Le Petit Paris

In all my travels, Dalat is the first place I've ever been robbed (on my first night here no less), and yet it is quickly becoming one of my favorite places.

First the bad news, which was more strange than terrible, then the good news.

I'm staying in a quaint hotel on a quiet alley on a hill not far from the center of town. My second floor room has a small balcony and bathroom windows which open to the alley. Last night before going to bed, I locked the balcony door, but left the bathroom window open a bit so as to enjoy the wonderfully cool, fresh air of Dalat(in the 50s last night). I slept soundly without waking until morning. As I was dressing this a.m., I couldn't locate my wallet. So after looking through all my stuff 4 times, I checked the balcony, and saw it lying on the ground, open, next to my sunglasses case. I realized instantly what had happened, and was relieved to remember that I had less than $30, including bills from Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, and Japan that I have collected as souvenirs and always keep with me. All the cash was gone of course, but the thief was kind enough to leave the wallet and the rest of the contents. The sunglasses, too, were still in the case. The thief was defnitely in my room as he took the wallet from my pants pocket, but the sunglasses case he removed from a small bag which contained my iPod, my camera, my Visa card, and a travel billfold with about $50. None of it was taken. Peculiar. I told the woman at reception what had happened, and she just said "Oh wow! That's too bad!" Hopefully tonight I can move to a different room, just to be safe...

Otherwise, Dalat is beautiful. Located in the central highlands,,the city is lush with vegetation--everywhere you look there are flowers and trees and vegetable gardens. According to the Lonely Planet, it was once known as Le Petit Paris--complete with an Eiffel Tower replica, dozens and dozens of chic cafes, and lively, winding and hilly streets, its not hard to see why. I rented a bicycle this morning and rode around Xuan Huong Lake on the city center's edge and the gorgeous "Flower Park" which despite a few kitsch features, was most pleasant. Afterwards, I explored the winding and hilly streets, turning at whim and discovering some lovely views of the city and its vegetable farms, nestled quite perfectly into the hills. I was unfortunately driven inside this afternoon by the rain, but it gave me chance to check out the market and write this blog at the internet cafe...

Tomorrow, single track mountain biking in the forests outside of Dalat!