Da Lat: The City of Eternal Spring

We got off the plane at Da Lat Airport to mild weather and windy conditions. It was going to be 20 odd degrees the whole time so it was perfect weather that didn’t require you to sweat and didn’t freeze you to the bones at the same time. We settled down at our hotel and on the next day went on a half day tour. We visited the former Vietnamese King’s summer palace, the Da Lat cathedral, the Datanla waterfalls featuring a roller coaster, an amusement park named “The Valley of Love”  as well as the Truc Lam meditation center. From there we took a cable car that gave us sweeping views of the whole city. The next day, we checked out of the hotel and walked around town to look for the Da Lat railway station. That is a brief summary of our two days.

There is something about this town that draws you in, something about it is different from the places I’ve been before. Da Lat lies on a plateau 1500 meters above sea level, and boasts a year round temperate climate that stays at a refreshing 15-20°c for most of the year. This has earned it the title “city of eternal spring”. Then there’s the pine trees all around, the predominant species of trees in the entire area that it’s other nickname of “city of a thousand pines” comes from. These are the first two things you notice about this city, the temperate weather, and the pine trees.

The entire city is doused with European influence, from the layout to the architecture. The buildings here aren’t like the ones we saw back at Hanoi, narrow, tall and clustered together. Here there were buildings of French influence everywhere, scattered around like bird feed. The French founded this area in 1890, building a resort center in the Highlands. So from an uninhabited wilderness sprouted Da Lat, a city unafraid to boast it’s European roots. We saw this from the Da Lat cathedral, that stuck out amongst other buildings like a giraffe walking through tall grass. The architecture was European (French to be exact) and boasted a tiny rooster at the top of the cross, giving it the fabulous nickname “chicken church”. There was the abundance of Victorian style private housing and hotels, the oldest hotel being almost a hundred years old and spectacularly luxurious. The Da Lat train station was also designed by French architects and boasts an admirable facade. There was even a mini Eiffel Tower near the city centre that pretty much sums up the extent of the French influence. It was interesting because you soaked in the European ambience while knowing full well you were in Vietnam, a place far removed from Europe.

The pace of life here was slower than in Hanoi. The cars and motorbikes here didn’t honk as much (though they still did) and tour buses ferrying tourists around sort of sets the tone of the city. It is more of a place to relax and wind down than to grind it out like in the capital. This was a relief because when we were at Hanoi a few years ago we counted how many times the taxi driver hooked his horn in one trip. The answer had three digits. This is pure conjecture, but I feel like the European influence spreads not just to the architecture but perhaps the way of life as well, a more laid back approach. The Truc Lam meditation centre we visited pretty much said it all. If you wanted to slow your life down this would be a good place to start.

The western influence and the slow pace of life here leads nicely to the third point : that this city is a popular travel destination for couples, especially newlywed Vietnamese on their honeymoons. This was immediately evident on our tour bus: eighty percent of the bus consisted of couples, and there were only twenty people on the bus, and four of us. You do the math. We visited an amusement Park named the Valley of love, and it was literally a valley of love. There were hearts everywhere and even the park benches had the silhouette of two people eloping as the backrest. The rides were all in pairs and there were butterflies and flowers scattered about. Single people had a lot of places to be, but this amusement park was not one of these places. The pine trees and flowing lakes that puddled the land gives this place the added kick for couples to have a really good time walking around together. Add the magic of Christmas to this, and you get nothing short of perfection.

Da Lat has been lovely. You don’t see this often in the world, a small Asian town of primarily Western influence. There was some magic in this purely because you don’t expect it until you actually see for yourself. The Christmas lights dotted the town, the church spires glowed in the night and the miniature Eiffel tower stood quietly overlooking the town. The weather was chilly and couples held each other close, and you could swear you smelled a hint of firewood.