GETTING THERE

Let’s first start out by quickly describing our 7.5 hour drive from Saigon to Dalat.  This was our first experience with the infamous “sleeper buses”.  After reading some concerning reviews regarding buses & the winding roads to the mountain town, we opted to take a day bus instead of an overnight bus.  THANK GOD!   Let’s just say my mom would have had multiple heart attacks had she been on this bus…or really any vehicle on the busy streets of Vietnam.  We have learned that the rules of the road go as follows…the bigger the vehicle, the more power you have.  So basically the buses rule the road & they will drive down the street passing anything & EVERYTHING that’s in their way.  Drivers are CONSTANTLY using their horns to alert vehicles in front of them that they are coming and to get the hell out of the way!!  So try to imagine yourself in a bus that is continuously passing other vehicles, on a 2 lane road, with vehicles going in the opposite direction and buses doing the exact same thing. TERRIFYING!  Austin finds it somewhat amusing, while I try to only stay focused on the scenery out of the side windows.  

THE TOWN

Dalat, Vietnam is centered around a lake and surrounded by hills, pine forests, and waterfalls. It has been called the “City of Eternal Spring” for its distinctive temperate climate. An average day in Dalat is normally 70 degrees with temperatures dropping to low 60’s in the evening….PERFECT!  The weather was such a nice change from the constant 90 degree temperatures (with 90% humidity) that we had been enduring and welcomed it with open arms! Occasionally we noticed locals giving us weird looks as we walked through the city in our shorts & t-shirts while they were bundled up in pants & jackets (even the dogs were dressed up in sweaters!)

We found a home away from home at Cozy Nook Hostel located in a quite alley of town. From the moment we arrived it felt oddly comfortable…almost like an old friend’s house. After being escorted to our charming wooden bunk beds, we were immediately invited to family dinner. We had heard about the Cozy Nook’s infamous family dinners and could not wait to be a part of it ourselves.  I have to say that those dinners really do set the tone for anyone’s stay.  There is a sense of camaraderie that starts evolving around the dinner table…and before you know it you’ve gained 15 new friends! We have kept in contact with some of those people and occasionally meet up as we are making our way through Vietnam!

We spent our first day in Dalat exploring by scooter (my favorite!!).  We drove about 30 minutes out of town, following the winding road through the mountains. The views were beautiful and a refreshing change from all the city streets we had seen.  Driving through Dalat’s countryside honestly reminded us of driving through the roads of Colorado.  I had heard that this green town has been called the “Vegetable Garden” of Vietnam, and as we drove through the mountains  I could see why.  One after the other, we saw greenhouse after greenhouse and crops as far as the eye could see.  When we finally made our way into a nearby village, we spent the day visiting a weasel coffee plantation, a silk plantation, and Elephant Waterfall. 

WEASEL COFFEE PLANTATION

In a nut shell, a weasel coffee plantation is home to an animal called a Civet that basically eats these green coffee cherries and well, those digested cherries are then cleaned & roasted to make the infamous Kopi Luwak Coffee.

SILK PLANTATION 

We weren’t given a tour of the facility, but we were able to get up close & personal while the entire process of silk making was happening right before our eyes.  The cocoons of silk worms are submerged in hot water to start the process.  The fibers eventually breakdown where they can be cleaned & spun.

ELEPHANT WATERFALL

This is all you get from the waterfall, we were too busy exploring…sorry!

NIGHT LIFE

Once the sun sets, the streets of Dalat are buzzing with families and locals heading to the night market. In my opinion, Dalat has one of the best night markets we have experienced thus far.  I was entertained by the variety of food options (most of which I had never seen before).  It didn’t take us long to find something that caught our eye…Vietnamese Pizza!  This Vietnamese style pizza was made with rice paper, egg, spring onion & chili sauce.  SO TASTY! And so simple!  Earlier in the week I had dared Austin to try a chicken foot & to my surprise he actually followed through! He describes it as a “really chewy chicken wing with no meat.” He said the flavor was surprisingly good but it was odd nibbling around a bone with little to no meat. yuck!

A PLEASANT SURPRISE

One of our favorite and most memorable experiences happened on our last day in Dalat. As we were planning our route to Paradise Lake and how far we could get by foot before we needed to hail a taxi, we were politely interrupted. Enter Buddha. Buddha was an older gentleman no more than 5 feet tall with a confections personality that could make anyone laugh.  After exchanging small talk and laughing at Buddha’s one liners, we learned that he was one of the town’s original “Easy Riders” and could take us to the lake.  He also suggested a more “romantic route with no tourists, very romantic”.  It had happened…we had fallen hard for Buddhas broken english, ear to ear smile, and high pitched laugh.  We decided what the heck & agreed to let Buddha and his friend chauffeur us around.  If anything it would make for a good story…and did it ever!  

I was paired up with Buddha on the back of his “Vietnamese Harley Davidson” otherwise known as a Honda Shadow. (He made me promise that I would tell all my friends back home that I rode on a Vietnamese Harley!)   As we rode through the back roads of Dalat, Buddha shared facts about the city, buildings & history with me.  He insisted on driving slow as he didn’t like to rush things & wanted me to “take it in”.  Once we reached the lake Buddha told us to get off the bikes and to take some time walking around the lake.  In his words…“Now you walk with open hearts, holding hands, and perhaps talk about how many kids you would like” .  We spent the afternoon driving through hidden mountain roads and stopping at places only locals would know existed.  It was such a fun day & Buddha was an unexpected surprise that will be a memory we both cherish.  

Keep following along as we make our way through Vietnam!  We just left the adorable city of Hoi An and I CANNOT wait to just overload you with pictures of that lantern filled town!

xo Brittany