Discover Dalat: Local Travel Guide to Da Lat, Vietnam

Book excerpt: Dalat is mountain sunrises, chicken soup, paddle boats, and lounge singers. It's where Vietnamese people go to cool off in the summer, or see "European winter" for Christmas. Downtown is a cascade of steep staircases for pedestrians, or infuriatingly narrow one-way streets for the motorized. Even in the hottest global-warmed summer, you don't need A/C here. Dalat is Vietnam like you've never seen it. As heavily touristed as Dalat is, tourists miss the best stuff every time. I got tired of wanting to slap my forehead seeing foreign and Vietnamese visitors alike getting the blandest, most boring version of Dalat — especially on those awful guided tours around tourist traps and gift shops. I've lectured my Vietnamese friends about all the good things they miss in Dalat. That advice -- always with map links and QR codes -- fills this book. This is Dalat the way I know it and love it. We'll eat UFO cakes, conquer mountains, and find how to hide from the screaming tourist groups. Come with me. Let's discover Dalat.