Wednesday 04 November 2015

Dalat, second impression……..Inevitably as you become more familiar with your surroundings you will feel more at ease. But that process takes time. With no breakfast included, even a coffee I’m forced out of the room early to look for something but it’s raining hard. A number of hotel restaurants are open; mine doesn’t appear to be. Desperate for a coffee I sit down in one of the dingy coffee shops but they do an excellent drip coffee and herbal tea. These are served together and are popular in the former Indo China but what about food? I fix that at my new hotel not far away. It’s now time to get my bearings and walk towards the city centre. Here there are many more dining options but fewer hotels. I also locate the bank and more tourist offices. It’s a similar situation to Pham Ngu Lao in Saigon, the more you ask around the more the price seems to drop for tours. By mid morning my plans for Dalat are much clearer as well as my exit strategy. It only remains for me to change rooms. That’s all fixed up by midday.

On the right track……..When in the morning I needed to change some of my US Dollars into Dong they asked for my passport but they retained it at La Pensee Hotel. As I head out again now with my passport the banks are closed for lunch. Great! Ok let’s try something different. Dalat Old Railway Station is just a few kilometres from the town centre so I call a taxi. I haven’t had lunch yet but I hope to find something later. My notes tell me about a steam train that runs from here up the valley so I want to check that out. When I arrive at the station at about 1pm it’s deserted and I don’t know whether there’s a service or not. The taxi driver cannot help or does not want to help but I hang around for while. In the Old Station there is an old steam train but it looks like it was decommissioned years ago but there is another train. Well it’s an old shunting type diesel locomotive at the front of four carriages. Are these museum pieces too? I notice a timetable which states that there is a train running at 2pm. Am I in luck? When somebody turns up I’m told the train does run and the ticket office will open shortly. WOW! But is this the train? A notice board states that this is the oldest remaining service left in Vietnam and the authorities wish to preserve it. When a few more people turn up I know I’m on the right track but I still wonder about the train.

A piece of history……..When a group tour arrives with about 15 minutes to go; I know this is the train. Besides, there is no room for another train on the line. OK let’s see what I’ve got here. There are four carriages and I’ve been inside them. I thought they were for display only but no. We’re actually going to travel in them: Really. Let’s forget the locomotive and concentrate on the rolling stock. The carriages are short, maybe just a third the size of today’s carriages. They are constructed of wood with medal frames and bogie. The interior is of lacquered hardwood including the seats which run the length of the carriage on both sides like park benches. Each carriage is independently braked with a hand wheel. Now I have a crack at their age. This is the nearest I will ever get to the feeling the troops would have had in WW1 as they set off for war. Of course the equipment here is French but nostalgia apart, am I in for an exciting trip? The line now is just 7 kilometres. Originally there was a service all the way to the coast at Nha Trang. As the train pulls away am I dreaming of beautiful views of the city and the valley above. If I was, that soon disappears. What I do see is most extraordinary. I know this area is well known for its local produce but as I gaze around the hill slopes, I can hardly see a free piece of land for polytunnels. I’m at a loss to understand why these scruffy looking structures are so important and why they are perched so precariously on the hillsides. If ever there was cause to complain about polytunnels in the UK, they should come and look here first. Whatever happens next, this trip is a complete let down. 7 kilometres isn’t much and there’s no chance of seeing even a tree as we pull into one of the scruffiest towns I’ve ever seen. The town is home to the locally famous Van Han Pagoda a Chinese style ornate temple complex which houses a large Buddha image. There is a beak for 50 minutes to view the pagoda by which time it’s raining again. My heart has sunk in the last half hour. At least I find a bank open and change some dollars as well as grabbing something to eat. I'am glad to get back on the train. I think I should shut my eyes for the last bit. From the station I head straight back to the hotel to take stock of the situation.

A dilemma……..There are tours out of Dalat to explore the beautiful countryside that supposedly has some resemblance to the French Alps but if it rains as it has done the last two days here then I can think of many places I’d rather be. It’s clear I need to make an investment to get out and about from here and my companion is not enthusiastic. I make a last effort to try and arrange something for tomorrow. There is one advantage that Dalat has and that’s the cool weather. With most places in the city within walking distance it’s good to just wander around. This second evening, now that I’ve found my way around there is opportunity for that. Down in the centre there’s a lot going on with the night market and shopping of all kinds and the good selection of restaurants all doing good business. I eat at what is a copy version of KFC or MacDonalds. It’s cheap that’s all I can say. By the time the day’s done I’m no further forward with my plans for tomorrow. It seems that this section of the tour will just fizzle out now. Next Page.