Đà Lạt has always been a highly sought-after traveling destination, like how it was originally designed as a resort town for French officials. These days, however, the hilly Lâm Đồng town has urbanized so quickly that at times it’s hard to believe that here once lived a tree-carpeted enclave.
In these rare photos taken in 1992, Đà Lạt and surrounding localities in the Central Highlands appear as dreamy and lush as the stories our parents used to tell about their magical time in the temperate weather of Lâm Đồng. In between modernist structures and red-tiled roofs stand luxuriant heritage trees. Open fields full of fresh vegetables, mossy lawns, and pristine lakes bring to mind a sleepy town with a languid pace of life that would make Saigon’s rat race seem vertiginous.
These vivid film shots are just a handful of shots in the collection of Hans-Peter Grumpe, a German professor who traversed the length of Vietnam in the early 1990s and took thousands of photos. Grumpe’s images are neither too technical nor amateurish, but what makes them priceless is the vision that they offer — an objective lens into our past, complete with a healthy dose of whimsy and natural beauty, but also a lot of developmental struggles.
Have a closer look below:
Grumpe's chauffeur decides to try flying the airplane in Thung Lũng Tình Yêu.
Drinking rượu cần.
Families in the village.
[Photos by Hans-Peter Grumpe via RedsVN]
