12th February, 2017

We woke to a lovely day, a little bit chilly at first, but warming up nicely to about ‘summer’s day in early June in England’ standard. I promised you a picture inthe last blog of where we were staying and here it is plus the (heated) swimming pool.

Our first appointment was with the train and our 7km ride up the track to Trai Mat. We arrived at the station to find the usual number of posing locals clambering all over different parts of the engine, tracks and carriages and then it was ‘all aboard!’ and we set off in what felt like a railway carriage from the late 19th century (third class).

We trundled slowly through the countryside. It was interesting more than beautiful especially if you have a major interest in market gardening!

The village of Trai Mat’s major attraction is Linh Phuoc Pagoda, a set of incredibly ornate buildings showcasing the art of tesselation, whereby small pieces of broken china or glass are painstakingly arranged in cement. There is a huge dragon also, made from over 12,000 carefully broken beer bottles. I feel, in my own small way, that I have contributed to the building of a new dragon by my unselfish sponsorship of several of the local brews in our travels through Vietnam! The whole affair was jaw-dropping with a fantastical 7 storey pagoda, two vast Buddhas, one that seemed to be encrusted with sea shells and one that looked like it was made from butter and a bell that was trimmed with requests for help or gifts. Almost as impressive was the car/bus park in front that at one point looked completely gridlocked. The whole affair reminded me of a sort of Buddhist Gaudi.

There was a sort of showroom of giant furniture and decorative carvings next door with one of the biggest single piece of wood tables I think I have ever seen. Val looked very regal in the inlaid chair!

Having eventually extricated ourselves from the car park, we drove past the standard Da Lat landscape of plastic greenhouses to one of the highlights of Da Lat, the summer palace of the last Emperor of Vietnam, Bao Dai. It was built between 1933 and 1938 and is the epitome of the fashion of those times in an Art Deco style that vaguely resembles a ship, not least by the odd port hole punched into its walls. The outside was a little bit in need of renovation, but I enjoyed the flower-decorated scooter in front. It was more homely than palatial and, quoting the guidebook, “provided Boa Dai with a bolt hole between elephant-slaughtering sessions”.

The inside had various relics of the emperor such as his desk and a rather family villa feel and it was not hard to imagine the emperor and his wife and five children at play here. The pink bedroom in the photos below reminded me a bit of Fawlty Towers! You had to don shoe covers to protect the fabric of the building or, as Wing, our guide put it, to help polish the floors!

As ever, the grass did not grow under our feet and it was off to the impressive market where the produce of the region was very much on show, especially the flowers in anticipation of St Valentine’s Day.

And off we went again, this time to a waterfall outside the city, much loved by the locals, especially if you are dating, I suspect and by families for a day out. This was partly because there were plenty of distractions such as a building with deformed animals (five-legged cows etc), which we decided to give a miss, dressing up in national costumes (of other countries apparently), elephant, buffalo and ostrich riding (see photo below – we did feel there should be a weight limit for the ostrich!) and kayaking and walking through the park (which, of course, was beautifully maintained). Oh, and a camel that reminded me of a leading US politician!

Our day ended at a very tranquil monastery with nice bonsai and gardens and one of the more unusual signs in our travels. We also bumped into some ladies all in purple who were gathering for a meet-up of some former colleagues and decided to attend in the same colour outfits.

And that was our time in Da Lat. Wing, our guide, discovered that our flight time to Ho Chi Minh City the next day was no longer just after midday, but now was 0750, so we got an early night for an early start. A nice change, what with the cool air and rather festive feel of the place, but we would now need to steel ourselves for the bustle of the city. More soon.