Life looks wonderful in this Vietnamese highland town

Forget the crowded and touristy Da Lat, the peaceful D'ran nearby should be your next destination

 About 40 kilometers from Da Lat, D'ran is located at the other end of the D'ran Mountain Pass that connects it with the more popular resort town. Photos credit: Nghiem Phu Lam/VnExpress

 If you start from Phan Rang in the central province of Ninh Thuan, you can head to D'ran through the Ngoan Muc Pass.

 D'ran's climate is similar to that of Dalat with the year-round coolness, but it is even better thanks to its much slower and more peaceful life.

 Although vegetable farms are popular in D'ran, it is better known as a sunflower homeland.

 In November and December, tree marigolds, or Mexican sunflowers, are almost everywhere in the little town.

 The animals seem to enjoy the fresh air and the peace.

 Chau Son, a pine forest, where you can ride a bicycle around is one a few attractions near D'ran.

 Or, you can visit a sunflower field at a dairy farm, about 40 kilometers from the town.

 Da Nhim, one of the country's oldest hydropower dams, can be seen from the D'ran Mountain Pass. Opened in 1964, the dam is 38 meters high and nearly 1.46 kilometers long. The reservoir can keep 165 million cubic meters of water.

 About 27 kilometers from the town is Ka Don Church, the design of which won the European Prize of Sacred Architecture in 2011. The wooden church was opened in July last year.

 Although D'ran has only one motel for tourists at the moment, you can find accommodation in nearby towns, about 12 kilometers away. 

The original Vietnamese story can be found here on VnExpress

Da Lat city to bloom anew at flower festival

The central highland city of Da Lat will host the biennial flower festival – a tourism trademark of the city – from December 29 to January 2.

Car-nation: The flower vehicle parade circles around Xuan Huong Lake, revealing the diverse colours of the Da Lat Flower Festival 2012.

The upcoming event, themed Da Lat – A Multitude of Flower Colours, will feature a similar array of tourism and cultural activities including flower exhibitions in the city's downtown; tours to Ha Dong, Thai Phien and Van Thanh flower villages; a flower carnival; a vegetable-flower fair; and a science conference on flowers.

A vivid exhibition of tea, coffee, wine and other local delicacies will take place on Ho Tung Mau Street. Visitors can taste the many flavours of the city while perusing a flower-themed calligraphy, painting and photography displays.

For the first time in the festival's history, there will be a gala night for local flower raisers at Lam Vien Square on January 1st, which is dedicated to individuals and agencies involved in developing the local flower industry.

Several events will take place throughout the city to keep the festive atmosphere alive. Look out for the flower arrangement contest, fashion contest, flower painting festival, golf tournament, singing contest and festival for local art troupes.

"Different from previous events, this year we encourage more individuals and agencies to sponsor flower spaces in downtown instead of just local authorities," Vo Ngoc Hiep, chairman of the City People's Committee, said.

"We also have to persuade local hotels and restaurants to enchance facilities and service to prepare for the festival," added Hiep.

"In previous festivals, the city received nearly 500,000 tourists so this time we expect even more," he said.

Located 1,500m above sea level on the Langbiang Plateau, Da Lat claims some of the country's most beautiful lakes, waterfalls, forests, gardens and landscapes that make for beautiful flower country.

Nguyen Thi Nguyen, director of municipal Department for Culture, Sports and Tourism, said that the city had various natural advantages for tourism development.

She said that local authorities have approved 36 ecological tourism projects around the famous Tuyen Lam Lake, nine of which are currently under construction.

Recently 1,000 cherry trees were planted around the lake and the city in the hopes of hosting a cherry blossom festival.

Speaking of the festival, deputy chairman of the city's People's Committee Phan Van Da said that it, "aims to praise and encourage efforts by local flower growers and enterprises that have helped increase flower yield to 2.5 billion flowers a year, double that of ten years ago".

He said the flower industry has been a vital driving force in the local economy.

Department seeks funds for Da Lat railway

'Haunted' Da Lat house gets facelift for curious visitors

One of the most well-known "haunted" houses in Da Lat has had a makeover to cash in on its "notorious" history among tourists and visitors.

 

The 'haunted' house at Prenn Pass

Da Lat is said to have a number of "haunted" houses, but few as "infamous" as one house at the foot of Prenn Pass, Mimosa Valley built in 1930, which has undergone numerous repairs until, in 1986, it was sold to a French-Vietnamese man who died in a plane crash soon after buying it.

 

The house under repair

The house was abandoned, but it has attracted "stories" of murder and ghosts. A security guard committed suicide there in 1997, and taxi drivers in the city tell of one driver, who took a woman there on a short drive and died a few days later.

As rumours about the house grew, it attracted more and more curious visitors. But years of neglect left it in a shambles.

In early 2015, the house was sold to a businessman in HCM City. He cleaned up the garden, gave the house a facelift, and has reopened it for visitors.

Jetstar Pacific to open new Hue-Dalat routes in October

Illustrative image (Source: VNA)

Jetstar Pacific Airlines will launch a Hue-Dalat route on October 25, 2015, as heard at a press conference on the service in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue on October 6.

It is the first civil flight offered from Hue to Dalat and vice versa , meeting travel, economic, and tourism demands between the two localities.

Accordingly, the low-cost carrier will operate three return flights a week on Wednesday, Friday and Sunday , using Airbus A320-180 aircraft on the new flights.

Nguyen Dinh Tinh, Jetstar Pacific’s Head of the southern and central regions, said price will start from 550,000 VND (25 USD) for a one-way ticket, excluding taxes and fees and the price is not eligible to be combined with other promotion programmes.

Addressing the event, Vice Chairman of the provincial People’s Committee Nguyen Dung highlighted the significance of the new flight service as stimulating tourism development between the two hubs in the central and Central Highlands regions.

The province also pledged its utmost support to the new service including communications, transport, administration and relic site admission discounts for the company as well as its passengers on the new flights.-VNA

Book presents detailed description of Da Lat under French rule

Translator Pham Viem Phuong introduces the book (Photo: VNA)

The English language book “Imperial Heights” on Da Lat city by Canadian author Eric T. Jennings has been translated into Vietnamese, providing the most detailed and comprehensive ever insight into the resort city in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong.

The book, entitled in Vietnamese as “Dinh cao de quoc – Da Lat va su hung vong cua Dong Duong thuoc Phap” (Imperial Heights – Da Lat and the Making and Undoing of French Indochina), was the focus of a talk held in Da Lat city on October 3. The original book was published by the University of California Press in 2011.

Eric T. Jennings, born in 1970, is currently a professor of history at Canada’s University of Toronto and also an expert on the French colonial history.

At first, he did not intend to write about Da Lat, but during 10 years of searching libraries in Vietnam, France, the UK, the US and Switzerland to learn about the French colonialism, he discovered that the French colonialists placed an extremely great ambition on the city located in the hills of central Vietnam.

Tran Duc Tai, the Vietnamese version’s editor and also a Da Lat resident, said he came across “Imperial Heights” on the internet and was surprised that it covers everything about Da Lat and was written by a foreign historian, which is unprecedented.

Deemed as an encyclopedia on Da Lat, it offers exhaustive details on the formation of the city under the French rule from political, economic, military, planning, educational, religious and tourism dimensions, he said, adding that Jennings provided a myriad of new information that cannot be found in documents kept in Vietnam.

Through this book, readers will not only find arguments on why French colonialists put their global ambition on Da Lat but also learn about the mistaken views about Da Lat of the city’s discoverer Alexandre Yersin and historical events that happened in the city.-VNA