Nestled at an elevation of around 1500m among the hills of the Lang Bian Plateau, the city of DA LAT is Vietnam's premier hill station, a beguiling amalgam of mazy cobbled streets and picturesque churches, spliced unfortunately with dingy East European-style constructions and touristic kitsch. In 1897, the Governor-General of Indochina ordered the founding of a convalescent hill station here, where Saigon's hot-under-the-collar colons could recharge their batteries, enjoy the bracing alpine chill, and perhaps even partake in a day's game-hunting. By tacit agreement during the American War, both Hanoi and Saigon refrained from bombing the city and it remains much as it was half a century ago, a great place to chill out, literally and metaphorically.