Than Tho Lake

In 1937, the French built a dam across the Cam Ly stream, on low ground east of Da Lat. The purpose was practical. The dam made a reservoir of 8.5 hectares to supply water to the city. Before the dam, the land here had been a marsh.

The name of the lake began with a sigh. The French called it Lac des Soupirs. In French, soupir means a sigh. It can also suggest the whisper of wind in the pines that ring the lake. When the name was put into Vietnamese, people chose the first meaning. So the lake became Hồ Than Thở, the Lake of Sighs, and it has kept that name in Da Lat ever since.

On August 31, 1998, the Ministry of Culture and Information recognized Hồ Than Thở as a historical and cultural site. It belongs to a group of Da Lat scenic places recognized together. The group also includes Tuyền Lâm Lake and the Valley of Love. Three waterfalls belong to the group as well. Two are Cam Ly and Datanla, and the third is Prenn.

The lake lies about 6 kilometers east of the center of Da Lat. Water, pine forest, lawns and the cool air of the highlands come together here. That mix gives the place the calm, stirring mood it is known for.

And then come the stories.

A tourism database notes a pine hill called Đồi Thông Hai Mộ, the Pine Hill of Two Graves, on the left as you enter the grounds. A magazine of Vietnam's national news agency tells two stories. One is an old legend of Hoàng Tùng and Mai Nương, tied to the sadness the lake stirs. The other is the story of Lê Thị Thảo and Vũ Minh Tâm, tied to two graves in the pine hill.

These stories have been passed down through generations, and the press and tourism sources have recorded them. But not every detail can be checked point by point. They are best understood as a layer of cultural memory that the lake has gathered over the decades. That memory gives the lake depth and feeling. It gives people a reason to stand quietly and look at the water.

Today the lake area runs under the name Delight Park. VnExpress reports that the project dredged the lake and restored the pine forest. It also reorganized the paths and added light displays, flower gardens and a stage for music and water. Delight Park describes itself as a cultural and arts park developed beside the scenic site of Hồ Than Thở.

The place carries two layers at once. The heritage layer is a lake of 8.5 hectares, an old pine forest, the stories passed down, and recognition as a heritage site since 1998. The modern layer is the entertainment of Delight Park. It has a Phoenix Garden, a Love Park, zones of light and the water stage. It also has a statue of Quan Thế Âm. She is the bodhisattva of compassion.

In the evening, Delight Park stages a show called the Âu Lạc Epic right on the water. Sound, water, fire and laser light retell the legend of Lạc Long Quân and Âu Cơ. Lạc Long Quân was a sea dragon lord of Vietnamese legend. Âu Cơ was a mountain princess of the same legend.

The lake may be named for a sigh. Yet on an afternoon in Da Lat, with the wind in the pines, the sound of water and the stillness of the surface, a sigh here does not come from sadness. It comes because places like this are still here, after so many decades.