VietNamNet Bridge – Though the perception of Dalat as a famous tourist destination has changed for the worse over the years, this hilly resort city still possesses little, attractive things which visitors may find appealing. Dalat’s beauty is not just its spectacular scenery that makes first-time visitors to the city hold their breath, but little things really give them good memorable experiences.

Tourists visit flower garden in Dalat City.

When asked about what Dalat was like in the past, old people often excitedly talk about its weather and fresh air. “Dalat is so different now. You can never imagine how lovely the city was then. The houses, the hills, the pine trees, the flowers… All so lovely!” says a woman who identified herself as Hien, spent her childhood in Dalat and is now living in HCMC.

The way the woman in her forties fondly recalled her pleasant memories about Dalat gives me a sense of envy. People of a younger generation like me do not have a single chance to explore Dalat of the past to see if it was as lovely as described. My first visit to the town was some 15 years ago, and ever since, I have made multiple trips to Dalat, as I still consider it an interesting place.

Well-known for a year-round cool climate, Dalat has a lot of must-see sites like ancient French-built houses and buildings, beautiful lakes and waterfalls. Dalat is a dreamy city where visitors can cycle by the lakeside, walk along winding roads, walk up and down steep roads, visit old houses under high pine tree shade with many species of flowers in the yards, sip a cup of hot coffee or tea, or simply sit by the lake enjoying fresh air and feeling the gently blowing cool breeze.

But above all, visitors go to Dalat to have simple but unforgettable experiences in this small city and return to the city to explore new spots, and to relive wonderful experiences they once had been there. Gradually, simple experiences like enjoying a glass of hot soya milk, biting grilled rice paper - a snack food dubbed as Vietnamese pizza and increasingly popular in other localities - or walking slowly at night when fogs come down become must-do activities for visitors whenever they get a chance to stay in Dalat.

“To me, what makes Dalat so special is a wide variety of flowers there as well as its typical veggies like broccoli, lettuce and bell pepper, and fruit like strawberry and avocado. Besides, I love drinking hot soya milk at the central market in cold weather, a perfect combination,” says a 25-year-old Dong Nai Province resident known as Khanh. “Whether the milk is tasty or not does not matter then,” she said, smiling.

And Dalat has many other things to offer with vast areas of wild sunflowers and its golden yellow flowers starting to bloom in October. Nothing is more interesting than walking slowly along small, twisty roads on the city’s outskirts with wild sunflowers along the way or gazing at small hills brightened up by the golden yellow color of flowers in bloom.

SGT/VNN