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| Picturesque:
Evergreen forests and crystal-clear lakes are
characteristic of Da Lat’s park-like surrounds. — VNS
File Photo |
|
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| Vive
la fête:
The Gong festival attracts tourists seeking a cultural
experience, as Da Lat is not only famed for its mild
weather and fresh air, but also for its local traditions.
— VNA/VNS Photo Pham Do |
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| New
service:
An old French built villa hidden behind bushes of the
evergreeen bougainvillaea flowers has been included as one
of the facilities of the Da Lat golf course club. |
|
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| Facelift:
Da Lat’s once poetic Cu Hill has been manicured to
become part of the 18-hole golf course by the Xuan Huong
Lake. — VNS Photos Kim Son |
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Da
Lat, 110 years of charm
At an
altitude of over 1,500m above sea level, Da Lat enjoys a temperate
climate, with temperatures between 16 and 24 degrees Celsius throughout
the year.
Known for its pure mountain air, local visitors sometimes wonder why
they don’t stay forever.
by
Pham Truong Thien
The famed French
doctor Alexandre Yersin discovered Da Lat in 1893, developing it into a
hillside retreat for the French colonists sweltering in the lowlands.
Little did he know that one day it would become one of the most beloved
cities of Viet Nam.
Yersin, who was of
Swiss origin, saw Langbian Peak and the magnificent surrounding
highlands as an ideal spot for relaxation and convalescence. Years of
French occupation created an atmosphere and architecture decidedly
non-Asian in character.
In a report
written to the French Governor, Yersin observed that several ethnic
minorities – or as he called them "les montagnards" –
lived in the area. The place, he said, was "wild, desolate and
untouched by civilisation".
The mountain
people still live here, with their customs and habitats intact. Though
French-built villas dot the landscape, the local ethnic groups and
native Vietnamese are now the primary residents of the Da Lat area.
Situated about
300km from HCM City, and at an altitude of over 1,500m above the sea
level, Da Lat enjoys a temperate climate, with temperatures between 16
and 24 degrees Celsius throughout the year. Known for its pure mountain
air, local visitors sometimes wonder why they don’t stay forever.
Even the six-hour
road trip from HCM City is worth taking, at least once, before you opt
for the plane. The 100km make you appreciate the gradual change of
scenery as you approach the highlands. Hills begin to appear and the
winding road rises and falls, and on both sides, tea and coffee
plantations spread out toward the horizon.
Before entering
Bao Loc town, lying 1,000m above sea level, you meet a 10km pass, giving
you the first taste of mountainous travel. The pass is wide enough for
only one traffic lane, and steep cliffs border the path.
However, the view
is superb, an immense carpet of luxuriant green tropical wilderness,
with mountains in the distance.
A second
"Prenn Pass" awaits, with another 10km of breath-taking
scenes, but with pine trees, which the cool climate favours. Indeed, you
begin to feel chilly, and a light jacket will certainly help.
The pass now
ending, you arrive upon a sweet smiling town with a variety of colorful
flowers along its sinuous hilly streets that lead to the city centre.
The architecture of Da Lat remains very much like a small French town,
with charming villas of various sizes and designs hidden under the trees
or surrounded by blossoming plants of one kind or another. As one Da Lat
official puts it, "Da Lat may be viewed as a city within a flower
forest, and a flower forest within a city."
The flower that
you will see most often is the mimosa. These lovely flowers of a soft
yellow colour are said to originate in Australia, but now they are grown
everywhere in Da Lat and have become a proud symbol of the city. Many
are wild, growing freely and abundantly, in contrast to the the
omnipresent roses or chrysanthemums.
Da Lat people have
a special love for their flowers. Hung, a well-known professor at Da Lat
University who likes to call himself "Da Lat man" shows us his
4-storey house in the centre, where the entire top floor is reserved
only for flowers and plants. "If you love Nature, you must love it,
inside out!" he says.
The town is
celebrating its 110th birthday this year. No big fancy events, but
numerous smaller ones throughout the year will be held. The Da Lat
People’s Committee has arrived at a city slogan: "Gentle,
Elegant, Hospitable".
The appelation
"gentle" is apt. With its poetic landscape and temperate
weather, the city hosts a happy blend of settlers who share the same
love for Nature when they first moved here, mainly from North and
Central Viet Nam. A sense of elegance pervades the streets, not only in
the way the residents are dressed but also in their social etiquette and
conduct toward strangers.
Ethnic minority
groups who live nearby provide further diversity to a city once heavily
influenced by the French. Yersin’s "mountain people" have
preserved their traditions and customs, and colourful dress, but their
lives today are far better.
The Lach tribe,
who live in a hamlet located about 20km deep in the jungle, are thought
to be native to the Langbian highlands, and they now live and prosper
alongside gawking tourists.
For tourists, they
will don their traditional clothing, and dance and sing in their
dialect, praying for a successful harvest or favourable weather.
Visitors sit around a bonfire, fascinated by the energising performance
while sipping ruou can (jar wine) through a bamboo pipe stuck in
a large earthen jar.
The flickering
fire silhouettes their figures against a pitch-dark jungle background,
and makes the cold mountain wind seem like a caressing breeze. With the
help of the mountain brew, that tastes somewhat like Japanese
"sake", visitors enter into a pleasant state somewhere between
dream and reality.
There are two
kinds of tourists Da Lat appeals to best: older people and
"backpack" travellers. The reason is simple. There’s really
very little in the way of nocturnal entertainment. Those obsessed by
Pigalle in Paris or Patpoong in Bangkok would be advised to go
elsewhere.
You won’t find
anything like "Crazy Horse" or "Tiffany’s" or
"Moulin Rouge" in this dreamy little town. Instead, you will
spot small coffee shops here and there, or charming
"bistro-like" restaurants on the hillsides overlooking the
central Xuan Huong Lake.
Of course, night
clubs, bars, karaoke and massage services are all available in the
imposing hotels that make Da Lat look a bit more like a resort town.
There is even an excellent golf course on the Doi Cu Hill stretching
toward the lake, where horses used to roam.
But that’s not
exactly what Da Lat is about. Beside its bucolic landscape, which is
certainly a "must" in any sightseeing programme, what Da Lat
offers you is a way of life. A gentle, cultured way of life, in which
talking loudly in the street – let alone shouting – is considered
bad form.
You hardly see
disagreement in Da Lat. Even at the central market, where locals and
foreigners alike do their shopping – no supermarkets yet – the noise
is subdued. As Mark Rosen, an English teacher from HCM City, once
observed: "This is probably the most peaceful marketplace I have
ever known in a tropical country!"
People aren’t in
a hurry, and they greet strangers with a friendly face. Girls in their
modest clothes (don’t look for Milan or Paris fashions) smile and talk
softly.
Along the
meandering roads, bordered with wild and fragrant flowers, you can
stroll around in shirt sleeves under a blue and cloudless sky, feeling a
bit like a million. You realise then that Da Lat can be proud of what it
has to offer, as well as of what it does not have. — VNS |
