Dalat - Part 1

The first thing you notice about Dalat is: it's cold. I had to dig my fleece out - which is the first time I've worn it since Melbourne. The reason it's so cold is that it's almost 5000 feet above sea level.

It's one of those places - people seem to either love it or hate it - although it seems to be a place that the Vietnamese come on holiday. I thought it was OK, although my second day here was the best in Vietnam so far.

The first morning, I headed out for traditional Vietnamese coffee. It's comes served like this - and is really really strong:



The ground beans and water are in the top bit, and it drips through really slowly in to the cup.

From there, I headed to the old station to catch a train to the next village. Here's some pics of the station:



Inside the train:



On the way back on the train I stood on the outside of the train, and took this video (there's zero health and safety here :-)



At the other end, there's a small village with a temple, which is famous for it's bell tower, and dragon decorated with beer bottles (I heard the Black Horse sponsored the beer bottle collection - as they knew there would be enough bottles):





The bell tower:



View from top:



Here's a video of the bell ringing (queue Metallica):



In the afternoon I headed off to see the Bao Dai Summer Palace, which is preserved as it was when used by the Royalty. When you go in, they make you wear these weird shoe covering things - which meant I spent the whole visit ice skating along the polished wooden floors :-)



The summer palace:



Inside - a bit dated - but not bad:



In the grounds they have all these weired "things" like this:



It's not original, but the Vietnamese go mental for stuff like this, including pony rides and tour guides dressed as cowboys - say no more...

A short way down the hill is one of the things I really wanted to see here: The Crazy House. If your into architecture, and are in Vietnam, the Crazy House is a must. It's an incredible set of buildings and work is still on going on expanding it. It's the kind of building you'd get it you'd put Gaudi and Dali in the same room and told them to design a house. Here's some pics:

The Crazy House:



View from the top:



This is a genuine working wood fire:



Crazy steps:



For some more unusual buildings, check out: http://unusual-architecture.com/

That night I stopped at this restaurant:



Yes - I did a double take too. When I got inside, I discovered that "everyone matters" :-)

On a slightly weird note: check out the instructions for the fridge in my room at the hotel - no hot foot to be placed in the fridge:



(Editors Note: You'll notice there's a problem with the videos. Despite every effort, it's not been possible to find a solution. Any technical suggestions are welcomed).