Richard Bannister

The Valley of Love is a large park built around a man made lake. Its target audience is couples in search of romance, rather than coaster enthusiasts, but there is a small ride area near the entrance which includes a tiny coaster. Take Off (#1859) features a train of five small airplane-shaped cars which navigate a simple oval circuit, powered by a tyre drive lift hill and a single booster wheel three quarters of the way around the course. We were not expecting to be allowed ride, but the operator was quite happy for us to shoehorn ourselves on board.

With that complete, we spent an hour wandering around the park. The scenery was indeed beautiful, though the serene atmosphere was hurt by the fact that a pair of high powered speakers were blasting pop music across the entire park. It'd have been a lot more pleasant with the sounds of nature alone.

The Datanla Waterfalls are located about twenty minutes drive from the Valley of Love, and on the route to Dalat Airport. The entrance is located at the top of a valley, and thus the preferred access route to the falls themselves is via a medium sized Alpine Coaster. While not as long as the one yesterday, the ride was still quite exciting thanks to sharp turns throughout the course. Furthermore, the track was very close to the surrounding vegetation on both sides, adding to the sensation of speed.

The waterfalls themselves span two levels. The coaster leaves you at the upper set, where one can board a cable car down to the more impressive lower set. While I'm glad to have seen both, they didn't make a huge impression on me; I fear that I may have been forever spoilt by visiting Iguasu Falls earlier this year.