Da Lat is a beautiful city in the mountains of southern Vietnam. It's a popular tourist destination for foreigners and Vietnamese alike. The city's higher elevation gives it a cool climate. I spent one night here on my road trip through the country.
I started my ride from Mui Ne around 9:00 am. I spent a little bit of time backtracking along the coast, then headed inland towards the mountains.
This is my first photo of the day. I was starting to get the hang of taking photos while riding. I'm not sure what I was taking a photo of, I think I just liked the little towns and villages that I was riding through.
The quality of this photo didn't turn out that good, but I love it. To me it's a good representation of Vietnam. Not that carts pulled by oxen are super common, but to me Vietnam is an intriguing mix of the very modern and the very ancient. This photo of the modern buildings, road, and billboard with a farmer using an ancient looking cart is kind of how Vietnam exists in my mind.
The road was flat for a while, but I could see the mountains on the horizon and I hoped my scooter would be able to climb them.
One of the biggest hazards on the roads in Vietnam are animal related. Many of the roads are very empty and you feel like you can pick up some speed on them. But a pile of dung or a startled chicken can easily cause a crash. You always have to be alert on the roads in Vietnam.
Eventually I started to climb into the mountains.
The roads were very twisty on the way up to Da Lat.
At the top of the mountain was this red tree. It was the only one if its type that I noticed.
Coming down the other side of the mountains, I encountered a tea farm for the first time. At least I think it was tea.
The plants were flowering and it smelled absolutely heavenly. I've never smelled anything like it. It was awesome.
I continued through a lot of hilly land. I wasn't doing much steep climbing, but there were a lot of ups and downs. The roads were quiet and the riding was very enjoyable.
The farmlands were pretty and seemed well maintained.
I stopped pretty frequently for water breaks and to stretch my legs. And for photos. I generally kept my days short so that I wouldn't feel rushed and could stop whenever I felt like it.
It looks like there were some rice paddies here, but rice didn't seem like a popular crop this far south.
I stopped for lunch at a small town.
For lunch I just had drinks. I learned pretty early on that I didn't want my stomach to give me problems and force me to do an emergency toilet hunt. For the most part I only consumed liquids during the day. I wouldn't eat until after I had a hotel room. If I got hungry, I would eat potato chips or a small snack.
I think this was in front of a restaurant. Maybe it was some other type of building.
Some of the roads were very new and nice. These types of roads were a joy to ride on.
I had forgotten that I saw elephants in Vietnam. Mostly I saw water buffalo, but there are some elephants here.
Eventually I made it into Da Lat. Getting a hotel in this town was the easiest thing ever. As soon as I entered the city, a lady pulled up next to me as we rode down the street. She said "Hotel room $5!", then handed me a business card. I took the card and said "Where?". She waved for me to follow her and took me to a where the hotel was located.
The room wasn't great, but for the price I couldn't be mad. I had definitely paid more for worse. I was happy with it. And I was happy that I didn't have to deal with the stress of finding a room.
After dropping off my stuff, I went out for a ride. It was like night and day to ride without my backpack on my bike. I loved riding around town unencumbered.
Da Lat has some cool buildings that I'm not sure what they are. They look like something for the Olympics or a World's Fair.
The lake is pretty big and there are some nice parks next to it.
Da Lat definitely seemed like it would be cool place to spend a few days in.
It looked like some sort of bike race was happening, but I think it was just a large group of cyclists.
I returned to the hotel and parked my scooter for the night. Then I went out on foot to find some dinner. Da Lat had some good food options.
After eating, I walked around a little bit then returned to the hotel to go to sleep.
I enjoyed my night in Da Lat and think it would be a great place for a visit. If you do decide to visit, you might want to check out 
The next day I loaded up my bike and continued north. I hope to see you in the next post!
