Da Lat in the season of ripe persimmons - the autumn colors that captivate tourists.

From late September to early October, the persimmon orchards of Da Lat are in full bloom. The peaceful scenery with clusters of golden and red persimmons in the autumn sun has become a characteristic feature of the Lam Dong plateau, attracting tourists to visit and pick persimmons.

Tourists pick ripe persimmons.

Admiring roses in the street

No need to go far; right in the heart of Da Lat, there's a spot where you can sip a hot cup of coffee while admiring the roses on a cool, misty morning. That's "The Cafe of Youthful Days," located at 9B Trieu Viet Vuong Street, Xuan Huong Ward, Da Lat. The cafe is famous in Da Lat for its staff, all young, hearing-impaired individuals, as part of a project to create jobs and an environment that helps them integrate into the community. A special feature of the cafe is the two rose bushes, over 40 years old, in the grounds, which become an impressive highlight every time the rose season arrives.

According to Mr. Nguyen Trong Duy, the shop manager, the two persimmon trees were previously small and hidden by the porch, so they received little attention. In 2024, after the shop renovated the swampy area to prevent slipperiness during the rainy season, the trees grew vigorously, spreading their branches wide and bearing abundant fruit, creating a cool, green space that blends seamlessly with nature within the shop. “We prioritize caring for these two persimmon trees naturally, using only basic fertilizer to stimulate root growth, and regularly pruning the leaves to encourage more fruit for the next season,” Mr. Duy explained. Every persimmon season, the shop attracts many customers, especially young people from all over, who come to enjoy coffee and admire the persimmons. Customers are often given a persimmon as a small gift during their visit.

Tourists taking photos at Le Phuc Rose Garden

Go to the suburbs to admire the rose garden.

However, to fully appreciate ripe roses, visitors should go to the rose gardens in the suburbs around the wards of Da Lat. One ideal spot is a rose garden of over 3,000 m² with about 50 rose bushes located in the "Tropical Forest" cafe, at alley number 63, Prenn Pass, Xuan Huong ward - Da Lat.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Kim Trieu (born in 1987), the owner of the cafe, the rose bushes here are about 30-35 years old. Initially, the garden was simply a place to grow roses like many households around, and she had no intention of opening a cafe. After many years living and working in Ho Chi Minh City, in 2006 she returned to Da Lat with the desire to live closer to nature and take care of her garden every day. One time, when a rose bush was so heavily laden with fruit that a branch broke, she filmed a short video and posted it on her personal TikTok page. Unexpectedly, the video went viral, and many people sought her out to ask for the address to visit the garden and admire the roses. From then on, in 2021, she decided to open a rose garden cafe right in her own garden. “I had to cut down about a dozen persimmon trees to make the shop more spacious, which I regret because they were all large trees. The garden still has many varieties of persimmons such as egg-shaped persimmons and cup-shaped persimmons… The trees are allowed to grow naturally, without the use of chemical pesticides. Customers can pick and enjoy ripe persimmons right there,” added Ms. Trieu.

In previous years, during the persimmon season, the shop would sometimes welcome hundreds of customers a day, but this year, the number has decreased slightly. She happily said, "The persimmons ripen naturally on the tree, and customers pick and enjoy them themselves. If there aren't many customers, birds come to eat them, and the garden is always full of birdsong." Recently, the garden has also organized activities for visitors to experience making crispy persimmons, guiding them on how to distinguish different types of Da Lat persimmons, the process of ripening egg-shaped persimmons to remove the astringency, and making air-dried persimmons.

Ripe persimmons from Da Lat

Visiting the "rose forest"

There's a stunning, fairytale-like rose garden during the ripening season, like stepping into a "rose forest," located in a beautiful area quite far from the center of Da Lat, about 30-40 km away, requiring nearly an hour's motorbike ride to reach. This is the Le Phuc family's Rose Garden tourist spot in Tram Hanh, Xuan Truong commune, Da Lat. Here, there are about 200 rose bushes in a garden covering approximately 2 hectares, including some that are over 100 years old. "These are the rose bushes my father planted himself when he first started his business in this area," said Mr. Le Phuc Duy, the owner of the garden. These century-old rose bushes, with their large trunks, tall branches, and lush green leaves, continue to bear fruit, the fruit turning from yellow to red, soft and incredibly sweet.

This rose garden is nestled in a gently sloping village on a mountainside, offering stunning views. From a high vantage point, one can see the village with its tiled roofs nestled amidst the vast green expanse of orchards and pine forests stretching along the winding D'ran mountain pass. Further below lies the expansive residential area of ​​D'ran commune, with the Da Nhim hydroelectric power plant shimmering in the sunlight. During this season, Da Lat's weather can be overcast, and from here, one can occasionally see fog enveloping the garden.

Mr. Duy said that in recent years, his family has developed the garden into a persimmon-viewing tourist destination and was recognized by the province as a Family-run agricultural tourism destination in November 2024. Here, the family has gradually invested in a coffee shop, rest rooms, overnight tents, a campfire area, food and beverage services, and guided tourists in picking and enjoying persimmons on the spot.

Despite being far from the city center, when we arrived, many tourists visiting Da Lat had come to this place to admire the roses, enjoy coffee, and sample the homemade, sun-dried roses from the garden.

Besides attracting domestic tourists, the garden also welcomes many foreign groups who learned about it online. When they come to Da Lat, they visit, and quite a few groups choose to stay overnight at the garden during the persimmon ripening season.

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/da-lat-mua-hong-chin-sac-thu-niu-chan-du-khach-395760.html