Da Lat, Vietnam

Knowing we would be leaving for Da Lat from Da Nang airport, we decided to have one final evening in the beautiful city of Hoi An, opting for an early start the next morning instead. We had told our host that we would take the hour-long bus journey up to the terminal, but he kindly arranged a private car for us, for $11 - half the price we would have paid for the transfer! With little traffic, we arrived early, got a coffee and edited some photos. This was our first experience of a Vietnamese departure lounge (AKA pricy!) and my top tip is to not stop at the first coffee place you see for 60k - have a look around and you’ll find 20k coffee further away from security.

After an hour-long flight with Bamboo, a relatively new Vietnamese airline that seems to keep all major cities in Vietnam connected with frequent, cheap flights, we paid 40k to get into Da Lat city centre on the shuttle bus. This couldn’t be more simple! Our homestay, Brew & Breakfast, was only 300m from the drop off point, so we left our bags there and went out to find some local food. I have some points I’d like to make on this accommodation, but will say so later in this post! Anyway, we found bun nit trong, which are cold noodles, perfectly seasoned with chilli garlic vinegar, peanuts, herbs and fried pork. It was amazing and exactly what my hungry tummy needed!

That evening, we wandered to the night market, which I had heard so much about from friends and other travellers along the way. From about 7pm, stalls open up each side of the road (you can’t miss it) with food on the right and clothes on the left. I’ve never seen such an abundance of avocados and strawberries, which is what makes Da Lat so different from the rest of Vietnam: sitting at 1500m above sea level, they have so many different fruits and vegetables available. Take heed and eat all the fruit you can!

We also enjoyed bbq corn (as per) and a banh trang tron, a crispy rice paper pancake topped with egg, spring onion, meat and sauce. As opposed to Hoi An, where they just fold it in half and it’s pretty difficult to eat, in Da Lat they roll it up like a little burrito for you to enjoy in handy bites. We also ordered a bun bo Hue to share, which was very average until we added all the salad in sight and lots of chilli!

For dessert? We got some of the famous Da Lat strawberries, which were actually so bitter we asked for some extra sugar - Fab finished these off - as well as a hot soy milk, which is available at carts all around the night market, as well as corn and peanut milk.

Day 2

Waking up early and with hungry tummies, we deliberated about trying somewhere new… Or whether to head back to our trusty noodle man, but this time in search of bread. We trusted our gut and returned, ordering a banh mi mi xiu, which is a speciality to the region: a beautiful fluffy baguette, filled with pork meatballs which sit over a low flame for a loooong time. Needless to say, this was the juiciest and most delicious banh mi yet!

Maybe it’s thanks to the slightly cooler climate, but every restaurant seems to offer endless ginger tea in huge flasks on each table with a set of tiny thimble-sized cups. We happily guzzled plenty of the spicy warming tea, then headed on for our daily ca phe sua da (iced milky coffee) before exploring the lovely city of Da Lat.

We wandered all the way to the Linh Son Pagoda, about a 40-minute walk from the night market, which was beautiful and offered more of a retreat from the world than other pagodas we had seen. There were endless benches, tables and plaques to sit down and read, enabling us to soak up the peaceful atmosphere before heading on back to the city centre (via matcha rice milk bubble tea, of course.)

We walked back in a loop so as not to double back on ourselves, which took us around the beautiful lake. The air is so much sweeter in this area, as there are so many pine trees and needles which makes everything oh-so-much fresher. You can hire a swan pedalo on the lake, which comes quite highly recommended as a ‘must-do’ in Da Lat, but we were set on finding a ripe old papaya and resting our weary feet. That night, we headed back to the night market in search of yet more corn, noodles and sweet treats.

Day 3

Another early morning, another banh mi! We ordered banh thit nuong (the more simple fried pork option) with an extra egg from a roadside shop, which was equally as amazing as the day before’s offering. After fuelling up with yet more ginger tea, we set out on our epic mission to Datanla waterfall.

An hour walk each way, with varying inclines and a humid atmosphere, this wasn’t the most pleasant walk of my life - and to be honest, we were pretty underwhelmed by the waterfall itself. The water gushes, however because the rocks are so close to the actual falls, there are tourists everywhere and it lacks a real clear viewpoint. It’s also worth noting that the descent is super steep, with a mix of steps and slippery slope, and I didn’t think it was worth the walk back up again!

After a papaya, coffee and a mammoth walk home, we headed back to Brew & Breakfast to do some work before heading out to dinner. Not one to sound too negative, but I just wouldn’t recommend this accommodation. Considering it calls itself a bed and breakfast, there is a) no clarity about whether breakfast is actually included - it’s not - and b) the hosts completely ignored us, making the vibe a little awkward and/or tense. We were surprised, since their AirBnB bio claims to be a family affair, with sausage dogs and a communal meal each night - none of which we witnessed with our own eyes or ears. But oh well, you’ve got to have one short straw I suppose!

Back at the night market, we found yet more more corn and headed up the main stairs into the wiggly streets of the town. We took a risk on a quick Google translation (our saviour in Vietnam) which paid off so so well in the form of xap xap, rice paper salad and goi xoai, mango salad, both loaded up with plenty of peanuts and beef jerky. This was genuinely one of my favourite meals of our whole time in this country of amazing food - I even ordered a second goi xoai to taste more of the amazing flavours.

We followed this up with 12k beers from Circle K, sitting on a step watching the world go by, and finally ordered our one and only pot of kem bo - avocado mousse, topped with coconut ice cream and drizzled in condensed milk, topped with toasted coconut flakes and crumbled peanut.

It was insanely good - and we were immediately full of regret that we didn’t try one sooner. At around 9.30pm, we headed back to B&B to collect our luggage, ordered a Grab to the Thanh Buoi bus terminal around 10 minutes from the town and waited for our 11pm sleeper bus to Ho Chi Minh City. This bus system was much less clear than our previous sleeper bus, with multiple coaches leaving every hour, on the hour, and no one really knowing where each was heading to. In the end, after consulting a few staff members and asking around, we made it to our one-and-only VIP sleeper - complete luxury!

We paid a little more for this transfer, as the journey was only going to be 6 hours I thought it would be better to travel in comfort and guarantee a good nights sleep.

This wasn’t really the case, however I would definitely recommend spending the extra £3 each! You get 3 USB charging ports, a small TV screen, reading lights, cushions, a blanket and a privacy curtain, plus enough space for a small human (5”2) to stretch out, plus regular bathroom stops. In all, so much better than the Queen Cafe bus we got from Hanoi to Ninh Binh!

I booked this journey through Baolao, which seems to be the most efficient way to find good bus routes and prices throughout Vietnam. Although it says you must print the email confirmation, you can just turn up with it on your phone and they will make sure you’re in the right class, heading to the right destination.

I’d love to hear your Vietnam, Asia and general tips for getting around- it’s always good to learn better, more efficient ways to travel! Get in touch and share the love in the comments, or on Insta. X