PLACES: The countryside and center of Da Lat, Vietnam

Da Lat, I miss you and your cool weather! Visiting Da Lat and it's highlands out of town is a wonderful experience. It's easy to fall in love in the amazing coffee shops in the center of Da Lat. Once you've taken a seat you just don't want to leave. To see where the coffee comes from it's a must-to-do to visit the highlands of coffee plantations surrounding Da Lat town center. It's the easiest to book a tour or to rent a motorbike and get around alone. The landscape is beautiful! Also visit a cricket farm on your way. In this area of Vietnam it's common to have insects as a snack. Crickets are the most seen "snacks" here. You can order them fried, BBQ or boiled with chili sauce. Better stick to the crispy fried ones and just imagine you're eating chips and they actually taste quite good! Da Lat is also the only place in Vietnam where pine trees grow due to the cool climate while the rest of Vietnam is obviously suffering from 40 degrees in summer. When you visit Da Lat during this time of the year expect fresh 18-25 degrees and bring some warm clothes to wear when it gets cold in the evening. An amazing place as well is the silk factory in the country side where you can watch Vietnamese women separating the worms from their cocoons from which they make silk from. The cocoons are collected by hand at the nearby strawberry fields. Other highlights is the Elephant Waterfall and a visit at the local market in the morning.

- AJ -