Touring Da Lat Jan 10

Got up early and had the breakfast the hotel provided. I got my first glimpse of the town from my balcony and headed off to meet my tour.

I passed this building as I walked. It is some kind of a business, possibly resturant or hotel. It is a good example of the grand houses they are building here.

These are older style houses but kept in very good condition. Everything looks quite nice here. There are very few of the older ramshackle buildings that you find in other Asian countries. Of course that is because they basically had to start from scratch after the war. They are going at it with much gusto and success it seems.

It is quite common to see people using these carry poles.

First stop on our tour was Datania Waterfall. It wasn't very big. The main attraction there were these little carts running on tracks that you can ride on to go down to see it. They said it was a steep incline so I opted to walk and see how steep it was, thinking I might ride up. Turns out that the on way down the track meandered back and forth so was not steep but on the way up they pulled you straight up the hill, so I walked up too. I was due for some cardiac work after my lazy week at the beach anyway.

Just a picture of the forrest. The water fall is behind there somewhere.

Next we went to Prenn falls. On the way down there was this statue of a bronzed warrior so all the girls got pictures with him and his obvious phallic symbols.

This is in a horticultural display. Berries, seeds or flower? I don't know, just unique and pretty.

These falls were nicer. There was a walkway underneath.

The highways here are great. Even the mountian roads are not bad.

Next stop was a monastery. This is a view of Paradise Lake on the way.

A flowering ginger plant.

The gate at the Buddhist monastery.

Their gong.

Pretty good tree lions.

This flowering plant is known as tiger's claw for obvious reasons.

Next stop was the Bao Dai Summer Palace of the last king. This is two of our group dressed up for pictures there. They were on the bus with me yesterday from Mui Ne and we shared some roadside time together waiting for our replacement bus. They, and the other two couples from that trip are all from Australia and traveling together. We are all going on the same bus tomorrow too, and I am enjoying hanging out with them.

The royal summer home was a pretty normal looking, large dwelling. I wasn't even inclined to take pictures there.

From there we went to the "famous" love garden. It was nice but nothing to rave about. They claim that a lot of couples come here to be romantic. There are various statues such as this to take photographs with.

Looking down the hill to the lake you might be able to see a line of white swan boats on the far side. Couples like to take them out on the lake and have a picture taken in them. Seems they are hopelessly romantic.

Another statue which people seemed to like.

Me with a two string base fiddle.

A lovely nude statue.

Next we saw the embroidery shop. This is an example of the work. It is on a very fine silk sheet and the picture is good on both sides. Very life-like.

Lastly we went to the big buddha which is overlooking the town. It was on one of the tallest hills and was part of a monastery.

From the hill we had a nice view of the town. There are a lot of farms and gardens in the area and most look neat and tidy as this one.

Just a view of Da Lat.

And another direction.

When the tour ended I hopped in a taxi to head over to the crazy house. I took 17 more pictures there so I will do another po9st just for it.

Tomorrow will be another travel day. The bus for Nha Trang is leaving at 7:30. I believe that we have a big a/c bus this time. The trip should be four or five hours.