Links to the Past

Tell people you have golfed in Vietnam and eyebrows rise in surprise, if not shock, for few other lands evoke memories so contrary to the sport’s image.

But perched atop a green hillock overlooking Xuan Huong Lake in this cool mountain oasis, there it is: the clubhouse of the Dalat Palace Golf Club, a two-story, lemon-yellow confection of French architecture that reflects Vietnam--past, present and future.

After 10 centuries of dynastic rule, the country’s last emperor, Bao Dai, reigned from 1926 to 1945 and strolled a smaller version of this course while visiting his summer palace a few miles away. Bao Dai often came to Da Lat (sometimes spelled as one word) to escape the swelter of Saigon, now Ho Chi Minh City, about 200 miles to the south. He played an occasional round of golf on the eight-hole course, built for the ruling class in 1922.

Bao Dai added the signature villa-cum-clubhouse in 1933. Today, under Vietnam’s Communist regime, that old clubhouse serves as--what else?--a new clubhouse, headquarters for a sprawling golf course far grander than the one the emperor played.

The Dalat Palace Golf Club, a name adopted a few years ago to capitalize on its links to Bao Dai, has been transformed into a championship-caliber, 18-hole course. By the time Hong Kong-based Danao International Holding Ltd. completed the expansion in 1996, workers had created a series of terraced lakes, planted 1,000 imported Monterey pine trees, installed irrigation and groomed bent-grass greens to create a 7,009-yard, par-72 course. The project symbolizes doi moi, Hanoi’s liberalized economic policy to encourage foreign investment and tourism.

After I flew back from Vietnam to Los Angeles in November, I told friends about my round of golf. “Decadent” was the judgment, mordantly delivered, that I heard more than once. Indeed, in such a poor country--a place where Westerners can’t help but encounter beggars--it may be hard to spend money on golf and not feel self-conscious.

After all, my only previous visit to Vietnam had been in early 1999 as a journalist for the L.A. Times. I was in Hue and Danang, following North Hollywood-based Wheels for Humanity and other American charities that provide refurbished wheelchairs to people crippled by combat or decades-old land mines. The charities also gave wheelchairs to scores of children with birth defects that the Vietnamese government attributed to Agent Orange.

Yet as incongruous and bourgeois as it may seem, Vietnam built more than half a dozen golf resorts in the 1990s. In Hanoi, there have been no reports of Ho Chi Minh spinning in his tomb.

Golf, however, is hardly the principal reason to visit Da Lat. The city itself is something of a surprise--a welcome one.

Vietnam, especially the south, is known for its steamy tropical climate. Its urban areas, in particular Ho Chi Minh City, operate at a frenetic pace.

Da Lat, by contrast, is a respite of comfortable temperatures and calmer temperaments. The city is nestled in a valley about 4,500 feet above sea level in the Central Highlands, a region dominated by the Annamite Cordillera mountains that run through much of Vietnam. In the dry season, December through March, temperatures run in the low 70s. That explains why the French embraced Da Lat as a retreat in the early 1900s and built hundreds of villas.

My fiancee, Oanh (pronounced oh-ON), and I included Da Lat in a busy itinerary. A Vietnamese American, Oanh was making her second visit since her family left the country as “boat people” in 1980. She was staying more than a month; I was spending 12 days in the country, playing tourist part of the time and meeting Oanh’s relatives in Ho Chi Minh City and the Mekong Delta.

Our journey to Vietnam started in Hanoi, in the north. After exploring that region for a few days, we were ready to head south. But we couldn’t find any direct flights from Hanoi to Lien Khuong, the airport 30 minutes from Da Lat. So we took a circuitous route, flying south to the coastal city of Nha Trang and hopping a minibus for a four-hour drive south on Highway 1. The journey shortened our stay in Da Lat from four days to three, but it proved worthwhile.

Turning inland at Phan Rang, our driver took a brief detour. Atop a hill studded with cactuses lay an ornate, rust-colored relic of the old Hindu kingdom of Champa: a temple dating from the late 13th century. Crowned with a series of cupolas and a six-armed Siva over the entrance, the temple is one of many Cham towers that still stand.

The Chams have a longer claim on this southern territory than the Vietnamese. They flourished from the 2nd to the 15th centuries, and although their old towers speak of past dominance, today Chams account for only 60,000 of Vietnam’s 78 million residents.

As we drove on, palms and rice paddies gave way to pine trees, and the road twisted steeply into terrain that called to mind a lusher version of the San Bernardino Mountains--without the smog below.

We arrived in Da Lat and headed for our hotel, bypassing old French villas as well as high-end lodgings. Being budget conscious, we chose the Hotel Europa, also known as the Chau Au, a short walk from the city’s main marketplace.

It was listed in one guidebook as $20 to $35 a night, but innkeepers here expect to haggle. After some negotiation, we paid $20 for one of the hotel’s premium rooms: a clean, comfortable place with two double beds and a view. The staff was friendly; the manager even checked flight schedules for us and arranged transportation later in our stay.

With our accommodations settled, we set out to explore the city. Compared with other parts of Vietnam I had seen, Da Lat felt different, less urban. The city is home to 125,000 residents, but it feels smaller. Evergreen forests, gardens, lakes and waterfalls create a mood of tranquillity and romance. No wonder the Vietnamese have made Da Lat their most popular honeymoon destination.

That said, amid the natural beauty and graceful architecture are souvenir shops and other tourist come-ons, including golf. The number of visitors, mostly Vietnamese or expatriates, has surged.

Because Oanh speaks the language, traveling throughout Vietnam was easier for us than it would be for most Americans. Still, in and around Da Lat, which is home to a university, we found that many people speak at least rudimentary English.

We spent our first afternoon walking through the city’s main market, which was full of fresh cabbage, cucumbers, chiles, onions and root vegetables. Oanh and I are not gourmets, so throughout our journey we often dropped into hole-in-the-wall restaurants for bowls of pho--noodle soup. The portions were generally smaller than one might get at a Southern California restaurant, but the price was only 8,000 dong, about 60 cents.

Some restaurateurs operate without a restaurant, just setting up a kitchen on the sidewalk. We would stop for a whole meal or just snack on treats such as spring rolls or flattened, grilled banana.

On our second day, we were ready to sightsee in the outlying region. We passed on some of the touristy attractions, including the boats at the Lake of Sighs, named for a legend about a woman so overcome by the apparent loss of a lover that she jumped into the water and killed herself. We also skipped the Valley of Love, where guides in kitschy cowboy costumes offer horseback rides and charge tourists to pose in their pictures.

Instead, we hired a taxi for about $12 for the day and made our own tour. Our cabbie drove us about eight miles to Prenn Falls, a popular spot for good reason. Here a river leaps 40 feet off a natural rock outcropping.

We stopped for several snapshots and walked on the footpath behind the falls. The admission fee (about 75 cents), the snack stands and the souvenir shops reminded us we were at a tourist spot, but we still enjoyed the visit.

At Datanla Falls, a few miles away, a narrower stream cascades in a series of drops. It’s less dramatic than Prenn Falls, but more tranquil--good for a picnic. After paying another 75-cent admission, we walked a path through a forest of fragrant pine and stepped down a steep walkway to the falls where we spotted two honeymooners, a Vietnamese bride in high heels following her husband.

By afternoon, we had sampled the food, visited a temple and seen the natural beauty of Da Lat. One experience remained: golf.

Although some Vietnamese are picking up the game, golf is far beyond the means of all but the elite. When we were at Dalat Palace, the walk-in rate was $50. Now, during the peak of the dry season, it climbs to $85.

The cost includes not only the required cart but also the required caddie. About 90% of them are women, some of them university students eager to practice English.

General manager Jeff Puchalski, a former pro at Wilshire Country Club in L.A., said later by telephone that the golf club’s clientele is divided equally between tourists and expatriates, about two-thirds of whom are Asian businessmen posted in Vietnam.

The Dalat Palace course is beautiful, hilly, well-tended and challenging. Water comes into play on eight holes. The layout is better than, say, Malibu Country Club or Empire Lakes in Rancho Cucamonga; back home, a club like this would charge $120 to $140.

Scant crowds were a bonus for us. On this weekday afternoon, Oanh and I had the course to ourselves. At first this seemed like an inspiration. Dropping a birdie putt on the par-3 ninth hole, I was on pace to break 80 at the turn and set a personal record. The fact that I was using rental clubs ($10) didn’t seem to matter. On the last six holes, alas, the Zen disappeared. I finished with an 89.

Inside the pro shop, I couldn’t help but buy a cap, shirt and jacket (again, at Western prices). Nice conversation starters back home.

But I must be careful where I wear those souvenirs, for each article of clothing is emblazoned with a tiny gold star against a red background--the old flag of North Vietnam, now the flag of the unified country. It’s an emblem that still incites visceral emotions among many Americans as well as anti-Communist Vietnamese overseas. My future father-in-law advised me not to wear them in Little Saigon if I know what’s good for me.

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GUIDEBOOK

Green Da Lat

Getting there: Cathay Pacific, Korean Air and Asiana offer service from LAX to Ho Chi Minh City with one plane change, with connecting service on Vietnam Airlines to the Lien Khuong/Di Linh airport. Round-trip fares start at $1,407. Minibuses run from Ho Chi Minh City to Da Lat for $15 to $30 per person.

Getting around: For $10 to $15, organized tours take visitors to waterfalls, temples, highlander villages and other attractions. We preferred to hire a taxi, about $12 a day.

Where to stay: We liked the Hotel Europa, telephone 011- 84-63-822-870, $15 to $25 a night for two. Luxury choices include the Hotel Sofitel Da lat Palace, tel. 011-84-63- 825-444, where doubles start at $159, and the Novotel Da lat, tel. 011-84-63-825-777, with doubles starting at $115.

Where to golf: We golfed at the Dalat Palace Golf Club, tel. 011-84-63-823-507. Last year Golf Digest rated Ocean Dunes Golf Club in Phan Thiet (about 120 miles south of Da Lat) as Vietnam’s best; tel. 011-84-62-823-366.

For more information: Call the Vietnamese Embassy in Washington, D.C., tel. (202) 861-2293. Visa processing is handled by Travel Documents Inc., 734 15th St. N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 20005; tel. (202) 638-3800.