Dalat

After the Halong Bay trip we returned to the Hanoi Intercontinental for one last night. The next morning at 4am, we flew to the Central Highlands of Vietnam-a town called Dalat. The minute I stepped off of the plane it was a breath of fresh air both literally and metaphorically after the mayhem and humidity of Hanoi. Like a hug from "April fresh" Downy.

This map has main cities.
Just to help those who are not familiar with Vietnam.

Dalat's airport was 30km to the south of the actual town, so on our way we stopped and hiked to Pongour Falls, the largest waterfall in the immediate Dalat area.

The pathway to the waterfall.

Stopped for a drink of sugar cane juice and to enjoy the view.
Pearce found a kitty.

The view behind Pearce.
Wild Monkeys have taken over the mountain tops, locals told us.

At the Pongour Falls.
Double the waterfalls in this picture and that's how grand it was.

Pearce and Eric stripped down to swim.


Pearce and Eric. How luck am I?
I can't believe I wake up to Eric every morning!

The close up.

It was a little cold for swimming.

Movie magic.

This is how the falls look during the rainy season. The Buddhist monks come to chant and meditate at the falls, or...in the falls? Gotta be photoshopped, right?

Vietnam’s Dalat—nicknamed “The City of Love,” “Le Petit Paris,” and “City of Eternal Spring”— was discovered by Doctor Alexandre Yersin. The area, originally inhabited by the Lat and Ma hill tribes, which now live in nearby Chicken Village and Lat Village, increased in popularity during the French colonial era. Because of its temperate climate, and the surroundings of lakes, waterfalls, and pine forests, it became popular with the French who were desperate for a cool retreat from the insane heat of the lowlands (most of Vietnam). Dalat was considered to be a neutral zone during all of Vietnam's wars, thankfully sparing it the nasty scars of war that beset most of Vietnam. A small Eiffel tower, over 2,000 beautiful villas, a school and a train station are modeled after regional French architecture, mimicking a little French town from a half of a century ago. Dalat is still popular with Vietnamese and expatriate artists and writers who consider it the most bohemian of Vietnamese cities.

Eric has been to Dalat two other times before and had arranged for us to stay at The Six Senses, Ana Mandara Villas and Spa for the week. The Resort sits on 35-acres of pine woodlands on a hill side edge of Dalat, at an altitude of 5,000. The center of town is below the resort and takes about a 20-minute walk to get there.

This is the gate and drive way up to our Villa.

This is our private villa for the week,
and it comes with our very own Butler.

A Butler? I thought this was a dying profession... like a decade ago? I remember as a kid watching the Fresh Prince of Bellaire, their butler mostly answered the door. I didn't anticipate many visitors, so we were at a total lost of what our Butler should do. Thank goodness our Butler was proactive and asked to unpack our belongs, bring up food and drinks and started and managed all the fireplaces in the house. Which was really fun to have a roaring fire in each room. Very romantic. And very nice because it was rainy and cold. Dalat's average daily temperatures range from 15ºC to 24ºC so you'll need to pack a sweater for the evenings.

This was our gigantic feather down bed.

Our biggest decisions; first, to figure which pillow to pick from the Pillow Menu, Buckwheat or Featherdown or the other 6 pillow types listed? And Secondly, which relaxing herb pillow, to place under the first pillow choice, aiding our aim of a well rested sleep. I picked a lavender mix. Eric picked a woody mix.

Our bedroom sitting area and fireplace.

Making ourselves at home playing with wooden games found in our room.

Our bathroom.

Our bathtub.

The living room.

With a fireplace.

The dining room with a fireplace. The kitchen is behind the curtain.

We had the options to: request one of the resort's Chefs to prepare our meals in our villa kitchen and eat in the privacy of our villa dining room, or we could take a 10 second walk over to the resorts main dining restaurant.

We chose the main dining restaurant.

Pearce looking through his wooden puzzle menu.

We walked around the Evason Ana Mandara's grounds, past 17 other restored villas, each with a unique design and all connected by cobbled roads that were built by the French in the 1920's and 1930's. I wish I would have taken pictures of the other houses. One had a gone with the wind sweeping double staircase on the outside leading up to a grand front door. So darling.

We walked by the giant heated pool. Later, Pearce, Eric and David went for a swim. It wasn't warm enough for the girls to want to swim.

We found the Six Senses Spa, and made reservations for the next afternoon. Very beautiful place. This is a great place to get away and relax. The only thing missing was the rest of our family.