From Nha Trang, our bus ride to Dalat took about four hours. Dalat is inland from the coast, set at a high elevation. The road that winded up to it was long and very windy in parts.
As we traveled upwards and inland, the produce being grown started to look different, and it got noticeably cooler and less humid.
We arrived early evening and found some accommodation, then had a look around the city center. We were looking for some nice food, eventually settling for a pizza.
Dalat is also known as the City of eternal spring. The city has lots of French influenced architecture. Its like a Little Asian Paris...
Dalat is also known as the City of eternal spring. The city has lots of French influenced architecture. Its like a Little Asian Paris...
The next morning, we hired a scooter and went for an adventure around the city and the surrounding area. Our first stop was a Datanala, a waterfall at the bottom of a valley in the middle of the forest outside Dalat.
You can walk down into the valley by track, but there is an optional ride to get down which we took. It is cross between the luge at Rotorua and a rollercoaster - you are on rails, but you control the brakes.
It was more of a look at the forest then a thrill ride, but Toolman made the best of it and had some fun, while Princess yelled about slowing down... See a youtube video of the ride here.
Looking back up the valley, you can see the luge return system in the background.
The falls are very pretty, and cascade down in multiple steps.
Princess poses with the waterfall, which was quite impressive.
Notice the funny totem pole on the left; a Vietnamese guy dressed as a cowboy was lurking around the tourists for pictures. We weren't really sure why the park chose a cowboy!
After looking at the waterfall, we headed back to the scooter just as it started to rain. The 30 minute ride up a steep road on an underpowered scooter fun to say the least - torrential rain with nothing but shorts and purple ponchos!
After lunch and some drying out, we headed up to the summer home of the former King of Vietnam.
To protect the floors inside, we had to wear these elegant booties, as modelled by Toolman.
The house is kept more or less how it was left the last time the King visited.
There are lots of fenced off parts, though we saw a few rude tourists trying to sit on chairs that were clearly off limits.
The bedrooms were all roped off, otherwise tourists would probably try and sit on the beds in them too.
Plenty of space for those family meals!
As we exited, the gift shop had an *odd* selection of trinkets.
Yes, that is a dog molesting a baby.
The gardens outside were nice, so we walked around for a look at them.
There was a little rain, but the gardens are very pretty.
Princess is struggling with her umbrella as the rain pickes up again.
Toolman does his best impersonation of an odd statue adjacent to the summer house. From here, we headed on to another famous landmark in Dalat...
Hang Nga Guesthouse, also known as the Crazy House, is a guest house that is also a work of art.
The house is designed and built in a style that is basically Dr. Seuss, Dali and Alice in wonderland all mixed together. We enter at ground level to the forest floor.
There are stair cases and other features all over the place, like this tiny room under some stairs.
Climbing up one of the staircases leads you in to a rabbits warren of pathways weaved together.
As we explored, we found a hidden room, up a ladder moddeled like a reptile.
The space is the size of a child's playhouse, and is not visible from any of the walkways.
We wandered around these ramps and stairs to get some kind of perspective on the place.
This is a guest house so some rooms can be hired to stay in, though they were at premium prices so we just did the day-tour.
We kept exploring the tunnels to find a good view.
Most of the rooms were unoccupied, so we could look in.
This front section has crazy spikes growing out of it.
The spikes up close.
At a castle like structure, Toolman shows off his poncho.
A staircase leads all the way down to floor level.
Down at ground level but deeper into the complex, we look back up to the castle.
The garden was full of Alice in Wonderland decorations.
The central building has a master hall, and is used as a restaurant for customers.
We continued exploring through the rear section of the complex.
Looking back at the castle from another angle.
Many guestrooms have a theme and name - This is the Tiger room.
And, yes, this is the Eagle room.
There is an unfinished building at the back. You can see the tarpaulin as part of the construction site, and the structure is bare and empty inside. Note the completed walkways on the top left.
The weather fluctuated between drizzle and rain, but Toolman was keen to explore the walkways and look into the construction.
It was slippery up the steep stairs, but Toolman went up and into an opening in the side of the building. The walkway abruptly stopped where the internal floor should be.
Here is Princess admiring the view.
We left the crazy house and returned our scooter before walking around the city again. During our walk, Toolman got his sandle repaired on the roadside, just like in Hanoi.
The weather forecast looked pretty bad, so we decided to continue travelling south the next day to Mue Ni.
You can walk down into the valley by track, but there is an optional ride to get down which we took. It is cross between the luge at Rotorua and a rollercoaster - you are on rails, but you control the brakes.
It was more of a look at the forest then a thrill ride, but Toolman made the best of it and had some fun, while Princess yelled about slowing down... See a youtube video of the ride here.
Looking back up the valley, you can see the luge return system in the background.
The falls are very pretty, and cascade down in multiple steps.
Princess poses with the waterfall, which was quite impressive.
Notice the funny totem pole on the left; a Vietnamese guy dressed as a cowboy was lurking around the tourists for pictures. We weren't really sure why the park chose a cowboy!
After looking at the waterfall, we headed back to the scooter just as it started to rain. The 30 minute ride up a steep road on an underpowered scooter fun to say the least - torrential rain with nothing but shorts and purple ponchos!
After lunch and some drying out, we headed up to the summer home of the former King of Vietnam.
To protect the floors inside, we had to wear these elegant booties, as modelled by Toolman.
The house is kept more or less how it was left the last time the King visited.
There are lots of fenced off parts, though we saw a few rude tourists trying to sit on chairs that were clearly off limits.
The bedrooms were all roped off, otherwise tourists would probably try and sit on the beds in them too.
Plenty of space for those family meals!
As we exited, the gift shop had an *odd* selection of trinkets.
Yes, that is a dog molesting a baby.
The gardens outside were nice, so we walked around for a look at them.
There was a little rain, but the gardens are very pretty.
Princess is struggling with her umbrella as the rain pickes up again.
Toolman does his best impersonation of an odd statue adjacent to the summer house. From here, we headed on to another famous landmark in Dalat...
Hang Nga Guesthouse, also known as the Crazy House, is a guest house that is also a work of art.
The house is designed and built in a style that is basically Dr. Seuss, Dali and Alice in wonderland all mixed together. We enter at ground level to the forest floor.
There are stair cases and other features all over the place, like this tiny room under some stairs.
Climbing up one of the staircases leads you in to a rabbits warren of pathways weaved together.
As we explored, we found a hidden room, up a ladder moddeled like a reptile.
The space is the size of a child's playhouse, and is not visible from any of the walkways.
We wandered around these ramps and stairs to get some kind of perspective on the place.
This is a guest house so some rooms can be hired to stay in, though they were at premium prices so we just did the day-tour.
We kept exploring the tunnels to find a good view.
Most of the rooms were unoccupied, so we could look in.
This front section has crazy spikes growing out of it.
The spikes up close.
At a castle like structure, Toolman shows off his poncho.
A staircase leads all the way down to floor level.
Down at ground level but deeper into the complex, we look back up to the castle.
The garden was full of Alice in Wonderland decorations.
The central building has a master hall, and is used as a restaurant for customers.
We continued exploring through the rear section of the complex.
Looking back at the castle from another angle.
Many guestrooms have a theme and name - This is the Tiger room.
And, yes, this is the Eagle room.
There is an unfinished building at the back. You can see the tarpaulin as part of the construction site, and the structure is bare and empty inside. Note the completed walkways on the top left.
The weather fluctuated between drizzle and rain, but Toolman was keen to explore the walkways and look into the construction.
It was slippery up the steep stairs, but Toolman went up and into an opening in the side of the building. The walkway abruptly stopped where the internal floor should be.
Here is Princess admiring the view.
We left the crazy house and returned our scooter before walking around the city again. During our walk, Toolman got his sandle repaired on the roadside, just like in Hanoi.
The weather forecast looked pretty bad, so we decided to continue travelling south the next day to Mue Ni.
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