Dalat – A Truely Crazy Town
Dalat is a beautiful little town, the influence of French Colonialism in the south is very predominant here. It reminded me of the French Alps. The building architecture here transports you to somewhere completely different from what I expected of Vietnam. It’s a place you have to see to believe it yourself.
Dalat is around six hours on a bus from Ho Chi Minh City. We traveled to Dalat via a Vietnam Sleeper Bus. (Make sure to read my Vietnam Sleeper Bus Survival Guide by clicking the link!).
We caught the 6 pm bus from the Ho Chi Minh bus depot (organised through Hangout Hostel) and it worked out at around $15 per person.
We arrived in Dalat at around 1 AM and the bus company had arranged a second included transport service to our various hostels.
Dalat is in the mountains and is significantly colder than in the surrounding cities and beach towns.
Bring a Jumper! We visited in November and it felt like London in winter! Certainly not flip flop attire that was for sure.
Where To Stay In Dalat Vietnam
Mr Peace Backpackers Vietnam
Mr Peace Backpackers is a fantastic Hostel. Where the number one pull has to be the fabulous owner, Mr Peace, himself. He is an over the top character that goes above and beyond to make his guest have a fun and entertaining stay.
Its location is within central Dalat and means Mr Peace will happily book tours and excursions through his help desk. He is also more than happy to provide advice for exploring Dalat yourself.
The family-owned hostel of Mr Peace, his wife and family welcome everyone by holding family dinners each night and go above and beyond to make sure you are looked after.
The five of us traveling Vietnam together opted to stay in a 10-bed dorm. Luckily, we had the whole room to ourselves the three nights we stayed here.
The Hostel costs around $3.00 a night for comfy but squeaky beds, strong wifi, and decent bathrooms. We booked through Booking.com as it was cheaper than the Hostel World.
Scooter rental was also available from the Hostel at around $4 a day – split between two people, it’s laughably cheap.
Things To Do In Dalat
Elephant Falls Dalat
Elephant Falls is about a 50-minute drive outside of Dalat. The one thing you can’t fault anywhere in Vietnam is the quality of the roads.
The M25 in the UK has been put to shame by Vietnam!
SO, if you’re going to learn to ride a scooter – Vietnam (outside of the madness of Hanoi or Ho Chi Minh) is the place to grab the bulls by the horn, so to speak.
Once you pull up into the carpark and pay the small entrance fee of around 50 pence you can head towards the sound of gushing water!
Health and Safety is not a concern for this waterfall. Follow the haphazard metal poles and jump too and from rocks that look safe-ish to get to the bottom. Honestly, it’s not a waterfall you can swim in, so trainers are advised. I wore flip flops and took them off halfway through the adventurous climb down, for fear of my life.
Dalanta Falls & Toboggan Ride
Dalanta Waterfall is an adventure getting down to it!
Literally, a rollercoaster toboggan rides all the way down. (make sure you get the return ticket – it’s a long way back up). Bringing out the little kids in all of us whizzing down the Vietnamese mountainside, it was a highlight of Dalat.
It’s around a 20-minute drive outside of Dalat. We paid a total of $2 to get down the bottom and back up again. Well worth the money!
Also, you can do canyoneering here – however, it’s slightly risky as two tourists had died a month before we went (November 2019). Not really worth the risk in my opinion.
Crazy House & Crazy Maze Dalat
The Crazy House & Crazy Maze Bar
It’s owned by a Vietnamese aunt and nephew and can only really be seen to be believed.
If I was to attempt to describe it, imagine the Architecture of The Grinch / Whoville and The Flintstones. Combine all of their world’s in a crash course collision. That is the produced result of this architectural mess that oddly enough works.
We heard about the Maze bar first from others staying at our hostel. The entrance fee to the Maze Bar is covered if you order a drink at the door. It cost around 120Vietnamese Dong = 0.40Pence.
Pick a starting point and get lost in the maze. There’s four levels of complete randomness with stairways, secret doors, cupboards and much more. You will have the most epic game of hide and seek in the dark in this place. The best time to go is in the evening!
The Crazy House which is easily found on google maps – is actually a hotel. However, if its decor is too crazy for you, there is a small entrance fee for day visitors to come and explore.
Pick a direction, weave in and out, up and down and all through the varied buildings that make up the crazy house.
You can spend around 2-3 hours here, make sure to visit the aquarium room & take some epic photos.
Karaoke
You MUST get yourself a bottle of Dalat village Red wine, book a room or booth for an hour or two (comes in at around $4 per hour) and sing / wail till your heart’s content. 100% a highlight of our time in Vietnam.
Especially making the poor American tourist we had just met and invited along the way, called Valerie – Sing Valerie by Amy Winehouse a minimum of three times.
What Not To Do In Dalat
Prenn Waterfall
Please DO NOT visit this place, or contribute to its income.
We only realised after we paid the entrance fee to see the waterfall and headed down, that this was also an elephant riding tour operator.
Witnessing the sad mental effect of traumatised elephants aggressively rocking backwards and forwards in their chains, with Vietnamese locals whipping and beating protesting elephants as fat tourists clambered on board the big beautiful giants was heartbreaking to see.
If you are wanting to experience being in the presence of these beautiful animals, please know you are not contributing to their wellbeing if you are sitting and or riding on elephants.
Make sure to do your research thoroughly and make sure they are sanctuaries and not tourist gimmicks before further funding these terrible places.
Dalat is a quaint little stop whilst traveling up from the South of Vietnam that can be explored fully in two days. Make sure to add it to your Vietnam destination list if you have the luxury of time in this incredible country.
