Jungle trek and a crazy house in Da Lat

We arrived around 5pm after a 4 hour climb in a sweaty coach up the steep hills, the scenery of green trees and the big lake was far from anything we'd seen in Vietnam so far. After checking in we headed out to get a coffee and see what Da Lat was like, by that time the sun was setting and by nightfall the place resembled most of the cities we've seen so far - busy, noisy and not a lot else. But we had come to experience the buzz of nature here that it was famous for and we certainly ended up doing that.

Feeling on top of the world... and out of breath!

We had 2 full days in Da Lat - a place described in our guide book as "petit Paris". The first day we visited one of the most famous attractions here - something called the 'crazy house', it cost just over £2 for us both to get in and I can definitely say it was worth it. It was somewhere that made you feel like a kid again with it's warped walkways, railings that would never pass health and safety in the UK, different sized houses and architecture of different origins. In some places it made you feel like a giant, in some places you felt small. It opened in 1990 and it was still under construction! It doubles as an expensive hotel too, which explains why they're constantly expanding it. There was plenty to see in there but in a short time there'll be even more so if you're ever here I'd recommend a visit.

Claire at the crazy house, where she was often just the right size!

In the afternoon we tried to find the flower gardens but went the wrong way and ended up walking all around a golf course before we got there! When we did, rather than pay and go in, we sneaked a peek through the gate and decided it wasn't worth it.
So far, Da Lat was very nice by day and had a distinctive look about it when compared to the other cities of Vietnam thanks to the French inspired architecture and abundance of greenery, but it wasn't looking anything like a "petit Paris" - in fact I wondered if the people who said that have ever been to Paris themselves.
The next day we decided that we needed to see the real Da Lat that people visit for -the surrounding countryside - so we booked a tour to hike up a mountain and trek down through the jungle through a company called groovy gecko tours for $25 each.

The next day we met our guide Hoat and headed off at 9:30am (nice reasonable time!), before we knew it we were in the hills trekking up a mountain (I say mountain because they call it that, and whilst it is high it isn't as high as you'd think a mountain to be).

Hoat knew we were fit and set us off at quite a pace, soon the incline was really steep and all 3 of us were panting and sweating profusely! It was quite a lung-buster getting to the top but as soon as we did we were greeted with spectacular views over the whole of Da Lat as well as a sense of achievement of doing something I've never done before.
After that we spent the next couple of hours trekking down through the jungle that got more and more dense the further we went, whilst our guide told us to be on the lookout for leeches on our feet!

A while later we had finished the descent and came to a clearing where Claire got a sight of something she'd really wanted to see on our travels - an elephant. Unfortunately this one was chained up as they aren't native to this area so she was just a tourist attraction, but beyond that she was still a magnificent creature to behold and one we hope to see in the wild for real at some point.

We ended with an awesome picnic provided by Hoat of baguettes and fruit before getting a boat across the lake and hopping in the car home. When we got home we were absolutely exhausted - I've never hiked before so it took a lot out of me!

In general Da Lat was lovely, especially in the daylight. I've come to think though that I'm not really a fan of any city I've seen here by nightfall - the places lose any character they have after sunset. But there's no doubt that for me the main pull of this place is the stunning surroundings of mountains, jungles and it's there you can have the best adventures.

Now we've hit the road again, next stop: the beach resort of Nha Trang for an island hopping boat trip!