Da Lat Flights

Be Aware!!!
We booked a ticket with An Phu Tourist Co (one of the 'open tour' bus companies) from Mui Ne to Da Lat. It's a 6 hour trip. Imagine our suprise when we arrived 5 hours later in Nha Trang!! The driver didn't know english and we had to talk to the travel operator when we arrived. He said the bus to Da Lat left without us from our connection. Hmmmm?!
Anyway, the next morning they put us on another 6 hour long bus ride from Nha Trang to Da Lat and we met another couple who this same this happened to!!
MY ADVISE: Make sure there is a direct bus!! I'm not so sure there is...

Backpacking & travel from Saigon to Hanoi & vice versa is so convenient with Open Bus Tickets.

These buses are mostly operated (should i say monopolized) by some big cafes & travel companies with extensive coverage in all touristy cities/towns.

The advantage of Open Bus ticket is you're not bound by specific schedule & you can stay in a town or city as long as you want & confirming your next destination one day before you departure.

Open Bus ticket valid for 1 year from the date of purchase.

Easy rider service is great mode of transportations for you to tour around Dalat & your schedule and payment is negotiable with your rider.

Unlike some big group tour bus, you'll have limited visiting time per location & long waiting time for some not so discipline tour members.

We had a 3 day 2 night package which included flight from HCMC (40 minutes), a motor vehicle with driver and guide for half day tour each morning. Having the motor car made the short stay as we were taken to the various attractions located outside the city, places we would most likely would have missed if we did not have the car and driver.

As the return flights were fully booked our driver drove us back to HCMC, 7 hours in the car and over 300 km. The trip was interesting and with hindsight far better than the 40 minute flight. We actually saw the countryside and stopped to visit the Prenn waterfall.

We used the local taxis several times and found that they offered a good service. Prices were cheap by Western standards, often only one US dollar to travel a distance which would take you a half hour to walk. They will wait if you ask.

I understand you can hire a taxi for approximately US $ 25 per day. If you have your Lonley Planet Guide book, hire a taxi and let your taxi driver get you to all the tourist attractions.

Our bus left from De Tham St at 12.30pm. Good timing as we squeezed in another bowl of pho bo at Pho 2000 and another quick look at Ben Than market before we had to go.
This wasn't an open tour bus. Ordinary upright seats but very comfortable with foot rests. They provided bottled water and the usual towlettes. The bus was almost empty.
The cost was US$6, and the trip took around 7hrs with 2 stops. The bus company name is "Phuong Trang", red coloured buses. The bus stopped once just outside of Saigon for about 15 minutes (to re-fuel) at a very modern supermarket. The 2nd stop was about 4 hrs into the journey at Bao Loc. This stop was for 45 minutes, time for a meal at a rather large cafe with many fruit stalls outside.
The scenery along the way was good, specially once we got up into the highlands.

4 more images

For some nice views over the mountains, there's a cable car that runs from the main road that goes downhill from the south of the town. It runs to the Truc Lam Pagoda which overlooks the Tuyen Lam Lake.

One Way: 40,000 VND, Return: 60,000 VND.

Just round the corner of the road from where I stayed in Da Lat called the Thuy Tran (see my accommodation tip) is a small place that hires out motorbikes and scooters. I hired a scooter for a day for 100,000 VND so as to get around the sights within town and to go to the Datanla Waterfalls, a few km south of town. Da Lat is a nice place to ride around and is far less hectic than any of the big city's such as Hanoi or Saigon.