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After Hoi An I was a bit tired of cities, having not seen anything but since Laos. So I took an overnight bus that eventually dropped me off at Da Lat, a city further inland that is set amongst the southern highlands, which along with wonderful scenery, provided a welcome respite from the heat. The city itself is not all that exciting, and as the number one tourist destination for Vietnamese, it is quite touristy, but my main enticement was the surrounding countryside, which is pleasantly rugged and on top of being quite scenic.

The Countryside of Da Lat

Peter Wyant
2007-02-05 21:17:09

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After Hoi An I was a bit tired of cities, having not seen anything but since Laos. So I took an overnight bus that eventually dropped me off at Da Lat, a city further inland that is set amongst the southern highlands, which along with wonderful scenery, provided a welcome respite from the heat. The city itself is not all that exciting, and as the number one tourist destination for Vietnamese, it is quite touristy, but my main enticement was the surrounding countryside, which is pleasantly rugged and on top of being quite scenic.

I arrived in the afternoon and did nothing exceptional for the rest of the day because I am always a bit wiped after an all night bus ride. Went to bed early after indulging in some mindless entertainment (MTV Asia of all things) and the next morning after a truly gluttonous breakfast I wandered off and rented a bike for the day. I didn't have a map of the countryside, so just picked a likely looking road and headed down it, a task made all the easier because all the road signs for major tourist sights are marked in English too. My basic protocal was to pick a road and head down it for a ways, then turn around and repeat the exercise with anothe lucky road. As I did this for about 4 hours, I was able to make a number of excursions well outside of city limits. Besides the jaw-dropping views, I made it to where most tourists don't seem to go, and as a result the people where very friendly. Almost all the kids called out "hello" as I went by, as did the everybody on motorbikes.

About halfway through my explorations, I realized it was well passed lunch time and so pushed on to a nearby village for lunch. The town was a tiny place called Cao Dat that is charmingly perched on the edge of a hill, after perusing the town's limited options I wandered into a promising cafe. I asked the owner for "lunch," and quickly received a blank look, I then asked for "food" and after the same result, I pantomimed eating and the women ...