Vietnam - Dalat

By Gum! It's getting hot out here. I've been taking off all my clothes and Scott has been leaking a river of sweat. We decided to cool down and go up in the world to Dalat, the hillstation known for it's wine making and vegetable growing.

It's a tasty place to be. Avocado ice cream & shakes, artichoke tea, fresh strawberries and red, red wine. A brilliant place to hang out when you're ill, which both Scott and I were by the time we got there. Our sweaty, noisy 'bus' was so crap that we had to get out and push it at one point. Why didn't we just fly?

Built in the 1920's, the whole place was a health retreat for posh French expats and rich businessmen, but back then, the roadcars took a long time to get there. Families that brought their little brats up to the boarding schools had to stay at Dalat Palace for at least a month to pluck up the guts for the return trip. That was the excuse anyway, I think the real reason was that people just didn't want to leave.

The hotel manager of the time sounds like a scream. He was known for his black tie and spat-wearing, and his decadent Christmas parties where he clad his house and garden with a lorry load of cotton wool, to look like snow. Every night was a gourmet feast and piano party in the beautiful, beautiful dining room. I think these days it's a bit more sedate. The massive rooms have still got the antique furniture, right down to the reconditioned Poirot style telephones and creaky waxed wooden floors. It was way out of our budget but I made friends with Antoine, the hotel manager anyway.

I said 'how did people pass their time?'. He took me out on his clapped out Vespa and showed me where people took their country walks, and where they built their Villa's. The first went up in the 1800's, but going up the lane is like travelling through time - the road got longer as the century got later. Traditional country style mansions give way to the Art Deco style and more modernist pads and Palaces.

I persuaded one of the golf caddies to drive me around the golf course on a buggy. Wheeeeeeee! Those bumps and bunkers are loads of fun and the view from the hole at the top of the hill was so stunning, I almost felt like taking up golf. But nah.

Easily our best day in Dalat was the one we spent with the Easy Riders. What dudes. The guidebook says "you don't find them, they'll find you" and it's true! The silkworms they took us to see were like tissue paper. They were so busy eating and weaving their cocoons they didn't have time to think about being boiled alive so someone could unravel their handiwork and turn it into something beautiful. The next farm was like 'The Matrix' for mushrooms with rows and rows of hanging sand-bags sprouting velvety black ears.