 In
1893, Dr Alexandre Yersin, a protégé of Louis Pasteur decided
to leave his ship docked at Nha Trang to explore the central highlands of
Vietnam and stumbled across Dalat. Quickly he spread the word about this
evergreen filled region dotted with lakes and waterfalls. In 1912 when the
city had established itself it was already popular with Europeans as a cool
retreat from the sweltering heat of the coastal plains and the Mekong Delta.
Those early tourists would amuze themsleves
boating on the lake, playing tennis, stalokng the forests in search of
big game and since the 1920, playing a round or two of golf. Many of the
French colonialists built vacation homes in Dalat and these villas remain
standing today in all their architectural splendour though lack the tender
loving care of their
original owners.
Dalat stands 1,500 m above sea-level in the
Lang Bain Highlands of Central Vietnam, 320 kms northeast of Ho Chi Minh
City.
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