Dak Lak is located in the center of the Central Highlands, the source of the Serepok river system and part of the Ba river. This land has rich natural beauty, in harmony with rivers mixed with mountains, valleys, primeval forests…
Which season is beautiful in Dak Lak?
Dak Lak has two distinct seasons, the rainy season from May to October, the dry season from November to April of the following year, the average temperature during the year is 24 degrees Celsius.
Dak Lak is most beautiful around the end of November, because the rainy season has passed, the autumn sky is clear and cool, the waterfall still has a lot of water. The weather in the first months of the year is also pleasant. Late February and early March is the season of coffee flowers, April is the season of po lang flowers (rice flowers) bright red in the mountains and hills, and November is the season of wild sunflowers. There is also the season of reed flowers, yellow cassia, cherry apricot… In the summer, the Central Highlands often has rain in the afternoon, but it quickly stops. Therefore, you should focus your sightseeing time in the morning.
Move
Buon Ma Thuot city of Dak Lak is considered the center of the Central Highlands, accessible by means of transport such as plane, car, bus or motorbike depending on the starting point. Buon Ma Thuot is about 350 km from Ho Chi Minh City, about 1,400 km from Hanoi.
Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Bamboo Airways all have flights to Buon Ma Thuot. Round-trip ticket price ranges from 800,000 to 1,000,000 VND if flying from Ho Chi Minh City, about 60 minutes. The direct flight from Hanoi takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes, round-trip ticket price is about 2,000,000 VND.
Bus tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Buon Ma Thuot range from 200,000 to 400,000 VND; Bus departing from Hanoi costs from 600,000 VND. The bus travel time is about 8 hours from Ho Chi Minh City and about more than a day for the bus from Hanoi.
If you want to freely stop and rest, you can go by car or motorbike. Starting from Ho Chi Minh City, you go towards Highway 14. The road is beautiful so you don’t need to worry too much, but please check and maintain your car carefully before departing.
Hotels, homestays
There are many accommodation options if you stay right in the center of Buon Ma Thuot city. Muong Thanh Hotel, Thanh Mai Hotel, Nice, Bazan Xanh, Biet Dien, Elephants, Sai Gon Ban Me, Hami Garden… are highly rated accommodation establishments. Prices range from 300,000 to 900,000 VND per night. Some famous homestays are Zan Homestay, Lee’s House, Doi Sao Homestay… priced from 300,000 to 1,200,000 VND per night.
If you go in a large group, you can stay in Ban Don tourist area or Lak lake to feel immersed in nature, mountains and forests. Lak Tented Camp is a famous lakeside resort in Buon Ma Thuot.
Where to play?
From Buon Ma Thuot city center, within a radius of about 50 km, Dak Lak has many places to explore. The beautiful natural landscapes on the trip are quite far from the city, so you can divide the tour into about 3 days and 2 nights, or longer if you have plenty of time.
Buon Don tourist area
On the first day, go to Buon Don. More than 50 km from Buon Ma Thuot City, Buon Don tourist area is a destination that attracts many domestic and foreign tourists. This place is called the elephant “territory” of the Central Highlands, famous for its tradition of hunting, taming and nurturing wild elephants.
In Buon Don, you will hear stories about elephant handlers (those who care for and control elephants), visit an ancient stilt house over a hundred years old and the unique tomb architecture of elephant hunter King Ama Kong… You can give Elephants eat and take pictures under the supervision of the mahout.
Because it is far from the city center, you should stay in Buon Don for lunch. Some local dishes available here include bamboo-tube rice, grilled chicken dipped in green chili salt, wild vegetable hotpot, sour fish soup…
Experience the suspension bridge in Buon Don through the canopy of hundreds of years old trees, nearly 1km long, made mainly from bamboo, where many tourists enjoy experiencing the feeling of swaying when crossing.
- Suspension bridge ticket : 40,000 VND per person.
- Tickets to visit the ancient stilt house : 15,000 VND per person.
- Tickets to visit the Elephant King’s tomb : 10,000 VND per person.
- Meal: about 100,000 VND per person.
Ancient stilt house of the Elephant King
Located in the Ban Don tourist area, the stilt house is 130 years old . The house was built according to Lao architecture and is especially made entirely of good wood. Visitors will learn more about Khun Yu Nob’s life of hunting and taming elephants.
Tomb of the Elephant King
Buon Don also has the grave of Khun Yu Nob, who was known as the Elephant King with 400 hunted elephants. The Tomb of the Elephant King has M’nong and Laotian architecture, designed and built by King Bao Dai himself to the collector to express gratitude for the white elephant that the elephant king gave him and for building the army statue.
Troh Bu Garden
Troh Bu is considered the first eco-tourism farm in Buon Don. Here there are picnic activities, fun activities, learning about wild orchids, forest trees, wildflowers… The tourist area has food and accommodation services. Entrance fee is 35,000 VND for adults, 20,000 VND for children.
Crocodile Box
In recent years, the blue rock lake located in the Serepok 3 hydropower area, about 40 km from Buon Don, has been sought by many young people as a check-in and beautiful photo spot. The lake is also called Crocodile Pit, because the row of rocks around the lake, seen from above, resemble a crocodile submerged in the water.
This location is on the online map, you can easily find it, or ask local people for dedicated directions. Because there are no people, the rocks are bumpy and the lake water is very cold, you should not bathe or climb too high. Visiting the Crocodile Box is free of charge.
Yang-tao Elephant Kick
The second day’s journey to Lak district, passing Yang-tao Elephant Rock, about 40 km from the center of Buon Ma Thuot, before arriving at Lak Lake. Here there is a pair of giant monolithic rocks shaped like elephants, including a large rock close to the foot of the mountain called Mother Elephant Rock, and a smaller rock called Father Elephant Rock about 5 km away in the middle of a field.
Following the instructions on the online map, you will see an information board that says “Visit Mother Elephant Rock”, then turn about 200 meters further, park your car at the cafe (5,000 VND/motorbike) and then walk along the short trail. will reach the foot of the rock. To see the panoramic view of the fields and corners of Chu Yang Sin forest, you can climb to the top of the rock with a gentle height that is not too dangerous. This place does not charge an entrance fee.
Lak Lake
Lak Lake is the second largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam after Ba Be Lake and Bac Kan. The lake is surrounded by large mountain ranges with primeval forests. Arriving at Lak Lake around 4:30 p.m. is a beautiful time to watch the sunset about to fall on the lake.
The most prominent feature of Lak Lake is the dugout boat, a typical waterway vehicle of the Central Highlands. Therefore, the most interesting activities here are boating tours around the lake to admire the scenery and swimming.
In addition, you can visit Jun village or M’Lieng village, where most of the M’Nong people live, to experience community activities that are bold in the Central Highlands. Around the lake, there are also two architectural relics for visitors: the long house of the M’Nong people and the special palace of King Bao Dai.
Tickets for the dugout boat:
- 80,000 VND/boat for 30 minutes in Buon Jun.
- 150,000 VND/boat for two passengers for 30 minutes at Lak Lake tourist area.
Ancient pottery village
Less than 10 km from Lak Lake is Yang Tao commune, the only place in the Central Highlands that still preserves the ancient pottery craft of the M’nong Rlam people. Here, visitors can learn about the art of handmade pottery as well as buy ceramic products as gifts at affordable prices.
Serepok River
The Serepok River flows into Cambodia before entering the Mekong River and then this large river returns to Vietnam. The 406 km long river has many majestic and pristine rapids that are attractive highlights for tourists. Serepok is a combination of two lines: Krong Kno and Krong Ana. Another strange thing is that the two streams flow in parallel, but one stream is red all year round, and the other stream is always blue and clear.
Dray Nur Waterfall – Dray Sap Waterfall
The legend of Serepok created beautiful waterfalls such as Dray Sap, Dray Nur, Gia Long, Trinh Nu, Bay Branch, Krong Kmar, Bim Bip… Dray Nur is considered the most majestic waterfall in the Central Highlands, far from the center of Buon Ma Thuot is nearly 30 km. The white waterfall is about 250m wide during the high water season, more than 30m high, pouring down into the lake bed. The most interesting thing is to cool off in small stone holes and under the water flowing from above on the cliff behind the waterfall.
Local people consider Dray Nur to be the wife waterfall and Dray Sap to be the husband waterfall. Although they are both waterfalls formed by the Serepok River, Dray Nur waterfall is in Dak Lak province while Dray Sap waterfall is in Dak Nong province. However, you can go from Dray Nur waterfall to Dray Sap side, only separated by 2 suspension bridges.
From Dray Nur waterfall, you can walk to Gia Long waterfall (Dray Sap Thuong) 2 km away, or travel about 12km by road to the main area of Dray Sap waterfall. Although Dray Sap Waterfall is not as large as Dray Nur, it still makes visitors excited by the white foaming water – true to the name “smoky waterfall” in the local language.
Entrance fee to Dray Nur waterfall is 30,000 VND. You can buy a Dray Nur – Gia Long combo ticket for 50,000 VND.
National Parks
Dak Lak has two famous national parks, Yok Don and Chu Yang Sin, in addition to Nam Ka and Ea So national reserves. Besides exploring the forest, you also have many activities to participate in when visiting the national park such as camping in the middle of the forest, bathing in waterfalls or trekking, exploring the lives of ethnic minorities…
Chu Yang Sin National Park has spectacular scenery with more than 40 different high and low mountain ranges, many steep slopes, vast forests and interwoven streams, rapids, and waterfalls.
Chu Yang Sin Range, which divides the park into two areas: North and South, is the highest mountain range, with a peak of 2,442 m. Chu Yang Sin peak is known as the second roof of the Central Highlands, after Ngoc Linh peak in Kon Tum province. The journey to conquer Chu Yang Sin requires at least 3 days and 2 nights.
With an area of up to 589 km2, Chu Yang Sin spreads across many communes and is more than 60km from the city center. You can travel by motorbike from Buon Me Thuot to Lien Son town, then follow the trail for about 20km to reach the national park.
Yok Don National Park is one of Vietnam’s largest natural reserves, home to many large mammals such as bison, gaur, wild buffalo, elephants, monkeys, gibbons, tigers, leopards, and peacocks. , pheasants, hawks… This is also a place to preserve many unique cultural values of the Central Highlands ethnic groups such as Ede, M’Nong…
With an area of more than 1.15 km2, Yok Don spreads across the two provinces of Dak Lak and Dak Nong. In the national park, there is up to 90% of the area of primary forest, of which dipterocarp forest is the main one. This is also the only forest in Vietnam that still preserves this special type of forest.
Yang Praong Tower
Unlike the Cham towers along the Central region, which are located on high hills, the tower here is nestled in an old forest, with a gurgling stream, birds singing and the bright yellow flowers of the forest. Wild sunflowers on the trail to the tower.
Wind power field
The main wind farm is Dlieyang Wind Power Plant, located in Dlieyang commune, Ea H’leo district, Dak Lak province. The field belongs to the Central Highlands Wind Power Farm Project. The path leading to the windmill field is beautiful but has some difficult sections.
To get to this location, from Buon Ma Thuot city center, follow the map to Ea H’leo district, then continue to Dlieyang commune. If you don’t know the way, you can ask local people. On the way, you will see Y-Jut Secondary School. Go straight to the road next to the school for about 3 – 4km and you will see the wind turbine field.
Buon Trap Hydropower Plant
The road leading to the hydroelectric power plant is beautiful, with some sections stretching to the horizon, sometimes through large valleys, sometimes through ravines… Below the dam is the Buon Trap bridge spanning the Serepok river. On one side of the road are mountains, on the other side is a blue lake bed that conquers tourists who are passionate about exploring.
In addition to the above locations, you can combine visiting some attractions in Buon Ma Thuot city center such as the World Coffee Museum, Dak Lak museum, exile house …
Eat and drink
Dak Lak holds a rich culinary culture, the crystallization of the ethnic groups living together here. Coming here, visitors will freely enjoy all kinds of delicious dishes such as: sa fire chicken, chicken cooked with giang leaves, bamboo-tube rice, sour soup cooked with lentil fish, a specialty of the Serepork line, can wine, wild vegetable salad, bitter eggplant salad. .. and indispensable cup of fragrant coffee in the fresh morning here.
Red vermicelli, this is a specialty of this highland city. The name of the dish comes from a bowl of vermicelli with the characteristic red color of the broth. The dish combines many ingredients such as: crab bricks, quail eggs, vegetables… You can enjoy this popular dish at the sidewalk restaurant on the corner of Le Duan – Phan Dinh Giot street.
Wet cake with grilled meat mixed with many ingredients: a plate of wet cake, a plate of grilled meat, next to it are cucumbers, green mangoes, sauerkraut, herbs… All are rolled up and served with a cup of dipping sauce. stinging the tongue. Visitors can visit the address 43 Tran Nhat Duat.
Leaf soup of the Ede people, also known as leaf hot pot. The dish is made from 10 different types of forest. When eaten, it has a very strange bitter and spicy taste. You can find this dish in specialty restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot.
Sour soup with lentil fish or lentil fish hot pot is a delicious dish and has a very good cooling effect on sunny days. In addition, lentil fish is also used to braise and make lentil fish soup. Address: DakMe restaurant – 143 Ngo Quyen.
Lam rice and sa fire chicken are two famous dishes of people in Don village. Here, you can enjoy this dish in restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot.
Don’t forget to enjoy coffee in the place known as the capital of this drink. If you are wondering about choosing a shop, you can go to Coffee Village located at the end of Le Thanh Tong street in the heart of Buon Ma Thuot city. Coming here in the cold autumn weather, under the light drizzle, enjoying a sip of coffee that embraces the Central Highlands culture with the Ede long house, jars of wine, and gongs is always an interesting experience. taste.
Enjoy wine from ancient jars, cans from the primeval jungle, and spring water from the deep forest right on the stilt house, accompanied by the melodies of bustling gongs and rhythmic swaying dances during festivals. traditional. That is the original can wine, the soul of the Central Highlands can wine culture. New rice offering ceremony, buffalo stabbing festival, water wharf worshiping ceremony, child naming ceremony… are festivals that visitors should schedule to experience and enjoy wine in the right style.
What to buy as a gift?
Famous Buon Me Thuot coffee, can wine or Central Highlands specialties such as beef jerky, dried bamboo shoots, wild honey… are things to buy as gifts. There are also unique wooden handicraft products that are quite beautiful.