Truc Lam Zen Monastery in Dalat

On the way to Tuyen Lam Lake, tourists have to run right onto a zigzagging tar road at the mountain side to Phoenix Summit, on which stands beautiful famous Truc Lam Zen Monastery in an open poetic natural environment. Established in special social conditions, with the aim of restoring Truc Lam Yen Tu Xen School founded by the King Tran Thanh Tong, this Zen school has harmoniously combined different Zen schools with Vietnamese cultural and tradition into Vietnamese Zen. Truc Lam Zen Monastery lies on a protected forest of 23,2 hectares, of which 2 hectares is the building area.

Besides the Main Hall in the middle, on the right are the consulting room, the belfry and displaying room on the right; on the left are the sitting room, library, abbot’s room and contemplation hall. Before reaching the Main Hall, tourists may take two ways. They may start at the bus stop, take the side gate up 61 steps or, from the lake, climb the 222 steps through the triple gate onto the court in front. Inside the Main Hall, statues are displayed simply but meditatively. In the bright spacious sanctuary is the only statue of Sakyamuni Buddha raising a lotus in his hand – a symbolic image of Buddha in Linh Son Dharma Conference, expressing the philosophy of ‘existence in nihilism’ in Buddhist Zen.

Zen helps people to live in "full awareness" and bring their souls back into peaceful state. Truc Lam Buddhist Zen emphasizes on every one’s interior concentration, either a religious or someone in his/her family. This introspective soul training process leads to personal purification, builds a care-free mind and help one’s good nature to show up; this is the real peace in everyone’s interior, not in a certain paradise in a faraway world.

Visiting Truc Lam Zen Monastery in the quietness of hills and mountains, tourists are free from everyday worries and seem to be able regain themselves in the greatness of the nature.

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Tuyen Lam Lake

Go alongside National Road 20 to Prenn Pass, just pass Datanla Waterfall, then turn left, and go about 2 km into the rolling pine forest, the tourists will face an immense lake with an impressive long time name of Tuyen Lam Lake.

The lake is formed by Tia Stream and by source of the Da Tam River, which flows down from Elephant Mountain. In an effort to have a reservoir of water supply for irrigation of the fields, in 1982, Irrigation Ministry started heaping barrages and damming up the rivers here. In 1987, the works finished and enlarged the lake surface up to 32 km2 with the greatest depth of 30m. It links numerous mountains and hills, offering a monumentally natural landscape.

Sailing on Tuyen Lam Lake, tourists have a chance to admire wonders of the mountains and hills, where they can make new discoveries from different views. How excited to call at Bao Dai Waterfall for an opportunity to get acquainted with a secluded family in the closest attachment to the nature. A visit at the picnic areas of Nam Qua and Da Tien will enable tourists to enjoy roast meat beside a big jug of Cần in beautiful houses. They may also lie at pleasure on glossy grass alluvial plain with wind flowing strongly, feeling the pleasure of life more and more, and feeling comfortable with that long journey in Dalat.

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Dambri Waterfall

Dambri Falls is located in the Northwest of Bao Loc town, Lam Dong province. Dambri waterfall is a famous destination for tourists and it is the highest waterfall in the province (57m). It is surface width is 30m.

According to legend, in the old time, there live to hill tribes, however, they did not get on well with each other so conflicts happened very often. The two hill tribes have a beautiful girl, Bri and a brave boy, Kdam, they passionately loved each other, but they could not get married to each other because of the difference between the two hill tribes.

One day, Kdam was so sad because the unsuccessful love so he left his village and went to a forest. When hearing the news, Bri left her house to find him; she went through many forest, crossed many streams and many months and crops had passed, but she couldn’t find him.

She got disappointed so much, so she came back to a forest nearby her village and she cried. She cried again and again and hoped that Kdam would come back to her, however, he did not come back. She kept crying till she died and her body turned into rock, her tear kept flowing and it became the present waterfall.

After what happened to Kdam and Bri, the people from the hill tribes were moved to tear because of the truthful love, so they called the waterfall Dambri and from that time they got on well with each other and their off-spring were allowed to get married to each other.

With the motto of respecting and protecting the nature and varying tourist product, many types of primeval forest with hundred kinds of plants, Dambri waterfall, Dasara fall, Daton fall, a fossil plant cave under the third floor of Dambri fall, an animal zoo, a 150ha hill of kind of tomentose plant and village of Ma ethnic people.

Tourists can visit these above places of Dambri tourist site by horse, tramcar, elevator and roller coaster.

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Cam Ly Waterfall

Currents from the top of Langbian creep over surrounding mountainous areas to form Cam Ly Stream, which crosses Than Tho Lake, Me Linh Lake and gathers in a big valley, turning it into the poetically dreaming  Xuan Huong Lake. The stream then passes underneath Ong Dao Bridge and follows a geological fracture of about 2 km westward before crawling over a sloping granite bed into the beautiful famous waterfall of Cam Ly in Dalat.

Cam Ly Waterfall is located by Cam Le Spring, over 2 kilometers to the west of Dalat city. If you have chance to visit the city, you will be impressed by the landscape of the marvelous waterfall surrounded by pine trees hills. The Cam Ly waterfall is formed by two branches of Cam Ly Spring interrupted by big blocks of granite rock. This waterfall is 30 meters high and is very well-known in Dalat. The waterfall has been the topic for poetry and painting for its poetic and charming beauty. Legend has it that the name Cam Ly is originated from K’Ho people.

When the Cam Le River cross a village of the Lat people, local people had taken the name of the K’Ho chieftain named K’Mly (this word also sounds like Cam Ly) to give the Cam Ly Waterfall today. They did so in order to honor the merit of the chieftain and thanked him for maintaining a peaceful and happy village. Formerly, Cam Ly waterfall is attached with a nearby pine forest which is no longer exist now. In dry season, the waterfall is lack of water, but in rainy season, the water flows very strong and creat the marvelous Cam Ly for tourists to visit.

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Lang Biang Mountain

Only 12km from the central of Dalat, you will see the Lang Biang Mountains standing high and beautiful as the roof of Dalat city. Legend has it that there was once a couple who were deeply in love with each other - the boy named K'lang and the girl named Ho Biang. However, there was a feud between the two tribes so they were not allowed to get married. At last, they overcame all the prejudice and got married. They moved onto a mountain to live.

Then Ho Biang was ill and K'lang tried in vain to save her. So he came back to the tribe to ask for help but the people in the tribe had shot him with a poisonous arrow. However, it was Ho Biang to be shot since she had shielded her husband. K'lang could not suffer such loss. He cried and his tear made up a big stream which is now called Dankia (the Golden Stream).

After their death, Ho Biang's father was too repentant of his mistake so he unified the tribes into one called K'ho. Since then, boys and girls in K'ho group are allowed to get married to each other. The mountain in La Ngu Thuong Village where the couple died is named Lang Biang. It is to memorize the couple with profound love.

Lang Biang Mountain is considered one of the highest mountains in Dalat. This area is typical for the tourism activities like camping, exploring the nature, and the culture of ethnic minority groups here. Lang Biang is also an ideal place for adventurous activities like mountain climbing, conquering high peaks. At the foot of the mountain lies a large valley which can be regarded to as an entertainment and ecological tourist site. Tourists can join in exciting programs like camp-fire, enjoying "Can wine" with ethnic minority people while listening to their cultural stories.

Hiking to Langbian Mountains, standing on its mount peak, tourists can see the Golden Stream and Silver Stream and have an overview of Dalat City. Dalat seems to be more fanciful when you observe it from Lang Biang mountain, like an aquarelle with two pieces of silk (the Golden and Silver Stream) prominently emerging among the limitless green forests and mountains.

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Dalanta Waterfall

Located beside National road 20, 5 km from downtown of Dalat, Datanla tourist site has an area of 312 ha set amidst the preservation forests.

Datanla used to be called "Da Tam N'nha" by the native people. The K'Ho who had been living there told that: In the old time, fairies usually came there to take a bath. But people didn't know that there was a stream under the leaves there. So, when native people discovered the water, they named this place "Da Tam N'nha", it meant that "there was water under leaves". Later, the word “Da Tam N'nha" was pronounced to "Datania" and then changed to "Datanla". It has become the official name until now.

At the foot of the waterfall, Datanla stream flows slowly through cliffs then flow onto a deep hole called deadly abyss located between two vertical cliffs with the height of over 40 m.

Tourists can walk down to Datanla waterfall or they can take the roller-coaster to the site.

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Bao Dai's Summer Palace

Dalat has become a very popular tourist attraction in Vietnam. The city which is referred to as the city of love gets a lot of travelers every year. There are many tourist attractions in Dalat and all these places are very popular among travelers coming here. And among them, the Emperor Bao Dai's Summer Palace is a must visit place for all the visitors to Dalat.

Emperor Bao Dai had made three huge palaces in the city of Dalat. Among them the most visited palace is called the Dinh 3 which was built in 1933. The entire structure of the palace was made in art deco fashion. It was set inside a pine grove near the Pasteur Institute, in the southwestern direction of the lake. The décor has not changed in decades, except for the addition of Ho Chi Minh’s portrait over the fireplace. Inside this palace the visitors will come across a number of busts and sculptures which are of the deposed imperial family. There are many beautiful portraits as well inside the palace. The living quarters of the royal family are located upstairs. The room of Bao Long (Bao Dai’s eldest son), who now lives in France, is decorated in yellow, the royal color.

The other two Emperor Bao Dai's Summer Palaces in Dalat remain open sporadically for the public. These two palaces are known as Dinh 1 and Dinh 2. They are mostly used for various government purposes. Out of the three palaces the most picturesque one is the Dinh 1 Palace. When in Dalat the travelers must not forget to visit the Emperor Bao Dai's Summer Palace.

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Xuan Huong Lake

Just as Hanoi has Sword Lake (Hoan Kiem Lake) as its heart, Dalat embraces Xuan Huong Lake as its center. Used to be the site in which many indigenous people of Langbian highland inhabited, this man-made lake is nowadays the most beautiful lake of Dalat, becoming a symbol whenever people mention Dalat.

Unlike others, the history of Xuan Huong Lake distinguishes it as one of the most special lakes in Vietnam. In the past, there was no lake where we see Xuan Huong Lake today. In 1919 and 1923, two dams were formed on a branch of Cam Ly River to create two small lakes. Unfortunately, during a severe storm in 1932, both dams were destroyed. Between 1934 and 1935, a larger dam was built of boulders below the sites of the two previous dams to create one large lake. At that time, the French named it Grand Lac (large lake), but in 1953 it was renamed Ho Xuan Huong (Xuan Huong Lake) to express the people’s appreciation to the famous Vietnamese poetess in the 19th century who has the same name.

Looking from above, Xuan Huong Lake is like a crescent moon which extends to approximately 1236 acres. The surface of Xuan Huong Lake is as smooth as a mirror reflecting the romantic scenery of Dalat with pine forests, meadows and gardens. Nowadays, visitors can enjoy not only strolling along the lakeside but also resting under the conifers, pedal-boating on the lake while admiring the spectacular architecture of Thuy Ta pavilion. As a major attraction in Dalat, Xuan Huong Lake is a place for people from both inside and outside the city to meet, talk and fall in love. Thus, you don’t need to be on honeymoon to visit this wonderful place, just come and let the beauty of Xuan Huong Lake inspire you.

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Da Lat Overview

Da Lat has known under many romantic names as the City of Loves, the Foggy City, the Pine Forest City, the Flowers City, Le petit Paris… That is a city in Lam Vien Highland, Lam Dong Province, 310km from Ho Chi Minh City to the Northwest. Situated at 1500m above the sea level, surrounding by mountains and forests, DaLat is in good temperate all year around. It used to be the residential area of Lat, Chil and K’Hor people.

In 1983, Alexandre Yersin , a French Doctor, did a survey trip from Saigon ( Ho Chi Minh City nowadays) past over the land of Ethnic people in the highland to the central coast. On June 21, 1983, Alexandre Yersin has reached Lam Vien Highland. In 1987, French Governor, Mr. Paul Doumer wanted to find a place to built a resort for French officers and people who were living in Viet Nam and he decided to choose Lam Vien highland, that submission was from Doctor Alexandre Yersin.

In the beginning of 20^th century, Da Lat was a deserted area. French people were built up many constructions as Villas, Offices, Hotels, School and even a tourist center. Da Lat became the best romantic City in Viet Nam thanks to its wonderful scenes with natural lakes, mountains, valleys, pines forests and hundreds kinds of flowers. That was not just a Little Paris but Paradise.

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