Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [138]
The central highlands | Into the highlands | Da Lat and around |
Around Da Lat
There is some spectacular scenery in the vicinity of Da Lat, which lends itself to challenging treks, bike rides and other adventure activities. None of the local waterfalls is worth visiting in the dry season (Dec–May), with the possible exception of Tiger Falls, though you might enjoy a boat ride on one of the local lakes or a cable-car ride from Robin Hill to Lake Tuyen Lam, where kayaks are available for rent. Another popular jaunt is by train to Trai Mat, taking time out to admire the adornments on the Linh Phuoc Pagoda. If you want to visit one of the few remaining traditional minority villages, that have yet to be assimilated into mainstream Vietnamese culture, contact Phat Tire Ventures (see "Listings"), and be prepared for some tough trekking.
The central highlands | Into the highlands | Da Lat and around | Around Da Lat |
North of Da Lat
Thung Lung Tinh Yeu, or the Valley of Love (daily 7am–5pm; small admission charge), located 5km north of town, offers typical kitsch diversions such as pony rides round the lake escorted by a cowboy. The valley’s still waters and wooded hills are actually quite enticing, though the music blasting from souvenir stalls and the buzzing of rented motorboats do not enhance the aura of romance. Bao Dai and his courtiers used to hunt here in the 1950s, though a dam project in 1972 flooded part of the valley and created Lake Da Thien.
Opposite the Valley of Love is the XQ Historical Village (daily 8am–5pm; small admission charge), where several traditional houses display the process and product of silk embroidery picture-making. You can watch the girls painstakingly producing images thread by thread, then walk through an exhibition of landscapes, still lifes, portraits and more surreal compositions, all woven from silk.
If you bother to travel up this way, you’ll be aware of the highest peak (2169m) of Lang Bian Mountain looming above you to the north. Inevitably, a schmaltzy legend has been concocted to explain the mountain’s formation. The story tells of two ill-starred lovers, a Lat man called Lang and a Chill girl named Bian, who were unable to marry because of tribal enmity. Broken-hearted, Bian passed away, and the peaks of Lang Bian are said to represent her breast heaving its dying breath. Bian’s death seems not to have been wholly in vain: so racked with guilt was her father, that he called a halt to tribal unrest by unifying all of the local factions into the Koho.
It’s possible to drive up to the canopy of pines on the lower peak of Lang Bian Mountain from where you can see the coast on a clear day. Alternatively, you can make the four-hour ascent on foot, beginning just beyond Lat Village, 14km north of Da Lat along Xo Viet Nghe Tinh. The village’s thatch-roofed bamboo stilthouses are occupied by Chill and Ma, but mostly Lat, groups of Koho peoples eking out a living growing rice, pulses and vegetables. The path is quite easy to follow so a guide is not essential, though one can be easily arranged through any of Da Lat’s tour operators. If you go it alone and hire a motorbike for the day, you could combine a visit to Lat Village with a jaunt out to Ankroet lakes and falls, signposted 8km along the road to Lat. The falls are more secluded and attractive than most in the area but there is little water during the dry season.
The central highlands | Into the highlands | Da Lat and around | Around Da Lat |
South of Da Lat
As you leave town to the south on Highway 20, a slip road to the right leads to the top of Robin Hill, crowned by a huge cable-car terminus. Cable-car rides (daily 7.30–11.30am & 1.30–5pm; 75,000đ return, children 50,000đ) are available here, and offer fantastic views over the pine-clad slopes around the city. The trip takes about twelve minutes to cover the 2km down to Lake Tuyen Lam, a placid and attractive expanse of water. There are a few refreshment kiosks on the shore of the lake, and boat trips ($10–20 per boat) round