Đà Lạt - Underrated, Overrated, Properly Rated? | Saigon Sunday Sessions #13

Every time we've been to Da Lat, we've been probably six times and you can always find something different to do - Adrie

There's so much depth to what you can do in Da Lat that people don't initially realize. Even after five visits, we're still discovering new experiences - from unexplored coffee shops to sunrise cloud hunting adventures. 

What's fascinating about Da Lat is its versatility - while the city center and night market might get crowded, especially during holidays, the moment you venture out on a bike, you discover this whole other world. 

The contrast between being in the busy center and finding peaceful spots just a short ride away is remarkable. I think both tourists and expats in Saigon don't fully appreciate just how much Da Lat has to offer.
- Niall Mackay

Key Takeaways:

- Most expats who've visited rate Da Lat highly, but many tourists might not even know about it.
- Temperature difference between day and night is dramatic - visitors should always pack a jacket.
- Da Lat is notably dog-friendly and offers various activities from cable cars to flower gardens.
- The night market, while popular, is considered the least appealing aspect of Da Lat.

Chapters and Timestamps:
01:00 - Initial Ratings Discussion 
04:00 - Weather and Climate Insights 
06:00 - Food and Drink Spots 
08:00 - Activities and Attractions 
11:00 - Night Market Discussion 
13:00 - Final Thoughts and Ratings 
15:00 - Holiday Season Discussion 

7 Bridges Brewing Co. - An award winning Vietnamese craft brewery from Da Nang, with breweries across Vietnam!

Rabbit Hole Irish Sports Bar - Check out their new location on Tran Nao with the best views in the city over Landmark 81!

Transcript

Adrie: 2:28

We usually go to Da Lat with our dog, Who

Niall: 2:31

is making all the noise in the background you can

Adrie: 2:34

hear!

Niall: 2:34

Doing an episode of Underrated, Overrated, Properly Rated about Da Lat!

Adrie: 2:38

There's a lot to do there. There's like adventure sports, there's cafes, there's restaurants. It's great on a motorbike.

Mischa: 2:44

I just remember like being on the back, shivering my ass off.

Niall: 2:54

Doing an episode of Underrated, Overrated, Properly Rated about Da lat where we've just been to, so go check out that video if you haven't seen it already. It's just come out. It's an amazing place in Vietnam. Let's find out what people think. Is it properly rated, underrated or overrated? I'm excited to see what people say. Don't forget, turn on notifications, subscribe so you never miss an episode. Thanks very much for tuning in and let's go find out what everyone has to say. Let's go! Hello. we're here for another Saigon Sunday Sessions. We are here at Café des Stags, or des Stagiaires, if I, as I like to call it. We're here with Dan Jones, long term supporter of the podcast and a Patreon member. If you want to be a bop saudaire like Dan, go to patreon. com forward slash vietnampodcast. But today, we're doing something that Misha has, suggested, come up with. I love the idea. We've done one episode before. We did properly rated, overly overrated, or underrated. I think I said that in the wrong order. Yeah, it's underrated, overrated, properly rated. There you go, that one. And last time we did cocktails, cocktail bars in Saigon. Cocktail bars in Saigon. And today we are going to do Dalat, because we've just come back from Dalat. And if you haven't seen that video, make sure you go and check it out. we're going to start off with Dan. Dan, what do you think? Dalat, underrated, overrated, properly

Dan: 4:17

rated? I reckon underrated because people give it a bit of a bad rap, like it's crowded, it's busy, it's holidays, but every time I've been here it's been chilled. So what do you do in Nowhere? Just chill, basically stay just outside the city, enjoy the nature, walks, get a motorbike, drive around, just relax basically, night market, some food, chill. That's a really crazy house. Crazy house, yeah.

Niall: 4:41

We just did that for the first time. That was amazing. Alright, so we're going to move to Idri. Idri,

Adrie: 4:48

I think for most people on the tourist trail, it's probably underrated. I think Vietnamese people would say it's properly rated because they love it. Yeah. And, I don't know what the expat vote would be. For me, I really like it, so I think it's probably underrated. I think Dalat has a lot of, possibility in terms of what you want to do. Generally, the weather is better than Saigon, or it's cooler than Saigon, so it's just a nice, Dichotomy usually from here. when we were just there at the end of December, all I was seeing on social media was like all these people posting reels about how their like Vietnam trip was ruined because they were going to Da Nang and Hoi An. and coastal cities that are still in the midst of rainy season and have like really bad weather. But if you go inland a bit, if you go a little bit higher to Dalat, the weather was beautiful. There was a little bit of clouds, but no rain. Blue skies, a little bit cooler. And it's just really pretty, like the scenery is really pretty. There's a lot to do there. There's like adventure sports, there's cafes, there's restaurants. You have to seek some of it out. It's great on a motorbike. yeah, so I think it's underrated. It's my vote.

Mischa: 5:59

So I've been to Dalat a handful of times, most recently, just a few months ago. And I loved it. especially this most recent trip, I was like, really, it just hit a little different. I, I, I remember having good memories in Dalat. This last trip was like, This place is fucking beautiful. It's amazing. So I was leaning underrated, but then the more I think about it, like, when I told people I went to Dalat recently, everyone was like, Oh, that's awesome, I loved Dalat, it's amazing. as far as people I know, expats who live here in Saigon, or around Vietnam, I think it's properly rated, I think it's amazing. that's the definition of properly rated. Unless you don't think it's amazing, then it's definitely underrated. Do

Adrie: 6:34

you think, travelers or visitors even, even know about Dalat?

Mischa: 6:40

I don't care about tourists. That's, I think, from what I can tell, the, the purpose of these, pods and videos is, mostly for tourists coming to Vietnam, so if we can educate them. Based on our experiences living here, I think that's, I think we're doing a good job. So if, tourists don't realize that Dalat is awesome, then hopefully they realize, Oh fuck, we should go there, instead of like, not necessarily instead of anything, I love Hoi as well. yeah, it's a cool spot, underrated if you don't know about it, but I think, yeah, everyone who's been to Dalat, recognizes how awesome it is. And it is awesome. It's got the mountains. It's got the, just pack a jacket. Don't be like me and forget to pack a jacket. Cause those grab rides at home at night on the back of a grab bike in short sleeves, that got fucking cold. Yeah. Fine during the day walking around a little chilly. Not too bad. Yeah, short sleeves at night, not great. Let

Niall: 7:37

me share our story of that, because that is 100 percent good advice. When we were, maybe the first or the second trip, and we'd been on a bike all day, and it's sunny, and it's hot, and it's warm, and you're fine, and then we started moving back towards the lot, sun went down, And we were in the same clothes, and if you're from Saigon, like us, and if you live here, you just forget that it's always hot here, it's always warm, even at 1 in the morning, you can be on your bike in shorts and t shirt, maybe it'll be a little bit cooler, but it's just generally warm. It's shorts and t shirt weather all the time. And then we were in Dalat and the sun went down and honestly, I don't think. I was shivering on the bike.

Mischa: 8:16

Alright, now it gets proper cold. And I'm Canadian, I can handle a little bit of cold. But it gets proper cold in Dalat at night. cause I didn't have a bike, so I was on the back of a grab bike, from, wherever, back to my hotel. Wasn't like long rides, Dilat's pretty small, city center. but yeah, I just remember like being on the back, shivering my ass off, every night. And I, I was only there for a few days, so I didn't want to buy a jacket when I got there, but. In retrospect, just word to the wise, bring a jacket to the light.

Niall: 8:44

It was the first time where it was noticeably different between like night and day, like that phrase of night and day, it was so different. Daytime fine, night time. Literally like night and day. Literally like night and day. It was crazy. So when you go to Dalat, what do you, what do you do? What's your main spot to do in Dalat? I drink. I drink beer. where do you go drinking?

Mischa: 9:04

So this last time was my first time going to a few different places. Drinkery, Gemination. I think those are the same owners. Drinkery is more of a restaurant with a craft beer focus. Gemination's, definitely a cocktail bar. Really cool spot. my buddy Frank has a place, Le Alpi. Great, restaurant. He makes his own, cures his own meat and makes his own cheese. if you can catch him on a date when he's open. it's a great spot. He closes a lot. He closes a lot. He just decides to close sometimes. It's a running joke. there's this really cool place, Doosam. it's a coffee shop on the ground floor and a, a little craft beer bar on the second floor. And they've got all the craft beers from, Hanoi and Saigon. really cool spot, really friendly owner. Down Under, if you wanna, if you wanna watch the sport, if you're into the sport, Down Under Sports Pub, in the lot. yeah, those are some of my, my more favorite places. I didn't get a chance, this time, but David, earlier today just showed me a memory from five years ago of going up to Coho Coffee, like the, the coffee farm up in the mountains. fresh, fresh coffee up there, obviously, straight from the source. It was awesome. yeah, those are some of my more. Favorite places to eat and drink in, Dalat.

Niall: 10:08

Apart from all the drinking places, which we do like as well, what are some of the other places that we've been to recently or over the years, outside of Dalat?

Adrie: 10:16

outside of Dalat. I think, if you go outside of the city centre, so you'll need either a bike Or you can, if you don't have a bike, you can get a taxi, but find on Google Maps or something. So many beautiful coffee shops, outside. Not walkable usually from the city center, but that's something that we love to do is find the more scenic ones that look over the valleys or the, the mountains. There's a really cool sunset bar. Sorry to add to the bars, but it's, I think it's called 420 Sunset Bar and it looks over. I heard about that one. Yeah, we went, we didn't go this time, but we've been a couple times before and it's beautiful. Really good cocktail bar, very chill and just looks over the sunset. It's

Niall: 10:56

called Pool 20, I would imagine it's chill.

Adrie: 10:57

yes.

Mischa: 10:58

I forgot to mention Kim Kwan. It's a Vietnamese restaurant, it's fucking amazing. The chef used to work for our friend Logan, here in Saigon. I wonder And then he opened this place in Dalat. Some of the best, Vietnamese BBQ food I've had. And I've had a lot. fantastic if you're in Dalat. Kim Kwan. Look it up.

Adrie: 11:15

We usually go to Da Lat with our dog, Who

Niall: 11:18

is making all the noise in the background you can

Adrie: 11:21

hear Although, Dalat is very dog friendly, which is why we take her. so some of the other places, yeah, really good food, really good restaurants. you can go to almost any of the kind of touristy destinations with jobs as well. So there's a cable car that you can ride that's quite cool. you can walk through loads of gardens and spots with beautiful flowers. Dalat is where all the, not all, but a lot of the flowers for Vietnam are grown. Because of the cooler climate, so you can go to gardens. the, there's, there's two or three, I think three waterfalls in the vicinity that are quite famous. So Datlana is like one of the biggest ones and it's quite close to the, the main, city. And there's like an alpine rollercoaster there. You walk down to get to the waterfall. It's, it's massive. It's beautiful. There's Elephant Waterfalls, I think, which is a bit of a driveway, maybe 40 or 45 minutes away. South, I believe. so you can either get a, a bike to drive there, or you can get a, probably hire a car or a driver to take you there. there's another one, I can't remember the name at the moment. Another waterfall. Then There's a lake that's just out of the city center called Tuyen Lam, Tuyen Lam Lake, I think. Pronunciations aren't great, but, again, coffee shops, walks around there, really beautiful. It's really nice to drive around there. We found a really nice place. in the pines, you can have some nice food and just be in the trees and have a cooler climate. what else? I'm not sure.

Niall: 12:46

What was your final reading? I forgot what you said already.

Adrie: 12:48

I said I think it's underrated because every time we've been to the lot we've been probably six times and you can always find something different to do. Do. and there's a lot to do. There's stuff for families, there's stuff for couples, there's stuff for people that like to drink. There's stuff for people that don't like to drink. There's people that like to eat that, to go to night markets. You can avoid the night markets if you want to. You can do nature, you can do the night market.

Mischa: 13:07

Is that just like the regular market? But at night

Adrie: 13:10

it pretty much tells strawberries and sweaters. That's all they sell, like strawberries and sweaters. So if you forgot the jacket, go to the night party.

Niall: 13:21

I saw. I feel like the night market is maybe the worst thing about Dallas. It's

Adrie: 13:26

definitely overrated. That,

Niall: 13:27

that part is overrated, right? So it's, like, how do you even describe it? It's just a bunch of tat sold in the main street. Always packed as well, isn't it? It's always crowded

Dan: 13:37

with people. Hard to walk through.

Niall: 13:39

Why? Yeah, hard to walk through. Always busy. And it just, we, when we were there last time, it just sold absolute shit. See, this is what I think is, a lot of people think of the lat, they think of the main town, and they think of that night market, and so I personally think, So the best part

Dan: 13:56

of that, it's not like the main site, the outside, the surrounding areas is the best part about it, it's a 4. 20 pub shop, I've not been there but I've seen it on Instagram, it looks fantastic. Just drive around, find a coffee shop, restaurants, middle of nowhere, that's the best thing about it. And what was your favourite, favourite decision? I think it's underrated, I've got friends who have been there, probably having just been to the night market, and they didn't like it, it's busy, it's crowded, I don't know if they've explored it properly. Yeah, that's why

Niall: 14:22

I think we're derated. I would agree, so I think mine would be underrated as well, because not just for tourists, it is not, I feel like it's not on the tourist trail so much, but even the people who live here, and even for us, we've been five, six times, I think five times now, there is so much to do there in Dalat. So much like you were just saying, like outside, as soon as you get on a bike or a tour, That last trip we went on, we did stuff we'd never done before. Went to coffee shops we'd never been to, did a sunrise thing we'd never done before. That's what I think, Dalat. Sunrise? yeah, I know, I can't think, how do you describe it? It was called cloud hunting. So you go up to this highest peak, and you're trying to find the beautiful clouds coming over the mountains, but we didn't find any clouds, so So it's a bit of a womp So my final opinion, I think it's underrated because there's so much to do there. I think people in Saigon don't appreciate it. Adrian made a good point that we should ask someone from Vietnam what they think of it because they might have a completely different opinion.

Adrie: 15:23

you said people in Saigon, so yeah, I'll just correct you there. Expats

Niall: 15:28

in Saigon, I think. Don't.

Mischa: 15:30

Final thoughts from Misha? I think I gave all my thoughts already. Properly rated. Because it's amazing. You think properly rated? So you're the only one that's different? I think everyone thinks it's awesome. yeah. Bye. I understand what you're saying, why you think it's underrated. I, I agree with all your points. I just think everyone I talk to thinks that Delatte's awesome. And it is. properly rated for me. think there's just so much stuff to do that people don't fully appreciate like how amazing it is.

Adrie: 15:56

I was just gonna say, I think it, the reason, well, not you, but underrated because I think Vietnamese people and maybe expats, like you just said, I think it's underrated for international or tourists that are coming from other places. Part of the reason we say that is we met a guy in, when we were in Phong Nha. He was from Australia and he was like, Oh, I went to Da Lat and we were like shocked. We were like, wait, what? And he was like, I loved it. It was amazing. It was so relaxed, blah, blah, blah. And then again, like I said, there were loads of people that had. Hoi An and Da Nang, and all these coastal places on their bucket lists. And in December, unfortunately, it's still rainy season, so you're getting really shit weather for these things that you might have planned for a year. And actually, maybe you don't get to go to Hoi An, but if you get to go to Dalat, but you don't really know about it, go inland a bit!

Dan: 16:55

I'd say, underrated. Just because I've got, I don't know, idiot friends who maybe just don't rate it as well as they should. What do your friends think of the land? if you bring it up in a group, what do they say? To be fair, it's 50 50. Some do like it, but some think, oh, no, what's the point? but I think it's just because, again, maybe people have been once, they've spent two or three days there, they've gone to the night market, they've stayed in the city, or they've probably gone in a Vietnamese national holiday, which makes it a lot busier. But that's the same area, that's the same food court. I guess the Hoi An, wherever you go. If it's a holiday.

Niall: 17:27

Wait, Dan's made a really good point, Niall. Alright, underrated, overrated, properly rated. Dalat on a Vietnamese public holiday.

Mischa: 17:41

I've never been to Dalat during a Public holidays, so I couldn't say. But I would imagine it's, pretty hectic.

Adrie: 17:48

Avoid the city centre.

Mischa: 17:50

Yeah, I'd say, pick a nice quiet weekend to go to Doha. Great point.

Niall: 17:56

explain a little bit more, what do you mean by that on a public, Vietnamese public holiday?

Dan: 18:00

I've, I've not been, thankfully, I've got more common sense, but it's Absolute cards, isn't it? Just bikes everywhere, people everywhere, just can't move. You're probably paying four or five times the price for a hotel. It's just, not worth it, is it? It's just, I can see then You'd be saying overriders if you went If you go to Duran Tert, you'd be saying

Niall: 18:19

overriders. but this is what I think is one of the beauties of Dalat, right? So if you go during a Vietnamese holiday, public holiday, the center, where that night market is, and all around there, it's gonna be absolute chaos and not fun. But every time we've been to Dalat, I've found that as soon as you leave Dalat center, because it's so big, there's so many hills, there's so many coffee shops, there's so many places to go, as soon as you leave It doesn't feel that busy, right? That's it,

Dan: 18:49

yeah. You should get that slice of pork. Just get out there. Just get out there, yeah.

Niall: 18:53

So I think what are we seeing overall? Properly rated? Underrated? I'm saying underrated. You're saying? Underrated as well. Underrated. So I think that's overall. Dalat is underrated. let me know what you think. Do you agree? Is Dalat underrated, overrated, properly rated? leave a message in the comments. Send me a message. Thank you very much for tuning in. Remember, follow us on all the social medias. Hit follow, subscribe, turn on Turn on notifications so you never miss a future episode. Thank you so much for tuning in, and if you want to become a Pops out there just like Dan, then go to patreon. com forward slash a VNM podcast and you get episodes like this early. If you're in Saigon, we're gonna go out for pub crawls, cocktail crawls, Alright, thanks. Cheers.