JOURNAL OF MY TOUR BY JEEP OF THAILAND, CAMBODIA AND VIETNAM

NOVEMBER, 1956 , page 46

Dalat was first settled by the French in 1897, who used this cool Central Highlands site as a rest station during the hot season. Its population grew rapidly:

1932: 1,500 ; 1940 : 13,000; 1952 : 42,000; 1998 : 130,000
Its average elevation is about 1,500 m above sealevel, and the highest peaks are:
Lap Be : 1,707 m.; Hurlevent : 1, 621 m. and Drey Knom : 1,603 m.
A railroad was built from Saigon to Dalat between 1920 and 1933; the road from Saigon to Dalat was also opened in 1933; the Railroad Station was finished in 1938
The Cam Ly river discharges 0.26 m3 during the dry season, and 1260 m3 during the wet season


Because of the cool climate, pine trees predominate, and extensive market gardening provides vegetables for Western tastes and hotels,
[similar to Chiengmai, Bandung, and the Cameron Highlands]
some additional factoids:
(in 1960) a unique species of Torrey Pine was discovered near Dalat.
Emperor Bao Dai's throne room at the Royal Summer Palace in Dalat, was kept as it was when he fled to Paris in 1954 with his mistress
Pres.Teddy Roosevelt kept a villa in Dalat for hunting ...
On March 13, 2002, Altavista listed 5263 results for "DALAT" - mainly hotels
some interesting links and factoids:
Jacob Bax's Gallery: Da Lat
 Vietnam Portfolio Montagnards
E. Kenneth Hoffman
DaLat VietFun Organization
 Plan for Dalat, 1923
Foto album Vietnam
 Thanh Hoai - (real audio, streaming, 16Kbps)
Vietnamese Music: Thanh Hoai
Da Lat photos Dalat Photos by Others

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