Ever since our friend Dale, who spent 2 month teaching English here, had told us about Dalat we knew we had to go someday. Well this was our chance and we took full advantage.

We had been planning to stay only 2 nights in Dalat and then make a 4 day trip further into the Central Highlands towards the Cambodia border. After one evening in Dalat though we reconsidered. Some of the decision had to with the 20 hour bus ride we would have to take to take to Ho Chi Minh City, but really more of the decision was based on the fact that we really just like Dalat. So we stayed five days.

The attachment is easy to understand. Dalat is in a valley of the Central Highlands and is surrounded by beautiful pine-covered mountains. Also, the soil around Dalat is rich and as a result there are vegetable farms and coffee plantations patchworking all over the hills. Finally the climate is cool, which is good on its own, but has led to Dalat being the center of higher learning in Vietnam. All these things together begin to explain what led us to stay for so long.

Over the five days we hung out in town and explored the countryside. It really was relaxing and enjoyable. There were some nice day rides that we did on our bicycles. On a few of the other days we just hung out in town and saw the sights to see.

The most exciting sight had to be the market. Due to it's fertile location you can get almost any variety of fruit or vegetable from the colorful stands that line the market. Also they had a wonderful selection of dried fruits and nuts which we also enjoyed.

Another aspect of Dalat that made for an interesting encounter was its artist community. An escape place for academics, Dalat has been the home to many of Vietnam's foremost artists. This has led to a profusion of guest houses and coffee shops which bill themselves as avant-garde. The atmosphere left us searching for the right word, and in the end we found the word on an Internet thesaurus. Charlatan. Look it up here if you need to.

The place where we noticed this maybe the most was at a pagoda that houses the "Crazy Monk". The "Crazy Monk" lives alone in the pagoda and churns our "art" at a fantastic pace. The guidebook says he has done more that 10,000 pieces. We soon found out how this could be. No sooner had the 4 of us darkened the door when he motioned us over to some easels where some outlines had been painted. "Fill them in", he instructed us. So we picked up brushes and started painting away. I think each of polished off 2 paintings. Not exactly the wall hanging variety but we weren't sure where they we going anyway. At least it was a little cathartic.

All in all that word sums up our time in Dalat. A time to enjoy getting to know the hotel staff and street vendors and to enjoy one of the most intoxicating places in Vietnam.