Dalat, Vietnam
Duration of stay: 2 days
I arrived in Dalat by night bus from Saigon by myself which cost about $12 and took around 7 hours. In Dalat you’ll find plenty of hostels and homestays and I ended up choosing to stay at Cozy Nook homestay which was one of the top rated ones on www.hostelworld.com and for good reason!
I arrived before check-in so I rang the door bell at the locked gate and someone came out immediately to let me in. They said all the beds were full but that I could sleep downstairs on the couch until a bed was open which was only a couple hours later. They even gave me breakfast which wasn’t included for that morning since I didn’t have a room that night. The hostel was so clean and the bunks were great with huge comforters (Dalat is a little more inland so it does get a bit colder at night). Each room had a private bathroom with a shower, as well as common area bathroom with showers as well.
My favorite part of Cozy Nook and a thing that most homestays do, was the family style dinners. Everyones meets downstairs at around 7pm and sit around the tables with plates full of delicious local dishes. The awesome part about all of this was that it forces you to socialize with other backpackers, make new friends and talk story about your travel experiences. This is where I ended up meeting Brett, Billie and Daniel who I ended up traveling up the entire country with!
Another really cute feature this Cozy Nook had was the honor system on drinks. They had a huge chalk board in the kitchen where you write your name and mark down anything you get to drink and just pay at checkout.
Although Canyoning was offered and is one of the highlights of Dalat, it wasn’t something I ended up doing. You can book this kind of activity and any other tour that may peak your interest through your hostel or homestay. Cozy Nook offered this tour at a price of $40 (price is dependent on how many people are on that tour) and you even get a free beer when your arrive back after the tour!
One of the tours we booked through our hostel was a van tour that took me and 8 other bunkmates to a beautiful waterfall, temples, a silk factory, a cricket farm, and ended at a beautiful coffee shop which doubled as a dog sancuary for abandoned pups overlooking beautiful hills. When you head to the cricket farm don’t skip out on eating the crickets and trying the cricket rice wine!! I promise they don’t taste that bad haha.
Nightlife is pretty much non-existent besides Maze bar and a nightclub relatively close to that. Maze bar is an absolute must do! When you walk in, head to the first bar to grab a drink to indulge in while you get lost in the maze to come. You have multiple options of staircases, walkways and turn arounds that go in everywhich direction you can imagine to choose from to get lost in. The end goal is to make it to the top where the bar and seating are is so good luck.
You could easily spend 2-3 days here in Dalat but if you are short on time make sure to get everything done asap so you can head up north to central and northern Vietnam!