Dak Lak Travel Guide

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 interspersed with mountains, hills, valleys, primeval forests...

What season is Dak Lak beautiful?

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 of 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. The end of February and the beginning of March is the season of coffee flowers, April is the season of po lang flowers (red cotton flowers) on the hills, November is the season of wild sunflowers. There are also the seasons of reed flowers, yellow muong, apricot cherry blossoms... In the summer of the Central Highlands, it often rains in the afternoon, but it stops quickly. Therefore, you should focus your time on sightseeing in the morning.

Move

Buon Ma Thuot City of Dak Lak is considered the center of the Central Highlands, and can be reached by plane, car, bus or motorbike depending on the departure point. Buon Ma Thuot is about 350 km from Ho Chi Minh City and about 1,400 km from Hanoi. Vietnam Airlines , Vietjet Air, and Bamboo Airways all have flights to Buon Ma Thuot. Round-trip tickets cost from 800,000 to 1,000,000 VND if flying from Ho Chi Minh City, about 60 minutes. A direct flight from Hanoi takes about 1 hour and 45 minutes, with a round-trip ticket costing about 2,000,000 VND. Bus tickets from Ho Chi Minh City to Buon Ma Thuot range from 200,000 to 400,000 VND; buses departing from Hanoi cost from 600,000 VND. The travel time from Ho Chi Minh City is about 8 hours and more than a day for buses from Hanoi. If you want to stop freely, you can go by car or motorbike. Starting from Ho Chi Minh City, you go in the direction of National Highway 14. The road is beautiful so you don't need to worry too much, but check and maintain your vehicle carefully before departure.

Hotel, homestay

There are many accommodation options if you stay 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... prices range 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 and mountains. Lak Tented Camp is a famous lakeside resort in Buon Ma Thuot.

Where to play

From the center of Buon Ma Thuot city, 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 it into sightseeing routes of 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 known as the "elephant territory" of the Central Highlands, famous for its tradition of hunting, taming and raising wild elephants. In Buon Don, you will hear stories about elephant riders (people who take care of and control elephants), visit the ancient stilt house over a hundred years old and the unique tomb architecture of the elephant hunting king Ama Kong... You can feed elephants and take pictures under the supervision of the mahout.

There are also some eye-catching structures here, attracting young people to take photos and check in. Photo: Hua Quoc Anh

Because it is far from the city center, you should stay in Buon Don for lunch. Some local dishes available here include bamboo rice, grilled chicken with green chili salt, wild vegetable hotpot, sour catfish 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 the feeling of swaying when crossing.

• Suspension bridge ticket: 40,000 VND per person.
• Ticket to visit the ancient stilt house: 15,000 VND per person.
• Ticket to visit the Elephant King's tomb: 10,000 VND per person.
• Meal: about 100,000 VND per person.

The ancient stilt house of the Elephant King Located in the Ban Don tourist complex, the stilt house is 130 years old. The house was built in Laotian architecture and is especially made entirely of good wood. Visitors will learn more about Khun Yu Nob's life of hunting and taming elephants. The Elephant King's tomb in Buon Don also has the tomb of Khun Yu Nob, who was known as the Elephant King with 400 hunted elephants. The Elephant King's tomb has M'nong and Laotian architecture, and was built by King Bao Dai himself to thank him for the white elephant that the Elephant King gave him and for building the elephant army. Troh Bu Garden Troh Bu is considered the first eco-tourism farm in Buon Don. There are outdoor activities, entertainment, and learning about wild orchids, forest trees, and wild flowers... The tourist area has food and accommodation services. Entrance fee is 35,000 VND for adults, 20,000 VND for children. Hoc Ca Sau In recent years, the green stone lake located in the Serepok 3 hydropower area, about 40 km from Buon Don, has been sought out by many young people as a check-in and beautiful photo spot. The lake is also called Hoc Ca Sau, because the row of boulders around the lake looks like a crocodile diving in the water from above. This location is on the online map, you can easily find it, or ask the locals for detailed directions. Because there are few people, the rocks are bumpy and the lake water is very cold, you should not swim or climb too high. Visiting Hoc Ca Sau is free.

Photo: Hua Quoc Anh

Yang-tao Elephant Rock The second day's journey to Lak district, passing through Yang-tao Elephant Rock, about 40 km from Buon Ma Thuot city center, before reaching Lak lake. There is a pair of giant monolithic boulders shaped like elephants, including a large one at the foot of the mountain called Mother Elephant Rock, and a smaller one called Father Elephant Rock, about 5 km away, located in the middle of a field. Following the directions of the online map, you will see an information board that says "Visit Mother Elephant Rock", then turn about 200 m more, park your vehicle at a cafe (5,000 VND/motorbike) and then walk along a short trail to the foot of the rock. To see the whole view of the field and the corner of Chu Yang Sin forest, you can climb to the top of the rock with a gentle slope that is not too dangerous. There is no entrance fee here.

Photo: Minh Duc

Photo: Hua Quoc Anh

Lak Lake Lak Lake is the second largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam after Ba Be Lake, Bac Kan. The lake is surrounded by large mountain ranges with primeval forests. Arriving at Lak Lake around 4:30 p.m. is the perfect time to watch the sunset over the lake. The most prominent feature of Lak Lake is the dugout canoe, a typical waterway of the Central Highlands. Therefore, the most interesting activity here is a boat tour around the lake to see the scenery and swim.

In addition, you can visit Jun village or M'Lieng village, where most of the M'Nong people live, to experience the community life of the Central Highlands. Around the lake, there are also two architectural relics for visitors to visit: the M'Nong longhouse and the palace of King Bao Dai. Tickets for the dugout canoe:

• 80,000 VND/boat for 30 minutes at 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 pottery products as gifts at affordable prices.

Photo: Bao Uyen

Serepok River The Serepok River flows into Cambodia before joining the Mekong River, which then returns to Vietnam. The 406 km long river has many majestic and pristine waterfalls and rapids, which are highlights that attract tourists. The Serepok is the confluence of two streams, Krong Kno and Krong Ana. Another strange thing is that the two streams flow parallel, but one is red all year round, while the other is always clear and blue.

Dray Nur Waterfall - Dray Sap Waterfall

The legend of Serepok created beautiful waterfalls such as Dray Sap, Dray Nur, Gia Long, Trinh Nu, Bay Nhanh, Krong Kmar, Bim Bip... Dray Nur is considered the most majestic waterfall in the Central Highlands, nearly 30 km from the center of Buon Ma Thuot. The white waterfall is about 250m wide in the flood season, more than 30m high pouring down into the cave. The most interesting thing is to cool off in the small stone holes and under the water pouring from above on the cliff behind the waterfall. Locals consider Dray Nur as the wife waterfall and Dray Sap as the husband waterfall. Although both are waterfalls created by the Serepok River, Dray Nur waterfall belongs to Dak Lak province while Dray Sap waterfall belongs to Dak Nong province. However, you can go from Dray Nur waterfall to Dray Sap side, only 2 suspension bridges apart. From Dray Nur waterfall, you can walk to Gia Long waterfall (Dray Sap Thuong) 2 km away, or travel about 12 km by road to the main area of ​​Dray Sap waterfall. Dray Sap waterfall is not as large as Dray Nur but still makes visitors excited by the white foaming water - true to the name "smoke waterfall" in the local language. The entrance ticket to Dray Nur waterfall is 30,000 VND. You can buy a combo ticket Dray Nur - Gia Long for 50,000 VND.

Dak Lak National Park 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 forest, bathing in waterfalls or trekking, exploring the lives of ethnic minorities... Chu Yang Sin National Park has spectacular scenery with more than 40 mountain ranges of different heights, many steep slopes, vast forests and streams, rapids, and waterfalls intertwined and overlapping. Chu Yang Sin range divides the park into two North - South areas and 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 over many communes and is more than 60km from the city center. You can travel by motorbike from Buon Ma Thuot to Lien Son town, then follow the trail about 20km to reach the national park.

Photo: Do ​​Tuan Hung

Yok Don National Park is one of the largest nature reserves in Vietnam, home to many large animals such as bison, gaur, buffalo, elephants, monkeys, gibbons, tigers, leopards, 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 ​​over 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 ​​primeval forest, of which the main forest is dipterocarp forest. 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 that are located on high hills, the tower here is nestled in an old forest, with a babbling stream, chirping birds and the bright yellow color of wild sunflowers on the trail leading to the tower. Wind farm

Photo: Thang Pham

The wind farm is the Dlieyang Wind Power Plant, located in Dlieyang Commune, Ea H'leo District, Dak Lak Province. The field belongs to the Tay Nguyen Wind Power Farm Project. The road leading to the wind power plant is beautiful but there are some difficult sections. To get to this location, from the center of Buon Ma Thuot city, you follow the map to Ea H'leo District, then continue to Dlieyang Commune. If you don't know the way, you can ask the locals. On the way, you will see Y-Jut Secondary School, go straight on the road next to the school for about 3 - 4km to see the wind power plant. Buon Trap Hydropower Plant The road leading to the hydropower plant is beautiful, with some sections stretching to the horizon, sometimes through a large valley, sometimes through a ravine... Below the dam is the Buon Trap bridge across the Serepok River. On one side of the road is a mountain, on the other side is a blue lake that conquers tourists who love to explore.

Photo: Minh Duc

Eat and drink

Dak Lak maintains a rich culinary culture, the crystallization of the ethnic groups living here. Coming here, visitors will be able to enjoy a variety of delicious dishes such as: sa lua chicken, chicken cooked with giang leaves, bamboo rice, sour soup with catfish, a specialty of the Serepork river, rice wine, wild vegetable salad, bitter eggplant salad... and indispensable is a cup of fragrant coffee in the fresh morning here.

Red noodles. Photo: Tam Linh

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 is a combination of many ingredients such as: crab fat, quail eggs, vegetables... You can enjoy this popular dish right at the sidewalk restaurant at the corner of Le Duan - Phan Dinh Giot. Grilled meat rice paper mixes many ingredients: a plate of rice paper, a plate of grilled meat, next to it are cucumber, green mango, pickled cabbage, herbs... All are rolled up and eaten with a bowl of spicy dipping sauce. Visitors can visit the address 43 Tran Nhat Duat.

Tamarind beef dipped in sweet and sour sauce, served with bread, watercress and salad is also a famous delicious dish. Address: 62A Le Thanh Tong. Photo: Tam Linh

Ede people's leaf soup is also known as leaf hotpot. The dish is made from 10 different types of forest leaves. When eaten, it has a bitter and spicy taste that is very unique. You can find this dish in specialty restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot. Sour catfish soup or catfish hotpot is a delicious dish and has a very good cooling effect on sunny days. In addition, catfish is also used to braise in clay pots, catfish soup. Address: DakMe restaurant - 143 Ngo Quyen. Bamboo rice and grilled chicken are two famous dishes of the people in Ban Don. When you come here, you can enjoy this dish in restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot.

Grilled sticky rice in bamboo tubes and grilled chicken with green chili salt are delicious dishes you should try when coming to Dak Lak, sold in many tourist villages such as Buon Don, Buon Jun... Photo: Hua Quoc Anh

Don't forget to enjoy coffee in the place known as the capital of this drink. If you are wondering which shop to choose, you can go to the Coffee Village located at the end of Le Thanh Tong Street in the heart of Buon Ma Thuot city. Coming here in the cool autumn weather, under the light drizzle, enjoying a sip of coffee embracing the Central Highlands culture with the Ede long house, jars of wine, and gongs is always an interesting experience.

Enjoying ruou can with an ancient jar, with a bamboo tube from the primeval forest, with spring water from the deep forest right on the stilt house, adding the vibrant melody of gongs and the rhythmic swaying dances in traditional festivals. That is the original ruou can, the soul of the culture of ruou can in the Central Highlands. The new rice offering ceremony, the buffalo stabbing festival, the water wharf offering ceremony, the child naming ceremony... are festivals that visitors should arrange their schedule to experience and enjoy ruou can properly.

What to buy as a gift

Famous Buon Ma Thuot coffee, rice wine or specialties of the Central Highlands such as beef jerky, dried bamboo shoots, wild honey... are things to buy as gifts. In addition, there are also unique and beautiful wooden handicraft products.

Du Hy

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