Buon Don, a land of great potential

*Thousands of people flocked to Buon Don on the day of the Traditional Cultural Festival of Ethnic Groups.*

From the place name Ban Don

Ban Don in Lao means “island village” - the village is located on an oasis of the Serepok River, which flows upstream from Dak Lak to the Mekong River in Cambodia. And the people

Ede and M'Nong call it Buon Don. This place was originally one of the important river trading points of the three Indochinese countries in the past. At that time, Laotian traders often went down the Mekong River through Cambodia, Thailand and then up the Serepok River to Vietnam. On each trip, the main goods at that time were buffaloes to exchange for elephants, ivory and other special forest products... While going up the river to trade, they were captivated by this land and stayed with the indigenous Ede people to build a prosperous village here. This place is famous for hunting and taming wild elephants, with the legend of the Elephant King Khun Ju Nop (aka Y Thu K'nul), who captured more than 400 wild elephants. That is why, when they first set foot in Dak Lak, the French chose Ban Don as the provincial capital of Dak Lak, until the beginning of the 20th century when they moved to Buon Ma Thuot. Ban Don became the land of Elephants in Dak Lak and the Central Highlands. The Elephant Kings who succeeded Y Thu K'nul were also his descendants, such as R'leo and Ama Kong. Therefore, Ban Don - Buon Don has long been famous at home and abroad.

*Buon Don is famous for hunting and taming wild elephants.*

To a multicultural area…

Buon Don district is about 30 km west of Buon Ma Thuot city, bordering Ea Sup district to the north; Cu M'gar district and Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province to the east; the Kingdom of Cambodia to the west; Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province and Cu Jut district, Dak Nong province to the south.

Buon Don has a history of formation and development of more than 200 years, before August 1904 it was the capital of Dak Lak province. Together with the Ede and M'nong ethnic groups, the indigenous people came to settle and establish the first villages of this land. The presence of Lao people, the trade of Thai people, Cambodian people... turned this place into a bustling trading center, a multi-ethnic cultural area. After the reunification of the country on April 30, 1975, many waves of migration of ethnic groups from the Northern mountainous region to the Central Highlands to find new land to live, and Buon Don was also a destination. Since then, the population has included people from ethnic groups from the Northern mountainous region such as Tay, Nung, Dao... Up to now, Buon Don has a total of 29 ethnic groups living together, of which ethnic minorities account for about 47%.

Multi-ethnic culture, with a focus on Elephant Culture, has contributed to creating a unique traditional culture, on which the Traditional Cultural Festival - Buon Don Elephant Festival was formed every year, attracting many domestic and international tourists.

…and rich in economic development potential

Most of Buon Don district is located in the Ea Sup semi-plain, with low and medium-highland terrain accounting for 86.4% of the natural area. This place has the largest Yok Don National Park in the country with an area of over 115,500 hectares, a conservation area for Asian Elephants and a unique Dipterocarp forest ecosystem.

*Unique cultural features of Buon Don people.*

With a border of about 45 km long shared with the Kingdom of Cambodia, Buon Don has a very important geographical and economic defense position for Dak Lak province and the Central Highlands. Buon Don district is also identified as the key economic zone in the West of Dak Lak province, with many favorable conditions for developing tourism, energy, agricultural processing industry and agricultural services.

Currently, Buon Don has been developing strongly in tourism, which is also the spearhead economic sector of the locality. Buon Don has many beautiful landscapes along the Serepok River such as river banks, Serepok 3 Hydroelectric Lake, Bay Nhanh Waterfall, Phat Waterfall, Duc Minh Lake... thereby forming attractive tourist destinations such as Buon Don Suspension Bridge, ancient Lao house, Elephant King's tomb, Anh Duong Tourism, Thanh Ha Tourism, Yen Castle - Yen Island Community Tourism Village Buon Don, Trohbu Landscape Garden,... Yok Don National Park is famous for its great potential for exploiting eco-tourism and adventure tourism. And especially the traditional cultural identity of ethnic groups, the legend of the Elephant King are unique tourism products of Buon Don land.

*Buon Don, a multi-ethnic cultural region - Laotian punpimay festival in Buon Don.*

Along with traditional cultural values, relics, landscapes, national forest advantages, very typical specialties such as grilled meat, Ban Don grilled chicken, bamboo rice; Ama Cong wine; dishes from special river fish such as catfish, buffalo snout fish... also contribute to creating unique features for Buon Don culinary culture and Buon Don tourism.

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