November 17th: Dalat

Dalat was a resort town for the French colonialists to escape the heat of the south of Vietnam. Many of their houses date from the 1920s and 30s and are in various states of repair. The artificial lake dominates the city, the center of which rises in the hills at the west end of the lake. The mountainous local terrain and money from local and international tourists mean that the market proliferates with fruit and vegetables, coffee, local wine as well as trucked-in seafood.