Vietnam’s Dalat: A Hill Station on the Move
The Vietnamese city of Dalat offers a break from the year-round tropical heat that holds sway in much of the country.
Located in the Central Highlands of southern Vietnam, this popular resort is one of the many hill stations built in Asian countries by their foreign rulers in colonial times.
Surrounded by hills and pine forests, it’s built around a large, artificial lake. Its parks, winding streets and lakeside pathways provide many opportunities for walking without working up too heavy a sweat.
The French established Dalat in 1912. It quickly became an escape for Europeans living in humid Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City today), about 300 km or 185 miles to the southwest by road.
Senior travellers who want to spend an unhurried few days will find much to enjoy in Dalat. But they shouldn’t expect a well-preserved hill station of old.
Like almost all the major hill stations in South Asia and elsewhere, Dalat (sometimes spelled Da Lat) has continued to grow rapidly since independence. With a population of more than 400,000, it’s a bustling, noisy, medium-sized city.
The same things that drew colonial Europeans – the highland scenery, the cooler climate – attract ever-larger numbers of visitors today. An estimated 3 million tourists visit it each year.
The same is true of most of Asia’s better-known mountain resorts that once served as colonial retreats. The tranquillity of old is pretty much a thing of the past. They are no longer quaint colonial outposts.
Anyone who has visited, say, Shimla or Munnar in India, Muree in Pakistan, Baguio in the Philippines or Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka will have seen this. Overcrowding and traffic jams have replaced the peace and quiet, especially during the summer months, when huge crowds pour in.
Added to this is climate change, which means many of the hill stations are no longer as cool as they once were.
A study published in 2016 by the American Journal of Climate Change showed that five Indian hill stations had warmed up by 2°C in the previous 40 years.
Dalat is no different. It can be pleasantly cool in the mornings and evenings but daytime temperatures can reach the mid-20s Celsius, especially in the months from February to June.
In one important respect, though, Dalat differs from many other hill stations. Because of a lack of international flights until 2017, it has attracted fewer foreign travellers. Instead it has become a hugely popular destination for Vietnamese visitors.
Not surprisingly, this has had an effect on the city’s character, with many of its attractions firmly targeting domestic visitors, especially young couples.
The city promotes itself as a honeymoon destination. There’s no shortage of heart-shaped arches that provide photo opportunities.
More foreign visitors are now coming in, however. Direct flights from Bangkok began in 2017, and from Seoul in June 2019.
And the number of overseas visitors is likely to increase further when AirAsia introduces flights four times a week from Kuala Lumpur on 20 December 2019.
This will make Dalat a better option for older travellers flying from Malaysia. Instead of taking an international flight to Ho Chi Minh and then a 50-minute domestic flight to Dalat, they’ll be able to fly there directly.
The other option, taking a bus journey of up to eight hours from Ho Chi Minh City to Dalat on a sometimes rough road, is popular with foreign backpackers. But it’s unlikely to attract many older visitors.
Dalat airport is located around 30km from the city. If you happen to arrive in late afternoon, as I did on a Vietnam Airlines flight from HCM City, you can enjoy the 35-40 minute drive to town as dark settles in.
The road is good and the forested hills make the approach to Dalat a pleasure. It’s a nice introduction to the city.
Dalat now has so many hotels, with many more under construction, that visitors are spoiled for choice. Some streets seem to be lined by nothing but hotels and backpacker hostels.
The choice of eating places is equally wide: from restaurants serving pho, a noodle broth with chicken or beef that’s Vietnam’s national dish, to street food stalls and upmarket restaurants offering many different cuisines.
The city’s sights include parks, temples and historic buildings. Among the out-of-town options are visiting waterfalls and trekking in the surrounding hills.
If you’re spending two or three days in Dalat, a good place to start exploring is the market in the city centre.
It’s a large, typically Asian market selling food, clothes, souvenirs and the flowers for which the city is well-known. It includes a covered area and open-air stalls. The range of local fruits is particularly impressive. Strolling around is an excellent way to meet people and get a feel for daily life in the city.
From the market, a road leads a short distance down the hill to Xuan Huong Lake in the heart of the city. This is a nice place to stretch your legs, especially in the cool of early morning or late afternoon, with a paved walkway leading some 6km right around the lake.
If you choose, you can try the attractions aimed mainly at domestic visitors, including swan-shaped paddle boats and horse-drawn carriages. Or you can simply sit and relax, and enjoy the lake views.
Near the main end of the lake is the large Flower Park, which showcases Dalat’s extensive range of plants and flowers. Its rose and orchid gardens and bonsai collection are impressive. Yes, it’s touristy, with its butterfly-shaped benches, heart arches and statues of Disney characters. But it’s a pleasant place to stroll about and do a bit of people watching.
The Truc Lam Zen Buddhist Monastery on a hill overlooking the lake is well worth a visit. You can reach it by road or by taking a 2.3 km cable car ride from Robin Hill. The monastery’s grounds are usually crowded but large enough to find a bit of space to yourself, and the atmosphere is genuinely peaceful. If you’re not in a hurry, sit and relax for a while.
Dalat is also home to three mansions that belonged to Bao Dai, Vietnam’s last emperor, who abdicated in 1945. The most popular is the Summer Palace, set on a hilltop surrounded by pines.
It’s no ornate, formal palace. Instead, it’s a large Art Deco building that dates back to the 1930s. It’s not as well maintained as it might be – when I visited, the interior had a slightly musty smell and, in one of the rooms, water was dripping from the ceiling on to a table. But the place has the feel of a family home that was once much loved.
Another curious Art Deco building from the French era is the railway station. These days it’s more a tourist attraction than a fully-functional station, although one train does run each day to a temple complex about half-an-hour away. The station has places to eat and buy souvenirs, and, oddly, visitors must pay 5,000 dong (around 21 US cents) to enter.
One of the main attractions of Dalat is getting out into the surrounding countryside. Several waterfalls and lakes are among the popular destinations. Other options include trekking, white water rafting and golf. Visitors can easily rent a car through their hotel and plan their own itinerary for a day in the country.
I visited Elephant Falls, around 30 km from Dalat. They’re considered among the most beautiful waterfalls in the Central Highlands.
The road takes you to the top of the falls, on a wide, strongly-flowing river. From there you can climb to the foot of the falls. But the path down through thick vegetation is rocky and slippery, and older travellers should take it carefully. I walked a short way down before opting for discretion and turning back.
Nearby is an unexpected attraction: a huge statue of Guan Yin, the Goddess of Mercy, built beside a pagoda overlooking the falls. The 54 metre statue was completed in 2019 and is so new that it has barely started featuring in online guides to Dalat.
It’s a reminder that far from dwelling on its colonial past, Dalat is an ever-changing, ever-growing city in one of Asia’s fastest-developing countries.
Header image: © Evgeny Dubasov
