Day 7

Taking things into our own hands

We threw out the tour's itinerary, and made our own…

8am – The Sofitel Hotel DALAT PALACE for breakfast
A French Colonial building from the early 1900's fully restored to its splendor. We sat outside on the veranda overlooking beautifully manicured gardens, Xuan Houng Lake and a panoramic view of the city. We took our time eating and listened to the birds. After a week of the scooter crazed HCMC, we appreciated the peace and quiet. Chateau-style buildings and churches dotted the skyline. Pine trees and lavender bushes filled the grounds. Are we in Austria? No wonder this was THE place to vacation during the Colonial Times.

Like walking through a time capsule, the attention to detail was impeccable: Vietnamese phonograph records, gramophones, period artwork, and china vases filled with fresh flowers. A kind receptionist let us in to see the Presidential Suite. Um…. Can we say FANTASTIC! For $500 a night, you too can live like a diplomat. A bargain if you ask me: 2 bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, ample closets, a living room and a balcony. It was gorgeous. All I could think was what a wonderful place this would be to have a destination wedding or event. Dear friends--- think about it is all we ask. :)

It was time to take pictures in the garden. I was being teased that the gardeners wouldn't yell at us for walking on the grass since they were with a white chick. Well we got our payback. We all hit a massive patch of mud and made a big mess of our shoes and feet! Oanh and I got the worst of it. The gardener was luckily nearby and showed us to the hose.

11pm Xuan Houng Lake
A banana shaped manmade lake named after a Vietnamese poet known for her controversial poems about aristocracy and social conventions in the 17th Century. We all rented these little swan boats with dreamy thoughts of peddling the complete length of the lake. 2 per boat we all pedaled off, and pedaled, and pedaled, and pedaled--- the boats were SO SLOW. 1/4 down the lake, we stopped our pumping and sat and chatted for a spell. Watching the butterflies fly by, the warm sun and the sound of the water lulled us to sleep for a brief nap.

12pm Bao Dai Palace (an item we kept from the old schedule)
A 1930's building where the last emperor of Vietnam lived. Check out the funny photos of us in traditional clothing sitting on the throne. That was a dollar well spent.

2pm Shopping at the Central Market.
The market is a huge block long 4 story structure filled with everything from clothing and shoes, to medicines, banking, produce, meats, flowers, and of course knick knacks and kitsch. The prices were higher than HCMC so we quickly left. Next up? Out of the sun and into Dalat’s only heated pool.

3pm Evanson Ana Mandara Villas and Spa
Dalat's newest hotel up on a hill in the middle of a pine forest is a mini-town of restored French Villas. They had a renaissance or medieval look about them with their wooden slat roofs and stucco sides. You won't believe the photos.

It was the off season, so we were offered the use of the pool, our own personal waiter for cocktails and snacks, locker rooms with showers and fresh clean towels, and her and his saunas and steam rooms for only $5 a person. We had the whole place to ourselves. And although it suddenly began to very lightly rain, it only made the sauna and steam rooms all that more effective.

After sweating up an appetite, we dine in their oh-so elegant restaurant. Dining by candlelight, we ate, laughed and told stories. It was the end of a wonderful day!