance fee) on the left. Inside, paths lead you past hydrangeas, roses, orchids, poinsettia, topiary and a nursery. There’s nothing outstanding on display here, but at the weekend the place is packed with Vietnamese taking photos of each other posing in front of the flowerbeds. Besides bobble hats and some extremely tacky souvenirs on sale in the gardens, stalls outside the entrance sell knotted lumps of a golden fern fibre called cu ly, which is used to staunch bleeding.
Continue along Ba Huyen Thanh Quan, and trace its broad arc around the lake. As you double back, you’ll see the slate belfry of the Grand Lycée Yersin peeping out from the trees above and to your left. Where Ba Huyen Thanh Quan turns into Yersin, you can head one of two ways: west, and back into the city centre; or east up Nguyen Trai to Ga Da Lat, the city’s train station, built in 1938 and a real time capsule. Below its gently contoured red-tiled roof and behind the multicoloured Art Deco windows striping its front facade, its ticket booths are reminiscent of a provincial French station. Outside, the rail yard is in a charming state of dilapidation, with cattle grazing on the grass and flowers that grow among its tracks and ancient locomotives.
Trains ran on the rack railway linking Da Lat to Thap Cham (see "Phan Rang and around") and beyond from 1933 until the mid-Sixties, when Viet Cong attacks became too persistent a threat for them to continue. Nowadays two trains are kept operational, and enthusiasts may enjoy the shuttle service (daily at 7.45am, 9.50am, 11.55am,