Dalat Observations

We spent the last couple of days in Dalat which is a town in the mountains about 7 hours north of Saigon.  Dalat is 1500m high and subsequently has a much cooler climate than the rest of Vietnam. It is cool enough that our hotel didn't even have AC!

I would say the best thing about Dalat is the weather.  Yes its a pretty town and reminds me of some of the swiss mountain towns we spent time in but it is also pretty boring.  There are a million hotels but very few restaurants or at least good/decent looking restaurants.  Compared to Hue/Hoi An/Nha Trang the choice of where to eat seemed much more limited.

We did take a trip on the cable car which goes over the mountains (~2.3km) to the Quang Trung Reservoir.  We walked around the reservoir and saw some interesting temples.  That night we actually did have a very good meal at a restaurant called Da Quy that served some excellent (& cheap)  vietnamese fare.  Shrimp mousse on sugar cane wrapped in rice paper with a variety of herbs and vermicelli noodles and beef with lemongrass and chili.  Yum!

Two days was plenty for Dalat.  A nice enough town and a nice respite from the heat of the rest of the country.