Alot in Dalat

Last weekend I headed out to Dalat, some six hours north of Saigon, to take in some fresh air. I had heard about as 'Le Petit Paris' of Vietnam, and while I wouldn't go that far it was a perfectly nice place to visit.

Legend has it that 'DALAT' is an acronym for 'Dat Aliis Laetitiam Aliis Temperiem' ("Giving Pleasure to Some, Freshness to Others") Like most legends, this is too charming to be true.

Dalat is known as the 'City of Flowers' for its extensive flower markets. Also renowned are Dalat strawberries and (somewhat incongruously) the local artichoke tea.

Dalat is most famous as the honeymoon capital of Vietnam, the picturesque vistas, flower gardens, and mild climate allowing couples to contemplate their future together without choking on dust on being drowned in their own sweat.

Also, Dalat has it's own mini version of the Eiffel Tower:


Of course, because is so elevated and doesn't have the pollution of Saigon this makes the sun much stronger, as I discovered when I became horribly sunburned. But I suppose that is my own fault.

The Ice Dam Sen Cometh

One thing it is very hard to be in Saigon is cold.

Oh sure, there are over-air-conditioned rooms here and there, but they're not much fun, and in any case they make my glasses fog up.

For cold - REAL cold, snow and ice and danger of hypothermia - you might be able to go all the way north to Sapa, but even then it's not a sure thing.

At some level all people desire the new, however, and to provide it the Dam Sen amusement park (out in distant District 11) has created the Ice Palace, an extra-cold room (basically a freezer) which has palaces, pagodas, and other impressive buildings carved out of the ice. Thoughtfully, the management hands out parkas at the entrance because most people inexplicably forgot to bring their own.

Unfortunately, ice is kind of boring, even when it's been carved into buildings. It's colorless and smooth and blandly uniform. So, the obvious solution was to fill it with oddly-colored lights. Viz:




I wish I could rent that place out for parties...

The Burger of Doom

Well, we all knew it would happen eventually...

Burger King is coming to Vietnam. The first location will be on Le Loi street sometimes toward the end of May. I never went to Burger King in the States very much; now, like Samuel L. Jackson, I find myself basically a vegetarian, but I do love the taste of a good burger.

This is apparently in a move to counter Mcdonald's, which is opening it's first location in Hanoi around the same time. It could start a new war...

Well, ultimately I suppose this isn't really any worse than the proliferation of Lotteria and KFC, but there's something about the two ultimate American burger chains moving in that has a this-is-the-end feel to it...soon even the chain stores in Vietnam will look the same as everywhere else.

Ironically, the BK is opening not far from I Love Burger, a local place which strives to create a 1950s American hamburger-joint atmosphere, and may ultimately be run out of business by the real thing.

Update: I found out why this was so long in coming. Until recently, Vietnam had a series of protectionist measures in place which mandated that all international chains had to use Vietnamese produce. Apparently the quality of beef and potatoes here is too low even for a fast-food-chain, and so they stayed away. Now that VN has joined the WTO such restrictions have been lifted, and Burger King will use beef from Aussie and potatoes from Singapore.

Take A Seat (Not Safe for Work)

As noted previously, the Vietnamese authorities are notably squeamish about what they allow people to see in terms of sex and violence.

Also, the Vietnamese haven't really cottoned onto 'malls' yet. Oh sure, there are department stores (always 'plazas') like Diamond and Parkson, but in terms of a mall - that is, a large space with numerous discrete shops in it - there are only one or two.

One of these is Saigon Center, on the corner of Le Loi and Pasteur. The ground floor is cafes, the second floor used to a combination of things, and the third floor is furniture and utensils. Anyway, I was wondering around there the other day when I stumbled upon this (do not scroll down if you happen to be at work right now):
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Not only is this way over the top for a country which won't allow women in bras in to appear on TV, but as a concept it just seems kind of....odd. Yes, come in, take a seat. Haven't you always wondered what it would be like to sit inside someone's ass? Well, wonder no more.

I guess it is a talking point...

April is the Cruelest Month

When I first arrived in Vietnam the heat was the most overwhelming feature. It was hard to focus on absorbing the city, the culture etc. because so much of my time was taken up with keeping cool and hydrated. I spent the first month or two dashing from one air-conditioned haven to another, meanwhile gulping down gallons of water from the coolers all schools offer in the teacher's lounges.

That, however, was the rainy season, which supposedly lasts from June to November. Over time I got used to the heat and it gradually got cooler as we moved into winter. Now, however, comes the harsh two-month stretch of April and May, when the weather is hot and there is no rain to temper it.

Actually this was proven wrong (at least for a day) by the rainstorm this afternoon, which made the atmosphere quite pleasant and opened up what possibilities this city could have if it was 20 degrees cooler and not so humid.