All’s been a little quiet on the Girl in Asia front of late as I’ve been travelling and entertaining visitors…which means there’s a lot of non-Saigon but nonetheless interesting blog posts on their way! Specifically – bits and pieces on Hanoi, Halong Bay and Hoi An, where we’re heading tomorrow – yes, that means more trips to the tailor, it just has to be done!
Fresh air and even fresher produce in Dalat
Dalat is one of my favourite places in Vietnam. Its higher altitude, lakes and abundance of vegetation and plantations make it a favourite for honeymooning locals, which has spawned a slew of ridiculously kitsch attractions, like swan boats you can pedal around the lake and costumes (hilltribe, cowboy, emporer etc.) for hire at some of the waterfalls outside town. We stopped by Bao Dai’s Summer Palace, an art deco ‘nautical style’ home of Vietnam’s last emporer and who should be lurking in the gardens but a ladyboy in a monkey suit ready to take you around the grounds in a horse-drawn cart!!
The best things about Dalat are the cool climate (you can check out everyone’s winter garb while the western tourists walk around in shorts!) and the locally grown fresh produce. Most of the things to see and do in Dalat are located a bit outside town (waterfalls, farms, pagodas) so if you’re just wandering around the centre, the market is undoubtedly the highlight.
Dalat’s central market is one of the best food markets I’ve seen – it’s so colourful, with the streets surrounding it bursting with colourful displays of strawberries, avocadoes, coconuts, bananas, blackberries and more. Dalat’s climate means berries and other fruits not typically found in tropical countries can flourish.
Inside the market, the stalls sell dried and candied versions of all the local fruits, plus tea and coffee. Unusually, the items have marked prices (and they’re cheap – 4,000 to 25,000 dong per bag of dried fruit) so you don’t really need to bother bargaining, plus the stallholders ply you with cups of oolong tea and samples of their fruity wares. And they’re not even that pushy, which compelled me to buy more – a clever sales tactic?!
A beach break in Nha Trang: Part 2
We left Nha Trang town behind for a stay at the Evason Hideway, Ninh Van Bay – a picturesque, isolated bay accessible only by speedboat.
This was the scene that awaited…
With its rocky landscape, the resort offers some villas with private swimming pools carved into huge boulders! We stayed in a beachfront pool villa – a two-storey hut with our own plunge pool between our bedroom and the beach.
The eco-friendly resort has a Robinson Crusoe luxe feel – it uses natural materials wherever possible and blends into the surrounds – everything’s bamboo and wood, including the gorgous stand-alone tub in the open-air bathroom.
This was my favourite part of the villa – a loungey daybed on the second floor with views out to sea. Not a bad place to spend my birthday!
A beach break in Nha Trang: Part 1
Our beachfront hotel (the Sunrise) had breathtaking views of the ocean and a decadent swimming pool
We recently spent a few days in sunny Nha Trang, Vietnam’s premier seaside resort town. It’s home to a long stretch of white sandy beach, crystal blue water, an increasing number of 5-star hotels and of course, great seafood. We spent a night at the Sunrise (see pool pic above), and I could not get enough of the view from our room’s balcony – stunning!
One night we checked out the Sailing Club, a well-known beach bar and restaurant. My expectations weren’t that high – I was expecting a dingy, backpacker beach bar but it was surprisingly sophisticated, with decor that could be described as Morocco meets Bali.
We had a fresh and tasty green mango salad and Nha Trang’s famous ‘roll your own’ spring rolls with prawns and bbq pork – a more sanitised version than a really local place, but delicious all the same!
Chic stays: The Opposite House, Beijing
A bit of an escapist post today rather than one on somewhere I’ve actually been (still in holiday dreaming mode post-Sydney break!). I love the look of this hotel in Beijing, The Opposite House.
Designed by a Japanese architect, Kengo Kuma, it only opened in August last year. With 99 rooms and some seriously chic looking restaurants and bars, it also houses a contemporary art space (pictured above).
While the eating and drinking spaces (like the one pictured above) are a bit more decadent, the guestrooms are light and minimal, and I particularly love the standalone oak bathtub (how zen!).
And here’s the outside – a funky cube (hmmm, reminds me of the Olympics’ Water Cube – is this Bejing’s shape du jour?).
Images courtesty The Opposite House
Top 5: Hotel experiences in Asia (part 5)
Dream Hotel – Bangkok, Thailand
Dream Hotel provided a cool city escape. A boutique hotel, albeit on the larger side, Dream Hotel had a futuristic vibe with the beds appearing to float above soothing blue light. Contemporary decor and little touches like covetable bath products, a welcome bottle of wine and a good selection of magazines in the room made it a hotel experience to remember. I also really liked Flava – the hotel’s bar and restaurant – with their innovative cocktails a highlight (bizarre flavour combinations like tobacco and walnut come to mind but the details are a little hazy!).
Top 5: Hotel experiences in Asia (part 4)
The view from our bedroom window – not bad!
The guesthouse was tucked behind the trees – it was the only business on this little beach
D’Lagoon – Perhentian Islands, Malaysia
This experience was memorable for its location. In fact, I can barely even remember what our room’s interior looked like. The guesthouse was in the most idyllic location – on its own turquoise cove housing a coral reef in a quiet part of the beautiful Perhentians. This was a total back-to-nature experience, with nothing around us but lush jungle and rainforest, wildlife (including some scary monitor lizards) and warm, inviting water. Here, we did nothing but snorkel, snorkel, snorkel, and one night watched baby turtles hatch on the beach.
Top 5: Favourite hotel experiences in Asia (part 3)
A private plunge pool = pure luxury!
Amansara – Siem Reap, Cambodia
From the ‘we only got to stay there cos it was free’ files – our foray into the uber-chic world of Aman Resorts. Rooms at Amansara (a former royal guesthouse) can cost over US$1,200 a night, and former guests include Brangelina and brood. Our room had a zen-like minimalist style with Asian touches (think chanting monk music and incense), a standalone bathtub, rainforest shower, free mini-bar with full-size bottles, no tv (purposefully) and best of all, our own plunge pool. I did not want to leave – as you can imagine!!! Oh except to visit the restaurant (with its cool round ceiling) to eat gourmet food, sample the wine and cheese on offer, and have afternoon tea with cakes fresh from the oven and design books to browse…
Image courtesy Aman Resorts
Top 5: Favourite hotel experiences in Asia (part 2)
Old House Inn – Shanghai, China
Cute and quaint with an antique, grandmotherly vibe, Old House Inn was the perfect place to stay in old-meets-new Shanghai. A Chinese-Australian friend even commented that the photos of our room reminded her of her grandparents’ place! An adjoining contemporary restaurant with general mod-cuisine – A Future Perfect – was the ‘new’ element of this otherwise old-world boutique stay, located in the French Concession. From Old House we could walk to lots of interesting streets filled with remnants of 1920s & 30s Shanghai. I loved it!