Dalat: Cooling Down in the Highlands

Dalat was a cool breath of fresh mountain air after some scorching weather on the coast. We turned up on a rickety old bus from Nha Trang, having battled potholed roads (although the driver seemed oblivious to these minor obstructions as he ploughed through in a straight line regardless). We were dropped at a fairly central point in Dalat so it was relatively near our hotel – though it did involve Bradley dashing off to do some scouting (I’m ashamed to admit that when he came back and I was looking after the bags, I was found reading rather than doing something more productive – it was a real page turner – The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest!). Our hotel, when we clambered up the hill to it, was rather lovely, with a very effusive owner who insisted on telling us all about his secret tour by motorbike of Dalat (which we might have done if we’d had more time). Unfortunately, work was calling so we stocked up on supplies and set to it. 

This left us one full day and a morning to enjoy before our next bus (to Mui Ne). We hired another motorbike and set out to explore the waterfalls surrounding Dalat. 

The route took us in a big loop around the neighbouring countryside, starting at the rather cheesy Cam Ly Falls just outside the town centre. As well as a well-trodden path around the falls, there were well-groomed lawns and trees, pony rides, and randomly what looked like a disused swimming pool (which was especially bleak in situ). It felt like the kind of place you’d go to on a first date – inoffensive, easy to reach from town, and pretty enough to elicit an ‘ooh’ of appreciation when asked if you’re having a good time. 

Cam Ly Falls

Cam Ly Falls

Zooming out of town on our trusty two-wheeled friend, we made our way to Elephant Falls, getting lost on the way trying to find another waterfall en route. This wasn’t such a bad thing though, as we got to see some pretty fab scenery – though I don’t think the bike liked it much as we ended up doing some off-roading! 

Lost!!!!

We attempted to ask for directions but our attempts to mime a waterfall didn’t work out too well, so we made our way back to the main road and redirected ourselves to Elephant Falls.

Elephant Falls

Elephant Falls appeared to be a bit disappointing at first, seeing as you pay for your ticket and the first thing you do is peer over a rickety looking fence to catch a glimpse of the frothy water from above. But then you delve deeper and find a slippery path down the side, leading to an Indiana Jones moment where we crossed a rocky path and some mossy stones before clambering to a wow-moment of a view into the heart of the waterfall. 

Elephant Falls

We stopped over the road for lunch (which may have been a bad move as we saw cobwebs stretching out from the mug of cutlery on our table, and we were the only customers!) but actually the food was hot and tasty – phew! 

Back on the bike, we continued the journey to Prenn Falls, which was also a bit touristy but had a fun cable car down to the falls. A nice bonus here was that you could walk around the back of the falls – a great photo op and a great perspective from which to peer through the curtain of water.

Prenn Falls

Prenn Falls

Prenn Falls

Datanla Falls

The final waterfall of the day was Datanla Falls, where we trekked down to a stunning waterfall (though yet again, with quite a touristy appeal). This felt like a fairy-tale glen to me, with the water plaiting its way down the rocks. Once we’d enjoyed the beauty of the waterfall, we opted to return to the top on the bizarre bobsled/mini rollercoaster that was in place to ferry people up and down – sadly, the ride up wasn’t as interesting as the ride down would have been, so it was a bit of an anti-climax! Though quite entertaining to be hauled up steep inclines and then dribbled down the other side at a safety-consciously slow pace.

Datanla Falls

Datanla Falls

On the way back to Dalat we nipped up to a temple near town before it got dark, but as it closed within twenty minutes of our arrival we barely had time to run around the gardens before jumping back on the bike. We cruised into town and stopped at a noodle bar just round the corner from the hotel for dinner, enjoying chicken noodles and a seemingly endless supply of vegetables for about £1 each – bargain!

The next day, before we boarded yet another bus, we had time for a morning of exploring the remaining sights we could squeeze in – which led us to the Hang Nga Crazy House.

 It’s quite hard to explain this one, so I’ll let the photos do the talking – but here’s a little history to put this mad place into context. Dang Viet Nga designed the Crazy House after qualifying as an architect in Moscow. She is inspired by the surreal designs of Antoni Gaudi (visitors to beautiful Barcelona will recognise his style from the Sagrada Familia) and has also been influenced by Salvador Dali and Walt Disney. 

The Crazy House opened in 1990, and is still under constant renovation and reinvention, as she expands the original buildings. Each tunnel linking A to B feels like it should lead to a fairy ring – and it’s a surprise that it doesn’t, as there are spiderwebs and mushrooms and animals entwined across the designs, and the walls drip like ice cream (and in the pastels of ice cream too). 
















Each turn you take leads to more choices of direction, so that you can start making your way purposefully to somewhere on the other side of the building, yet make it no further than two metres away, on a different set of steps that inevitably leads you back to where you started.

You can walk across the roof on a precarious-seeming footpath with child-sized steps, or wander into a room with a bear in, or catch a glimpse of your reflection in a mirrored mosaic. It’s the architectural equivalent of Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory – a feast of colour and surprises, some of which delight and some of which disturb.

We lost our way several times, at one point wandering into a new room partway through development, which had cables poking out of the walls, waiting to be incorporated into the plaster wall coating. You could also end up in rooms that were part of the Guesthouse – as well as being a tourist attraction, many of the rooms can be rented for the night. 

Tiger Room

Eagle Room

An interesting place to stay! I did see one bathroom that I quite covet though – a blue toned room with an egg-shaped shower cubicle tiled in mosaic waves of colour. That might take a bit of designing to replicate though…

Below is a video from the rooftop...

We eventually pulled ourselves away from the Crazy House to do a quick walk around Xuan Huong Lake, which left us close to over-running our morning of sightseeing. The lake is named after a 17^th Century Vietnamese poet, who was pretty controversial (she was critical of the hypocrisies of everyone from monks to kings). After admiring the view, and saying hello to the ponies grazing by the lake, we hurried back to the hotel to meet with our next bus.

Xuan Huong Lake

We’d decided to go for a better quality bus after our journey to Dalat, but were horrified to see that we actually had another airless mini-bus, and this time the chosen route to the coastal town of Mui Ne was even further off the beaten track (at times it was off-road entirely, or so it felt), the windows barely opened and the air-con didn’t work. There was some mutinous grumbling aboard (especially when the driver realised he’d left someone behind and went back to collect them – after driving 30 minutes out of town!) and even more so when he suggested that we squat on the roadside if we needed to use a bathroom (we all decided to wait for the usual half-way pit-stop after that). So beautiful and bizarre Dalat was bookended by dismal bus journeys… but at least we had a beach to look forward to!

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