Dalat: An Introduction
'Le Petit Paris', 'City of Eternal Spring', 'the Jewel of the Central Highlands'; call it what you will - Dalat is very pleasant place to spend a few days cooling down and enjoying a very different side of Vietnam.
Dalat, and its surrounding central highlands, are famous throughout Vietnam for pine forests, waterfalls, flowers and vegetables. Dalat itself is also known as the the honeymoon destination of choice for Vietnamese newlyweds.
The town itself was originally established at the end of the 19th century as a hill station for Ho Chi Minh City's European population thanks to the a French doctor, Dr Alexandre Yersin, who first suggested establishing a health resort here in 1893. The therapeutic properties of the temperate climate and the surrounding countryside (with its seemingly endless supply of tiger, elephant and deer) would allow visitors to escape from the heat of the plains and also to indulge the popular colonial past time of big-game hunting.
Whilst the game may now be long gone there is still plenty to see in Dalat; a fine collection of French colonial architecture including timber-framed farmhouses and villas, several restored Colonial-era hotels, a cathedral, and a fine Art Deco railway station. In the surrounding central highlands there are many minority hill-tribe groups and, whilst they are perhaps not as colourful as those found in the northern mountains, they are diverse and maintain a range of fascinating cultural traditions.
The best time to visit Dalat is from November to April and there are two daily flights from Ho Chi Minh City.
Not just a great a location for outdoor enthusiasts, Dalat is also the most romantic city in Vietnam. Gents be careful if you kneel down to do up your laces, you'll be dragged up the aisle before you have a chance to explain!