The provincial capital of Dalat is situated on an altitude of
approximately 1500 metres in the Centrale Highlands. Because of its altitude it
has a moderate climate with pleasant temperatures throughout the year.
This "city of eternal spring" still has a European atmosphere with old
colonial villas along the lake and a city quarter resembling a French provincial
town. The city was founded between 1912 and 1920 by the French who fled from the
heat in the river delta. They proclaimed Dalat the summer capital of the south.
Because of its nice environment and its mild climate Dalat was also a favourite
refuge for the Vietnamese emperors. The last emperor Bao Dai had a summer
residence in the pine woods on a hill near the city centre. The city is the
centre of a vast area with large plantations of
tea and mulberry trees, the food for the silk worm. The environment reveals a
unique landscape with hills, valleys, lakes,
rivers and waterfalls. More than twenty different ethnic groups (Montagnards)
live in the environment. The Lat tribe is one of them.
A road leads from Dalat in northeastern direction to a Lat
village at the foot of a mountain called Lang Bian. These Montagnards are
peasants cultivating rice, maize, tobacco, coffee and potatoes. They sell
charcoal to make a living. The Lat do not wear traditional dress any more,
but the women still can be recognized because of
a basket or a child on their back. The village has wooden houses and a church.
A school is the only stone building in the village. A visit to the village
requires a permit. The Vietnamese police supervises the entrance to the
village because the christian Lat chose the side of the Americans in the Vietnam
war. Many Lat have family living in the west who left the country as war
refugees.
The road from Dalat to Na Thrang passes the Ngoan-Muc valley.
The road has several hair pin bends and leads down from the mountains to the
coastal plain. The French called it the Bellevue valley because of its beautiful
panorama. Along the road female vendors try to
sell water and candy to passengers in order to make a living.
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