April 6th, 2024.
Today started slow. While I planned to start walking early in the morning, My body was not cooperating. Only until noon I forced myself to go out, even if I was not feeling it. At the most, go to a café and spend your afternoon day, I negotiate with myself.
The weather today in Dalat was clear and sunny, and the heat far more manageable than Ho Chi Minh. The first task of the day, find Cà Phê Sữa, iced coffee with condensed milk. Easiest task of them all, as this is one of the most common coffee preparations around and there are coffee shops around almost every corner in Dalat. I find a small takeaway coffee shop and, with the instant kick of sweetness and caffeine, my body begins cooperating.
Now, body wants food. Vietnamese food please, preferably something new. I try Bò Né, eggs cooked on a scary hot cast iron plate with meat, onions, patê and different toppings. I love how pâté is integral in many Vietnamese dishes. More evidence of the way Vietnamese took elements of the French cuisine and made it their own. Baguettes (bánh mì), pâté (patê), flans (bánh flan), café au lait (Cà Phê Sữa), all adapted to the Vietnamese taste and ingredients.
I walk the streets of Dalat. A city originally built by the French, for the French, when Vietnam was a colony. The city’s architecture and layout still carries french influences. At points, I feel as if I’m walking in a French town, if it was abandoned one day and took over by the Vietnamese. In reality, this is what happened when France, defeated by Vietnamese forces, signed the Geneva agreement, ceasing all claims of the Vietnamese territory.
I stop at Café Tùng, one of Dalat’s oldest cafés. Opened in the 60s, its locations has changed a couple of times, but its decoration, furniture, and music still takes you back those older times. After walking through the busy streets, a take a quieter, parallel canal lining the Cam Ly stream. Here, the sounds of motorbikes and busy streets fade away. Children play badminton on the street. I pass by a piano academy while children practice, giving the street at the same time, a calm and chaotic soundtrack.
