I had no plans to go there, and in truth, did not even know where it was located (N.E. of Saigon). My intention was to travel from Hoi An and Danang, by air to Nha Trang - the most attractive beach in Vietnam. However, every flight in and out of there was solidly booked (as are most flights within Viet.) for a week and the agent suggested Dalat. The weather had been constantly rainy all day, every day and the prediction was not good for the next several days. Usually in S.E. Asia, the rain comes for an hour or two and then clears. But this time, it almost never stopped and I did question the sense of being in a beach town in constant rain. True, I could have gone by train or bus, but I am too old to do overnight trains and bus trips.
Once in Dalat, checking into a beautiful hotel helped. Then arranging two day trips around and out of town was also encouraging. Dalat is surrounded by dense pine forests and is in a pretty situation. In fact, flying in on an ATR-72, I was shocked at the vast forests remaining in Vietnam - certainly nothing like China and much of Laos and Cambodia (which China is deforesting along with the rest of the world).
After the Vietnam war, greenhouses were built around Dalat, and now there are hundreds and it is quite amazing to see so many miles of valley covered in glass and netting. They raise a lot of orchids and lilies - which bring the most money - but also every other kind of flower and vegetable you can imagine. We were taken to one set of greenhouses built on the former U.S. army base there, and to get to them, the van had to go down the length of the former runway.
There was a minority of some sort in Dalat which the Central Govt decided to move out of town - probably an interesting story, but I do not know it. They shipped them off about 30 miles from town and gave them coffee beans to start crops with. That has turned into such an industry that Vietnam is the #2 coffee exporter in the world. But the minority people harvest coffee only five months a year and earn $1,000-2,000 for each family - poverty level even in Vietnam.
One interesting aspect of the Minority village is that it remains strictly matriarchal. The women absolutely and thoroughly control every aspect of governance, economics, planning, labour, children, housing and even choose their husbands rather than the reverse, and pay a dowry - usually of one buffalo ($750 U.S. and up). Previous to Communism, the men did not work, but after the change, they have had to join the rest of the family in the fields all day (this also happened in Nepal as a result of the Maoist insurrection).
To supplement their incomes, the people all keep a mulberry tree in their yard and silkworms in their homes. The silk industry is massive. Usually, I would groan at a tour of a factory, but the silk worm chain of production and the factory were really interesting. The silk as it is pulled from Mr. Worm is so fine as to be almost invisible, and yet think of the impact it has had on history and world economics. Even the entire walls of the Singapore Symphony Hall are covered in beautiful raw green silk fabric, it is so widely used.
From the silk industry, we went only a few blocks to the weasel coffee industry. Here they feed weasels coffee beans (honest), which pass thru Mr. and Mrs weasels and come out to make the most expensive coffee in Vietnam - which I am not about to try. But I must say the weasels we saw in two locations, were living in nice conditions, appeared to be in good shape, and seemed to be about as weasel happy as out own lawyers and politicians here.
Just nearby, there was a cricket factory - yes. It was as big as a three car garage and had a lot of dried out leaves in tanks. The crickets were raised for restaurant menus and also the babies are used to feed pet birds. But the part I enjoyed was seeing an authentic Vietnam Pig in Vietnam being constantly snuggled by the owner of the cricket factory Usually I think Asian men would kill anything and eat it, but this man was so pig-wild affectionate (and the pig reciprocated nicely), I cannot imagine that he will convert that pig into some edible form. It is more likely to be killed in a mass cricket attack.
You may not believe it, but nearby to all this was a rice wine brewery which we visited so that we could all get a headache from a few sips.
From all this we went to a spectacular waterfall, which I mention only because usually sights like this have steps or railings to assist the visitor to avoid injury. Not Vietnam. The climb to get there was so hazardous that I initially declined to go, but then changed my mind. It was a real hazard course, but I went because I was interested in the huge tree roots and vines along the way I could see and touch before I died in a fall.
The French heritage of Dalat is quite evident in some places. The last King of Vietnam has three palaces in the city. Today, they would rank as mere suburban styled bungalows. But the style of the one we visited was 50s modern and all the furniture was imported from France. That king eventually abdicated and left for Paris where he died after having had four French wives (I am not saying that he died of that, no I am not). But there remain about 3,000 French villas in the French area of town. I think Dalat centre is about the ugliest city you can imagine, altho most Asian cities are ugly. But the French section is very beautiful and serene. There still remains a large golf course which was built for the French and the king. The admission today is still a minimum of $100. which is pretty shocking considering the incomes of the people and also being a communist country. I mean, how could the U.S. possibly oppose Communism if they have 1) good golf courses, and 2) charge a huge sum to play?
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