Da Lat in 48 Hours: Clouds, Bánh Căn and the Night Market

Saigon runs hot and loud. Da Lat, 300 kilometres north and 1,500 metres up, does the opposite. Mornings start under a blanket of fog, the air smells of pine, and everybody wears a jacket, even in the middle of the day.

This is a short trip: one night bus up, two days in the highlands, one night bus back. No rush, just a list of places, a camera, and enough time to sit with a coffee and watch the clouds move.

The itinerary

1. Day 0Thu, 16 Oct

   Leaving Saigon

   1. 23:50Night bus: Sài Gòn → Đà Lạt

      A sleeper bus out of the city. Lights off, curtains drawn, and about seven hours of winding road up into the Lâm Đồng highlands.

2. Day 1Fri, 17 Oct

   Clouds, bánh căn and the night market

   1. 05:30Arrive in Da Lat

      Stepping off the bus into the cold. The first breath of highland air after Saigon is the best wake-up call.

   2. 06:00Cloud hunting at Cầu Đất

      Cầu Đất hills(opens in a new tab)

      Săn mây: chasing the sea of clouds that settles over the valleys at sunrise. Then a hot coffee with a view over the hills while the fog burns off.

   3. 10:00Early lunch: bánh căn

      Bánh Căn Cô Thương(opens in a new tab)

      Small rice-flour cakes cooked in clay moulds, topped with quail egg, and dipped in fish sauce with meatballs. It's Da Lat's signature comfort food.

   4. 11:00Coffee by Tuyền Lâm Lake

      Happy Hill Coffee, Đảo Trái Tim, Hồ Tuyền Lâm(opens in a new tab)

      The heart-shaped island on Tuyền Lâm Lake, with pine forest all around the water.

   5. 12:00Work: recording TheNinhCake

      A filming session for TheNinhCake. Even a slow trip has a little work in it.

   6. 13:30Check in

      Hung Nguyen Valley Da Lat(opens in a new tab)

   7. 14:00Take the room and rest

      After a night on the bus, an afternoon nap feels earned.

   8. 15:00Filming Da Lat's city centre

      Xuân Hương Lake, the old French villas, the slopes and stairways of the centre. Golden-hour light on the pastel walls.

   9. 17:00Dinner: snails

      Ốc Tâm 33(opens in a new tab)

      Snails and shellfish, eaten hot while the evening turns cold.

   10. 19:00Da Lat Night Market

       Walking the Chợ Đêm stalls: bánh tráng nướng (the "Da Lat pizza"), hot soy milk, grilled skewers, knitted hats, and racks of dried persimmons and strawberries.

   11. 21:00A light late-night snack

   12. 22:00Sleep

3. Day 2Sat, 18 Oct

   Persimmon gardens and the road home

   1. 08:00Breakfast

      Breakfast spot(opens in a new tab)

   2. 09:00Persimmon garden

      Vườn hồng trái Thái Long(opens in a new tab)

      October is the start of persimmon season. Orange fruit hangs heavy on the branches, and in the drying sheds rows of hồng treo gió, the wind-dried persimmons, slowly turn sweet.

   3. 11:00Coffee break

      No plan here, just whichever café looks good on the way.

   4. 13:00Back to the hotel to relax

   5. 17:00Last dinner in Da Lat

      Dinner spot(opens in a new tab)

   6. 21:00Head to the bus terminal

   7. 21:30Night bus back to Saigon

      Down the mountain, back to the heat.

Food

Da Lat's food is made for cold weather. Bánh căn comes straight off the clay moulds, still hot. Bánh tráng nướng is rice paper grilled over charcoal with egg, scallion and dried shrimp. Bowls of snails are best eaten when you can see your own breath. And at night, everybody walks around holding a cup of warm soy milk.

Culture and people

Da Lat was built as a French hill station, and you can still see it in the villas, the old railway station and the stone church towers. But the city really belongs to the people who grow its flowers, vegetables, coffee and persimmons on the surrounding slopes. They're unhurried and friendly, and always ready to point you to a better café than the one you were looking for.

Weather

October sits at the end of the rainy season. Mornings are foggy and cold, around 15–17°C, which is exactly what makes the clouds pool in the valleys at Cầu Đất. Afternoons warm up and can bring a short shower, and nights call for a jacket. Pack layers.

The night market

When the sun goes down, the streets around Da Lat Market fill with charcoal smoke, steam and people in knit hats. It's part dinner, part shopping, and part people-watching. It's the most alive Da Lat gets.

Nature

Pine forests, lakes, misty valleys, flower farms and persimmon orchards. Nature here isn't a separate stop on the itinerary. It's the background to everything, even the walk from the hotel to breakfast.

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