Delightful Dalat

Dalat is reportedly the honeymoon capital of Vietnam. It is in the highlands, has a temperate climate and is unlike most of the other places we have visited. In some senses its almost European in feel. We arrived in Dalat after a trying day on the road. It wasn't a long drive but the road was very poor.

Again our hotel was very good and we had a view from our room of the town. The day of our visits was wet, very wet. However, we made the most of it and got wet! Bao Dai's palace was an example of Art Deco style and has been kept in the same condition as it was in 1954 when he was removed as monarch. Sadly, again, this seems to mean that nothing is done to look after the place. It's a sort of ossified shell with the furniture gradually deteriorating. The only concession to looking after the place was to make us wear over shoes. Or, in other words a sort of sophisticated plastic bag. The gardens looked very interesting but in the heavy rain we did not get to see them.

Our next stop was a Zen Buddist monastery. All was quiet and peaceful and the gardens, which we could see, were beautifully maintained. People wandered about and an elderly monk was on hand to ring the bell, a deep sonorous sounding instrument, as they completed their rituals. We did see some plants that we were told were unique to Dalat but as I write this I cannot remember their names!

As the rain rained our cable car trip lost some of its joys. We could not see out of the windows!!

One thing we did 'learn' was that Dalat suffered from 'frost'. This it turns out does not mean frost as we understand it. Frosts Dalat style means temperatures of about 10 degrees! I guess that the point is that for some plants that is too cold so they have to protect them.

Dalat is a lovely town and well worth the visit but were now headed for Saigon.

The drive was reasonable except that as we drove done the mountain through the coffee and tea groves the heat suddenly returned. From the comfortable gentle heat of Dalat, even a little cool, we soon returned to the heat and humidity of the coastal region. Having said that as we drove into Saigon the skies opened up again and the rain really fell heavily. Saigon traffic is a nightmare at the best of times we are told by so many people. With so many bikes rushing about, diving between vehicles and ignoring the many signs like 'Stop' for those of us used only to the M25's from of hellish driving the roads are a nightmare. But in the rain it is horrendous. Visibility is much poorer and the lying water on the roads, the giant Atlantic like puddles of dark muddy water, encourage bikes to dart and dive about even more!