In order to promote domestic tourism, I along with my peers had a trip to Dalat- a beautiful city of Vietnam. Da Lat is the provincial capital city of Lam Dong province, located on Lam Vien plateau, in the Central Highlands. With an altitude of 1,500 meters above sea level and surrounded by mountain ranges and forest flora, Da Lat inherits a mild and cool mountainous climate all year round. Before boarding the plane, we have completed the medical declaration through Internet. Moreover, wearing mask and using hand sanitizer are essential things that we did
When I arrived in Dalat in the morning, what really surprised me was that the number of tourists visiting Dalat had decreased significantly compared to before. In addition, people walking on the street are not too crowded and all abide by the regulations to prevent covid-19. "There are not as many foreign tourists coming here as before, instead, domestic tourists made up the majority. The reason is because Vietnam has closed the borders with all countries to ensure the best way to stamp out the epidemic.", as Minh Phuong Nguyen, local people, said.
Da Lat Market is a commercial center of Da Lat city located on the main road, Nguyen Thi Minh Khai and is considered the "heart of Da Lat city". Not only a market with trading activities, the market is also an attraction for visitors when coming to Da Lat city. Visitors will freely choose souvenirs and specialties of the highlands for their loved ones; most of all, witness the ups and downs of the market and the change to a new, more spacious and modern appearance.
Waking up early in the morning to enjoy the sunrise at Dalat market makes me feel peaceful. Normally, local people would trade here very soon with their stalls. Nonetheless, in the pandemic, all activities will be distanced to avoid gathering too many people
In the afternoon, after doing shopping at Dalat Market, instead of crowds, there are only a few old people with cups of tea. They are taking their last sips before sunset It seems that the gloomy atmosphere of the pandemic has made them more contemplative. "Such scene has been happening for half a year. All people are trying to do their best to distance themselves and avoiding to gather too many people.", as Minh Phuong Nguyen said
Taking a walk downtown, I could see that street vendors gradually became sparse due to isolation regulations to prevent covid-19. "Street vendors have to constantly move around to be able to sell goods. During the pandemic, life is getting harder, especially underpriviledged people, they evenly have to apply for subsidies from sponsors". as Minh Phuong Nguyen, local people said. The government has continuously mobilized donations to support the disadvantaged.
Compared with the image of street vendors before the pandemic, People are so crowded with their stalls. Every time I come to Dalat, I always choose to eat breakfast in such stalls like that instead of luxury restaurants. The reason is because the food is full of flavor and local cutural identity. In other words, though they are just small stalls, they contain the quintessence of street food culture. In addition to enjoying delicious dishes, the owners will share with us a lot of interesting stories about Dalat. However, this cheerful atmosphere has almost disappeared since the pandemic
It is definitely impossible not to drink a cup of coffee when coming to Dalat. Each morning, local people always stop by a coffee shop and have a cup of coffee before starting a new day like a habit. They can sit alone or with their peers sipping coffee and telling a few news stories. Hence, I decided to experience coffee in a place called "sidewalk coffee". Nonetheless, it is noticeable that people also do not sit at the shop for too long and just wait to order a take-away coffee.
After finishing breakfast in the market, I decided to have a cup of coffee in my peer's coffee shop. This coffee shop is very famous on review forums, which attracts a lot of customers. After that , we talked a lot about business and tourism in Dalat during the pandemic. "Most of the coffee shop in Dalat can only serve local people because of the epidemic. Evenly, some have had to temporarily close due to lack of customers. Besides, when coming into this coffee shop, people must wear masks and using hand sanitizer", as Minh Hang Dang- the founder of Summer Garden coffee shop in Dalat said.
Visiting the most famous bakery in the city but it is no longer allowed to accept too many guests at once. In addition, it was also raining so I decided to buy some cakes to take back to my room. "During the epidemic, people no longer have the habit of going out a lot and instead, they utilize delivery apps like Uber or Grab for convenience. they could sit at home and enjoy their favorite food". as Minh Hang Dang said. Until this photo, Perhaps people will wonder why we are still able to travel freely during the pandemic. However, Vietnam is in the top of the world's best anti-epidemic countries, hence, we could completely travel domestically but just need to limit and follow the principles of epidemic prevention
Traveling in the pandemic gives me a lot of new feelings. Normally, I will not usually stay in my homestay for too long except at bedtime. However, in order to ensure that I did not move around too much, I sat in the room with my peers to tell each other about our experiences in a day in Dalat and also look at the photos we took together. Everything was still fine in spite of the pandemic. I think that it is not too boring and it is a golden opportunity for people to contribute to the development of domestic tourism. Besides, it can be clearly seen that all of my photos are taken by Fuji film because I want to create a feeling of nostalgia whenever I remember this special trip.
