Dalat tour

Bao Dai Summer Palaces

Da Lat's three palaces are referred to simply as Palace 1, Palace 2, and Palace 3. The palaces were all completed by the French, but only Palace 3 was a royal home. It was owned by the last emperor of the Nguyen Dynasty, Bao Dai. You can find it on Le Hong Phong Road, about a quarter of a mile southwest of Da Lat's central district. The palace is open to the public. Bao Dai was Vietnam's playboy emperor who disappeared into exile in France and Monaco after WWII. His family's living quarters are still decorated in yellow. Photographs of the emperor and his family still hang on the walls.


Crazy House

In the middle of Vietnam, up in the hills, someone has built a crazy house.

This rapid period of rebuilding Vietnam, "doi moi", has been characterised by a singular lack of creative invention. But there are some exceptional buildings with a modern heritage. Ho Chi Minh City's (HCMC) Palace of Reunification stands tall, but there is a peppering also of fine inventive French architecture in many modern villas built during the French rule.

In Dalat, there are intact examples of good European modernism, tempered to suit the locale and built mainly in the 1930s for the rulers of the time. Dalat is HCMC's cool escape, the summer retreat used predominantly by the wealthy and powerful. It also supports an underbelly of artists, musicians and writers, who co-exist with the golfing, hunting and white-water rafting tourists.

And Dalat contains a weird architectural contraption - a jumble containing some Gaudi, a dose of America's Bruce Goff, Disney, some Steiner and a liberal layering of hippy madness. It's the Crazy House, by architect Hang Nga.

Hang Viet Nga is the architect's full name and she has created a monument to her architectural philosophy of dreams, fantasy, folklore and free-form. Crazy House is also her home, still under construction and due to be finished in seven years.

The building is a swirl of ferro concrete (also used to make boats and swimming pools), shaped like a huge tree with tunnels travelling through the trunks. Inside those trunks are rooms - small suites like a hotel (they can be booked) - and each one different, designed on a theme for an animal, plant or insect.

Crazy House rises about five storeys above its suburban neighbours, rattling and squirming its entrails and bones into the skyline, great sweeps of black and yellow concrete, bizarrely shaped glass openings, beautifully peach-coloured walkways that are a cross between a tunnel and cave, and sculptured rooftops that appear menacing.

Between this cacophony of free form is a noisy collection of animals in wire cages - doves, hens, guinea fowl and colourful singing birds - and with them is a group of tropical trees with works of art suspended on them.

It is difficult to distinguish between the architect's work and that of nature, and I am sure that is Hang Nga's intention. Interiors are startling, eccentric and original. Low furniture, much of it built-in, is sculptured to the curving walls; timber-like mallee root is cut from trees and polished without further treatment, so an organic, non-industrial ethic is at work.

Beds are simply mattresses made to fit the various shapes that form a sleeping corner.

The piece de resistance is a centrally carved animal statue in each room, denoting that room's theme. So you can choose to sleep with an ant or a kangaroo!

Doors are shaped to suit the wall openings, and they often turn out like a Steiner door, with the weight of the panel synchronised with the shape of a body, just as light fittings and curtain tracks take their position in the twisting spaces as if they grew there.

This may be a Vietnamese adaptation of animism, but I suspect it is a delightfully personal attitude held by this quirky architect, who is, by the way, available at the Crazy House ticket office or nearby design studio most days.

Hang Nga is the one with deep mascara, a floppy hat and trailing around her opus wearing long, colourful gowns - not the traditional Vietnamese au dais, more 1960s hippy style.

Just how Hang Nga manages to create her monument is itself a story of mythical scale. Generally, the people's committee in each town and region of Vietnam deals its powers of approval slowly and conservatively, which means not much that is odd gets through the system. Weird decisions can be had, oddities do occur, but what assists Hang Nga's case most is that her father, Truong Chinh, was president of Vietnam after Ho Chi Minh.

Dalat Market

Dalat Market is not only the busiest place in the city but is also considered the heart and symbol of Datlat. The market covers two blocks with more than 1,300 shops. On the ground floor of Block A merchants sell flowers, household appliances and other specialties of Dalat. There are various kinds of handicrafts, including fabrics and clothes. Meat, fruits and vegetables fill up the ground floor stalls of Block B. Cosmetics, footwear and special foods are sold in the block.

Before leaving the city, visitors can buy Dalat’s specialties, such as artichokes, dried yams, persimmons, avocados and peaches, as well as fresh vegetables like cauliflower, broccoli, spinach, lettuce, cabbages and snow peas at Dalat Market. Visitors can also bring baskets of dried flowers and pinecones back home to remember their visit to the "City of Flowers" and its surrounding pine-clad hills.

Langbian Mountain

12km north of Dalat, Langbian Mountain with five imposing peaks about 2,200m above sea level is an ideal place for mountain climbing, jungle trekking or studying rare bird species. Two of them, as like as a couple of milky breasts, can be seen from Dalat, which become a stunning background of almost typical Dalat views. That’s the reason why it is called Lady Mountain by the locals. The mountain is home to hill tribe people (Lat and Chil groups) where visitors can wander around their houses on stilts and enjoy exciting gong shows. The 3-4 hour trek to Langbian Mountain is well worth it for the spectacular panorama of endless mountainous surroundings.

Lat Village

Lat Village in Lac Duong district is at the foot of the 2,169-metre-high Langbian Mountain, also known as Nui Ba or Mountain of Madame, about 12 kilometres from Da Lat city. The inhabitants of Lat village – the ethnic minority groups of K’ho, Lach and Chil, who are the main group in the Langbian Highlands – have maintained their traditional culture, making tho cam (ethnic fabric), drinking ruou can (typical wine made from sticky rice or corn) and playing folk games.

Linh Son Pagoda

Linh Son Pagoda is the oldest active monastery in the city. It is not quite half a mile from the center of Dalat. The pagoda was built in 1938 and has been managed by a series of monks, including Thich Tu Man, who has been at Linh Son since 1964. Linh Son's bronze Buddha was forged in 1952; it weighs about 2700 pounds.

Prenn Waterfall

Prenn Pass levels out near the entrance to the Prenn Waterfall, which is a major attraction for Vietnamese and foreign tourists. The waterfall tumbles over a wide overhang and into a broad pool below. A path circles around the pool so that visitors can walk behind the waterfall and look out through the curtain of water.

Than Tho Lake

Than Tho Lake is located five kilometres northeast of the city centre. Like many of Da Lat’s sights, a tragic love story took place at the lake. A young woman, who wrongly believed her lover has died, drowned herself in Than Tho Lake. Since then the surrounding pine trees sigh in grief.

Truc Lam Pagoda

Though established in 1994, Truc Lam Pagoda has become famous. Standing in Phoenix Mountain, Truc Lam Pagoda is about 1,300m above the sea-level. The pagoda is surrounded by pure lake water and pine trees. A road from Tuyen Lam Lake leads to 222 steps and then to Truc Lam Pagoda. Inside the main chamber is a Buddha statue sitting on a lotus stage. Next to the main chamber is a campanile with a two-layer roof. This gently architecture and fresh air around the pagoda offer visitors a peacefull atmosphere. Tourists visit Truc Lam pagoda to learn more about Buddhism and to enjoy beautiful landscapes.

Valley of Love

Honeymoon couples and young people like to come to the Valley of Love just outside Da Lat for its big lake, pine forests and soft green hills. Aside from its landscape, the site also boasts many souvenir and food stalls.

Xuan Huong Lake

The city is filled with enchanting spots. Three lakes grace the city. Xuan Huong Lake extends directly into the downtown area and is dotted with villas and cafes. Dan Thien Lake and Chien Thang Lake are a couple of miles from downtown. Legends about lovers who came to sad ends surround the lakes.