Introduction
2026-08-14---2026-08-20
I wanted to spend a few days somewhere cool this summer, and after weighing travel time and cost, Da Lat, Vietnam, seemed like the best fit. At around 1,500 meters above sea level, it stays fairly cool, usually around 18–24°C throughout the day, with plenty of clouds and rain. Because of its French colonial history, the city has a lot of European-style architecture, which gives it a pretty distinctive feel compared with much of Southeast Asia. That said, getting here was probably the most hardcore travel itinerary I’ve ever done: a 1.5-hour drive from Haidian in Beijing to Daxing Airport, a three-hour flight to Guangzhou for a connection, another three-hour flight to Ho Chi Minh City, and finally an eight-hour sleeper bus ride to Da Lat. I’m glad I did this while I’m still young—doing the same trip when I’m older might take half my life out of me.
1. Immigration
2026-08-15
Of all the places I’ve traveled to, immigration in Ho Chi Minh City was by far the most ridiculous. I landed from Guangzhou at 2:00 a.m. local time on August 15, and it took a full hour and a half just to get through immigration. By the time I finally made it out of the airport, it was almost 4:00 a.m., and I was completely wiped out. To be fair, that ended up being the worst part of the entire Vietnam trip. The staff somehow reminded me a little too much of civil servants back home, haha. Once I got through immigration, everything got much better.
2. Sleeper Bus
2026-08-15
After getting through immigration, I slept for a few hours at a hotel near the Ho Chi Minh City airport, then headed out around noon to catch the bus to Da Lat. Google Maps said the drive would take six or seven hours, but it ended up taking more than eight. With rain along the way and a long uphill climb into the mountains, it definitely wasn’t an easy drive. The sleeper berths were also smaller than I expected. I had seen travel tips saying a couple could just buy one berth and share it, but once we got on board, we realized it was way too cramped. The berths are probably designed with local passengers in mind, and with two foreigners sharing one, there was no way for us to fully stretch out our legs.
3. Natural Home Hotel
2026-08-15
The location wasn’t amazing and it wasn’t really downtown, but the place itself was lovely. Best of all, there were a bunch of little dogs around, and every single one of them was hilariously food-obsessed.
4. Xuan Huong Lake
2026-08-16
Da Lat is basically built around Xuan Huong Lake, and most of the city’s well-known attractions are not far from here. Of course, the lake itself is also one of Da Lat’s most famous sights.
5. Da Lat Night Market
2026-08-16
This is probably the liveliest part of the city at night. It sits right next to Xuan Huong Lake, just a short walk from the waterfront.
6. Franciscan Monastery
2026-08-17
There was a monastery near our hotel that looked like it was being renovated. No one was around inside the grounds—just a few little dogs wandering here and there.
7. Da Lat University
2026-08-17
The campus felt a lot like universities in China before the pandemic: you could walk in and out freely, and even enter the classroom buildings without any trouble. I kind of miss that feeling of being able to just wander onto a campus, haha. I wonder when universities back home will go back to being that open again.
8. Crazy House
2026-08-17
It was supposedly designed by the daughter of a former vice president of Vietnam, inspired by her own dreams. It’s definitely a strange and creative place, with lots of narrow staircases. Honestly, it feels less suited to adults and more like somewhere kids would have a blast. Two little Korean girls clearly loved it—they kept running up and down the steps with an impressive amount of energy.
9. Da Lat Railway Station
2026-08-17
You can take a train from here to a nearby temple, but it was already getting late that day, so we skipped the ride and just wandered around outside the station for a while.
10. Datanla Waterfall
2026-08-18
The scenery wasn’t as spectacular as the Three Gorges Waterfall back in China, but there’s an alpine coaster here, and it wasn’t expensive. Overall, it was still a pretty fun place.
11. Maria Convent
2026-08-18
This convent was built by the French in the 1930s and 1940s. Its pink exterior is really distinctive, although the weather wasn’t great that day, so the photos didn’t turn out nearly as well as I’d hoped.
12. Street Scenes and Food
2026-08-18
Eating in Vietnam is incredibly cheap. At a typical street stall, you can get a filling meal for just a few RMB. At a small local restaurant, RMB 30–40 is usually enough for two people. Korean restaurants are a little more expensive, and Chinese restaurants are the priciest of all. Before leaving, we had one meal at a Chinese restaurant in Ho Chi Minh City, and it cost us RMB 220......
