[1]
Talk about old buildings in Da Lat city, I'd like to talk about Da Lat Railway Station. That link leads you to wikipedia page which is replete with the information about the history and architecture of the gorgeous aged building.The Station is located on Nguyen Trai street, about 2 km far from Da Lat Market, it's great to walk on foot. When I took the picture above [1], the weather was pretty cool, light wind blowing and the sky was full of gray clouds. However I could see the sunlight somewhere. Look from a far
distance that station seemed to be deserted or just because I went on the quiet time in that day. I like it, whenever and wherever I travel to a place, it's always nearly empty.
[2] My friend posed for the photograph
The next picture [2] is when me and my friends walked through a small trail . The trail would begin from the middle of Pham Hong Thai street, we discovered it when we were there, it's near our hotel. We were stay in Villa 28 Hotel - 28 Tran Hung Dao street - an aged French style villa with a large garden. You can look at the right corner above of the photo, there is a part of the roof of the Station.
[3]
Picture [3] : Inside the Station, there are multicoloured glass windows on the high wall up to the ceilings. These colours remind me of Mondrian's paintings.
[4]
Picture [4] : the souvenir shop inside the building. Most of the goods are handmade products of the natives with Vietnam's Central Highland culture style. The price here is not really acceptable. I will show you where is the best place to buy souvenirs in a later entry.
[5]
Picture [5] : When we visited the platform in the back of this building, there were a couple having their wedding photographs taken. The bride's face sparkled in the sunlight. What a beautiful moment. However, I think that the performance of Mr Groom was unsuitble indeed ^^ He ought to run on the ground or ride a house to chase his lady :D
[6]
Picture [6] : The most exciting part of the trip was not the destination we would arrived. In fact, it was the time we spent on the railways together. The wind, the sun, the flowers, hills and fields outside all were bumping when we were on the train, a really aged train. Well, I'm not sure the train we were on had a steam locomotive because I almost forgot to look at the whole train. That's a shame :">
[7]
Picture [7] : Trai Mat Railway Station, in a small and quiet town. You can roam a little there but you can feel quite bored.
***One more thing, there is a waterfall named "Hang Cop" (in English : "Tiger Cave") about 7km far from Trai Mat Railway Station. If you have chance to return Trai Mat town on a motorbike, try to ride to that waterfall. My friend planned to take me there but we didn't. She said it was a pretty cool place to go camping. It's an enormous waterfall with 40m height. The next time when I go back to Da Lat, I will assuredly travel to that waterfall.
***More information about the ticket from Da Lat Railway Station to Trai Mat Railway Station (in 2010) (Route Distance 7km) :
- A return ticket costs 5 USD per person (if you are a foreigner)
- A return ticket costs 15.000 VND per person (if you are Vietnamese)
-The train will stop at Trai Mat Station for 30 minutes before return to Da Lat center.
-There must be at least 10 persons buy tickets. If not, you must pay for all the train if you want to have a tour.
-Opening hours : 8:00 am - 5:00 pm.
-There are 5 train trips a day.
-Please contact this phone number (063) 834409 for more information.
Remember to bring a map of the city with you. You can also ask the inhabitant for directions as they are very kind to help.
