From Nha Trang to Da Lat

Wednesday, 21 February 2018

At 7:15 am we leave Nha Trang - I'm glad. The city is not for me. Somehow it's even possible to ride bicycles in this chaos. After a few kilometers, we stop at the river and visit the Cham sanctuary Po Nagar. The current complex was built in the 8th century. The pillar tower is 22.8 m high and we have to put on robes and take off our shoes to enter. Below is the colonnade hall used for meditation. Some columns have been reconstructed, with original column parts incorporated. Until today, it is not known how the original pillars could hold without concrete. The composition of the adhesive is unknown. After that, we travel for another 20 km through smaller towns. Bad roads and constantly changing markets, so you have to watch out for the hustle and bustle of incoming and outgoing mopeds.

After the break, the next 20 km are already more beautiful because we drive through quieter streets. Loc shows us swallow houses. These are huge buildings without windows, but with openings through which swallows can fly in and out. The aim is to attract as many swallows as possible to build their nests here. When the chicks are grown and the nests are empty, the nests are eaten. It is considered a delicacy. To attract as many swallows as possible to breed, even swallow chirping is broadcasted through speakers.

The last 15 km are really great because now we are in the countryside and there are 5 smaller climbs. Then we have lunch at a restaurant by a river. They also serve ice cream. So delicious.

Now we continue by bus, because the mountains are getting steep. It is impressive how many landslides there were here during the rainy season. The road has to be repaired everywhere.

We also see small identical houses. The state builds these to encourage people to move to the mountains. They clear the slopes to grow rice. This is not really desired. Only a few are willing to move.

After a good 3-hour drive through the mountains, we reach Da Lat, a city with 190,000 inhabitants, which, although belonging to the inner tropics, is called the City of Eternal Spring due to its location at 1475 m. A typical feature are the many greenhouses, because many flowers and fruits (especially strawberries) are grown here. The city was highly appreciated by the French and many colonial buildings are still from that time and are now government buildings. The artichoke is the symbol of the city, artichoke tea is drunk here. We briefly stop at the train station, the oldest train station in Vietnam. Built by the French, it is hardly used today. There is only one tourist train left, which goes to Trai Mat, 7 km away. There are plenty of hydrangeas here.

Then we visit Hang Nga Villa, also called Crazy House. It was designed by the architect who studied in Moscow. Her father, Truong Chinh, served as the successor to Ho Chi Minh from 1981 to 1988. That's why the house was accepted, even though it is very extraordinary. It is a quirky building with rocks, tree trunks, cobwebs, similar to a lava boulder with narrow paths, many bridges with low railings. It's very crowded and Asian tourists disrupt everything with their constant photography.

We can then walk to our hotel, the quite luxurious Sammy Hotel.

I then go back to the city very briefly, but it's so crowded that I quickly turn back.