A Maze Balls Bar (Vietnam Travel Diary #18)

Da Lat was my personal highlight of Vietnam. It was such a wonderful mix of experiences – some quirky and bizarre, some tasty and artistically tasteful. Some final highlights were the Clay Tunnels, a mountain-top monastery, the Flower Garden, the Lumiere Café, and the 100 Roofs Bar.

A long and bumpy bike ride gets you to the open-topped tunnels. Solid clay huts and churches with relevant artworks carved into the walls, are juxtaposed with things like huge painted pumpkins and other gigantic fruit and veg. There are also some very arty works, such as a clay piano and a huge face in a barky, clay tree. I just hope they don’t paint over too many of the more historical pieces.

In the same venue was a Covid Park. There were some interesting displays, such as virus shaped creatures with expressive faces getting beaten in a boxing ring, one getting squashed by a giant boot, others locked in jail, and one getting a huge syringe of the vaccine in the butt. I just found it funny how there were no humans in the Covid Park apart from me.

Further up the mountains is a peaceful monastery. I had a long chat with a friendly monk who spoke English and knew about Cape Town. He banged a gong whenever someone knelt in front of a big Buddha. There were also several sculpted bonsai trees and little water features spread across a large garden. There was one restricted area (perhaps where the monks stayed). A few come out while chatting away. One monk was on a cellphone, which was quite a funny sight.

Another attraction on the mountain top was the Glass Gardens. That felt very artificial, with plinky plonky music playing, but perhaps it all lit up at night. This passed under a cable car. An expensive ticket takes you above the forest and back again. All the cars were empty and I didn’t pay for one either. Although if I had jumped, I probably could have grabbed the undercarriage of a moving car and hitched a risky ride!

The Da Lat Flower Garden was next on my agenda. The plants and flowers were beautiful, but there was a lot of cheesiness, such as heart-shaped walkways, a bridge of love with painted-on hearts, butterfly seating, cartoony sculptures of a bee band, and even Snow White and the 7 freaking dwarves. But overall, it was very peaceful. The birds were loving it.

I think I startled a couple fooling around on a faraway bench. They seemed to get a big fright when they saw me approaching and the female was hurriedly checking that she was wrapped up tight in all her layers. I suppose flowers can have that effect on people.

The 100 Roofs Bar (and/or café) was the ultimate highlight. You buy your coffee or drink before descending through a small opening. You then have to navigate through a stone and clay maze to get to the roof! I was in there for ages and I’m sure some of the light bulbs had blown. There were stone doors half open but chained up, nooks and crannies with stone seats and tables, and some spooky stone creatures! I didn’t come across a single humanoid in there. Perhaps they had died, but I didn’t see any blood spatters or skeletons grasping drinking glasses.

I eventually saw the light, which brought a rooftop garden to life. Again, not a single soul to be seen, apart from a fat ginger cat, but how the heck did a motorbike find its way up there!? There was a bar with no barman. Perhaps the whole venue gets populated in the evenings. I just kept thinking about drunk patrons navigating their way down the maze of narrow tunnels. May they rest in peace.

I had walked and biked my butt off that day but ended the adventure at the Lumiere Café outside of town. Once you duck and walk through a little flap/curtain, you enter into a peaceful place with a misted garden in the center, with trickling water feeding a koi pond. This also had a few nooks and crannies, with an upstairs area with Chinese (perhaps Vietnamese) lanterns, beanbags, and a sand garden in the middle.

I enjoyed a beer tea (nice, but overly sweet) and zenned out until a group of Korean girls wearing black leather skirts and jackets started getting a photoshoot in the center garden. They were doing “I’m sexy AF” poses while wearing gold-framed sunglasses, but they seemed to be enjoying themselves.

I realised that much of Vietnam can be experienced quite differently at night. The Lumiere Café, for example, is also known as the “Light Garden”. I could imagine what the atmosphere must be like after dark, but I was knackered and far from base camp, so called it a day. A final chuckle from my whole experience in Da Lat, is seeing locals dressed as if they are in the Antarctic. Many are kitted out in fluffy winter coats, with gloves, and beanies with animal ears, instead of helmets.

I waved goodbye to the friendly neighbourhood and boarded a sleeper bus. Next stop, Nha Trang.

Next: Vietnam #19 – Cham of Nha Trang

Previously: Vietnam #17 – Crazy House

Start from the very Beginning

(The 100 Roofs Bar is a far better experience than the Crazy House, which has a similar style).