From haunted house coffee, thinking about ancient villas in Dalat

Cà phê giữa không gian rừng thông nhà ma — Coffee in the middle of the haunted house pine forest

My family has just moved to Da Lat and I feel that everywhere you go you see coffee. From coffee shops with views, cloud hunting to small shops hidden in alley corners. Each shop has its own interesting features.

One morning, I sat in the pine forest of Truc Van restaurant - the most famous haunted house on Prenn pass in Da Lat. The villa has been deserted for many years due to rumors of ghosts, no one dares to enter. Rumor has it that even free-range cattle do not come near to eat grass.

I am not addicted to coffee to the point of drinking it every day or ordering it at a coffee shop, so it is difficult to describe the feeling of enjoying it. But I like sitting on a small chair under the shade of old pine trees, watching the traffic leisurely on Prenn Pass. I like this feeling every morning or watching the sunset.

Vừa nhâm nhi cà phê vừa ngắm xe cộ thong thả trên đèo Prenn — Sipping coffee while watching the traffic leisurely on Prenn Pass

Căn biệt thự ma đáng sợ ngày nào được cải tạo khang trang — The once-scary haunted mansion has been renovated

Một góc cà phê tại quán cà phê nhà ma — A coffee corner at the haunted house cafe

The haunted villa has been revived as a unique feature of Da Lat. But Da Lat also has many beautiful and valuable ancient villas that are in ruins.

The most famous is probably the Governor's Palace, located on a high hill in the center of Da Lat. The location and architecture are many times better than a haunted house cafe. But what does this 100-year-old villa have? Almost nothing, most of the time it is closed and quiet; around it are scattered signs. A few tourists come to visit, take souvenir photos and then... leave.

The hundred-year-old villa became a dense darkness in the heart of Dalat, brightly lit.

If the surrounding villas are renovated into cafes to serve tourists, there will be more revenue. Even if the revenue is not large, like the haunted house cafe, at least there will be more money for maintenance, preventing many valuable assets of Da Lat from deteriorating like they are now.

(Entry to the contest "Impressions of Vietnamese coffee and tea" under the program "Honoring Vietnamese coffee and tea" for the 2nd time, 2024 organized by Nguoi Lao Dong Newspaper ).