Dalat Ultra Trail

 

- Aida Othman

’Dalat what?, I quickly keyed in Dalat word in the search engine since I never been to Vietnam, let alone heard about this place. Turned out to be a contrast scenery, not distinctly Asia.

Dalat is a hilly resort and capital of Lam Dong province situated in Central Vietnam at 1,500m above sea level. It’s a modern city that is laid back and lack of hustle bustle.

Le Petite Paris as they called this town, it’s used to be the French retreat town and the capital of French Federation of Indochina during the World War II.Thanks for its 20 degrees Celcius, charming Swiss and French villas, blossoming flowers and pine trees scent in the air - it’s not difficult to fall in love with this city.

Dalat Ultra Trail Expo

Walking down hill through Dalat Palace garden hotel, I picked up the race kit in a very organised order at Lam Vien Square by Xuan Huong lake. A nice vibe with live music band. It’s huge outdoor space giving chance for more than 2000 runners to check out the stores, mingle and try new gears. I chatted with friendly locals as well as expats there. Tried out the Recovery Sports System at The Endurance Academy booth which made my legs felt lighter for the race.

The race kit comprised of Quecha bag pack, headlamp and race belt. My planning for the race was made easy because the bip number not only contain elevation graph but also distance to run between each checkpoint within time limit.