Dalat is a wonderful city located in the highlands of southern Vietnam. It’s at an elevation of 1500 meters (4900 feet) and – with its clear air, French Swiss architecture, and lush pine forests – has a distinct alpine feel to it. The city was set up by the French towards the end of the 19th century as an escape from the heat of the coastal areas. They endowed part of the city with wide boulevards and large villas.
It also has some really unique attractions that gives the city a whimsical flavor (The Crazy House, The Maze Bar, an alpine roller coaster, a high tea setup).
You can see below the parts of the city that have the wide boulevards and alpine feel.
You can also see the more Vietnames side of the city with narrower streets and sidewalks (which are actually mostly walkable!).
The cafe where I had breakfast every morning.
The main town center which turns into a night market most nights.
The city is centered around a beautiful lake where scores of tourists paddle around in swan boats.
Not the most pleasant thing to see, but this picture definitely highlighted some of the local flavor.
The Maze Bar
When you walk into the Maze Bar you immediately buy a drink and then you get to wander around an actual six story maze to try to find your way to the top deck.
Just past the entrance where you buy your first drink.
I actually had to turn my phone’s flashlight on to navigate some parts of the maze.
There are scores of little side alcoves you can stop and enjoy your drink in.
The top deck area after you exit the maze.
A nice sitting area overlooking the front street.
The Crazy House
On the other side of Dalat is the Maze Bar’s demented (but officially unrelated) cousin, the Crazy House. It’s both a tourist attraction you pay for and a guesthouse with 10 small rooms. With all the people running around, I doubt I’d want to stay there. It’s an imaginative maze of spiral staircases, undulating surfaces, swirls of bright colors, narrow bridges and hidden nooks.
It was built by 83 year old Dang Viet Nga in 1990. She got her PhD in architecture in Moscow and then worked on government projects in Moscow and Hanoi. After years of working on state run projects with no avenue to express her imagination, she started designing this as a creative outlet.
Datanla Alpine Coaster and Waterfalls
In the small village of Datanla, about 6 kilometers from Dalat, is a fascinating alpine forest roller coaster and a small, scenic waterfall. The roller coaster really isn’t that fast, but it’s 2400 meters long (1.5 miles) and weaves through some amazing scenery. Below are two girls starting out.
The first turn in the track.
I had to wait for a section where I was pulled up the mountain where I was able to get my phone out for a picture. Otherwise, I had to keep both hands on the braking mechanism and couldn’t get any pictures or video while I was riding.
Slowly being pulled up one of the hills.
The really nice waterfall.
The area around the waterfall had a small cafe, some areas to walk around and even a small archery range.
Since I couldn’t film the roller coaster I looked on YouTube for a video of it. This one provides a decent sense of the experience.
You can see on this video how the Asian tourists would ride their brake all the time and slow things down. I even bumped into the guy in front of me once when he stopped suddenly coming out of a turn. Thankfully I figured he might be there and had already started slowing down.
Dalat Cable Car and Truc Lam Buddhist Monastery
One of the most beautiful attractions near Dalat is the Truc Lam Buddhist Monastery. It’s a relatively new complex set within some amazing scenery in the middle of the pine forest mountains.
The best part of visiting the monastery is that you can take the Dalat Cable Car to reach it. The system was built using Swiss and Austrian technology in 2003. It provides fantastic views of the surrounding forest and is a really peaceful experience as you smoothly glide through and over the trees.
The view of Dalat in the distance.
Even with all the tourists running around, the monastery still has a calm tranquil feel to it. The clean mountain air, lush landscaping and abundant surrounding forest create the perfect backdrop for the monastery.
Just behind the monastery is Tyen Lam Lake, which further adds to the peacefulness of the place.
High Tea at The Dalat Palace Hotel
The Dalat Palace Hotel is a historic luxury hotel built by the French in 1922. It has an incredible view of Dalat’s Xuan Huong Lake and has a refined elegance to its interior. I went there for high tea one afternoon. For about $10 I received a small pot of tea and an unlimited buffet of small sandwiches, cakes and other baked treats. The food wasn’t that great, but the atmosphere and lake view more than made up for it.
The view of the lake.
One of the graceful entrances to the hotel.
The small, but abundant buffet.
The cakes section had some wonderful holiday decorations on it.
I stayed in a large, four bedroom Airbnb apartment. As you can see below it was a very pleasent building.
The main living room area.
The kitchen and dining area just inside the main entrance.
One of the bedrooms.
The alleyway where it was located. Since it was Vietnam, I got a view of that pile of cardboard from my front door.
