Next stop—Da Lat (Floral City)

I made arrangements with my Ninh Chu hotel and a Da Lat bus picked me up at the hotel entrance. The vehicle rallied uphill over a narrow, winding road. When the temperature dropped to the low twenties, I knew it wouldn’t be long before I reached Da Lat. On arriving, I took a stretch around Xuan Huong Lake at the centre of Da Lat and while one establishment referred to the lake as blue, it looked green to me. There was no getting away from the traffic noise or the fact that Tet was only days away.

Xuan Huong Lake, Da Lat

The region had originally been the home of the hill tribes, but in 1912 Europeans began to make this Southern Highland location their getaway. Instead of rice, many farms in the region grew flowers. Pavements were lined with an array of colourful flowers for sale. It may have been mid-winter, but Da Lat looked like spring. Parks were neatly swept, flowers were in bloom, and the Vietnamese were spending.

Along a main street in Da Lat

I happened upon a vegetarian restaurant in a Da Lat side street opposite Linh Son Pagoda. The food looked scrumptious but even with a bit of added spice, it was disappointing. There was an overdose of tofu and not a lot of flavour. Still, if you’re not into spicy food, you might find it perfect.

Da Lat flower gardens

Another discovery was about Vietnamese dads. There was something amazing about them. Wherever I wandered, dads carried their children. I observed one father working in a restaurant while carrying his child at the same time. On buses and trains, it was dads doing most of the parenting, even walking up and down the aisle of a train with a child over their shoulder trying to placate an infant to sleep.

A proud Da Lat dad

And here’s something I wish Indian dads would take note of—Vietnamese dads seemed to give more attention and love to their daughters, plus loads of couples with one child often had a daughter. One proud dad in Da Lat told me Vietnamese families used to value their sons above daughters but there had been a government push to change that old mentality. Smart thinking because which sibling is most likely to assist an aging parent?