"A Highland Paradise" a Da Lat Travel Page by Mikebb

After 4 days of traffic chaos in HCMC we were looking forward to our 3 day visit to the peaceful highlands and country setting of Da Lat. We were on a group holiday with 27 members of our local orchid society visiting HCMC, the Cat Tien National Park and Da Lat. We chose to miss the national park and take a tour to the Mekong Delta, and later make our own way to Da Lat.

Da Lat was discovered in 1893 by Dr Alexandre Yersin and the city was established in 1912. The city is built on a plateau 1,500 metres above sea level and enjoys a mild climate. It was a place which the French officials soon adopted and built villas for summer residence to enable them to escape the heat and humidity of the Vietnamese summer. With the rich soil of the plateau it was developed into a food and flower bowl and the local Lat people who own the farm land have become reasonably wealthy.

For those who enjoy nature there are many hiking trails, lakes, waterfalls , forests and gardens throughout the district. For golfers there are several nice courses. During our visit we enjoyed the fantastic local cuisine, everywhere we ate , whether it be in an upmarket hotel or local restaurant the food was omost enjoyable, particularly the locally grown vegetables.

I have written many tips of our visit to Da Lat, however the Travelogues below will also give you an appreciation of the location.