There is a Ban Me in me

11:19, October 16, 2023

BHG - At night, looking down from the plane, Buon Ma Thuot city, Dak Lak province is so magical and sparkling, giving us many emotions and impressions about this beautiful and poetic highland city.

As a central province of the Central Highlands, bordering Cambodia, Dak Lak attracts and impresses tourists not only with its amazing natural landscapes but also with its unique, rich traditional culture imbued with national identity. According to comrade Pham Minh Tan, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Dak Lak Provincial Party Committee: “Those are the epic poems Dam San, Xinh Nha… traditional craft products of brocade weaving, weaving, and sculpture. Along with that are unique festivals and customs, the sounds of gongs, lithophones, and musical instruments made from materials from the mountains and forests. Especially the songs and dances imbued with the highland character of the community of 44 ethnic groups”.

Victory Monument - symbol of Buon Ma Thuot city.

Mr. Huynh Quang Ho, a technical officer of Dak Lak Radio and Television Station, who has just retired, enthusiastically took me to admire the highland city. Born and raised here, he is quite familiar with the history and development of Buon Ma Thuot city, which people often call Ban Me for short. He said: Derived from the three words Buon Ma Thuot, including the humorous way of saying it, the city has 17 names, but no matter what you call it, people still have special feelings for the capital city of Vietnamese coffee.

Not noisy, a bit leisurely, gentle, Buon Ma Thuot is as beautiful as a masterpiece of nature, beautiful to the heart of tourists. The roads are very wide, airy, the sidewalks are large, clean, suitable for people and tourists to walk, stroll, along with a developed green tree system, perhaps there are few places with as many old trees as in this city, each tree is assigned a number for convenient preservation and protection.

It seems that everyone who comes to Buon Ma Thuot city comes to take souvenir photos at the Victory Monument - the symbol of the city in the middle of the 6-way intersection.

Not far from the 6-way intersection is the Dak Lak Provincial Museum. The museum is designed based on the typical long house architecture of the Ede community (the most populous ethnic group in this province). The museum preserves and displays about 1,000 artifacts and images introducing the history, nature and culture of the ethnic communities in Dak Lak.

What surprised us was the national flag that had been hung at Lung Cu Flagpole, placed solemnly in a glass cabinet in the first area when entering the museum's exhibition area. The flag, numbered 233, was solemnly held by the officers and soldiers of Lung Cu Border Post in a flag-raising ceremony on November 12, 2016 and was presented by the leaders of Ha Giang province to Dak Lak province on the occasion of the Mong ethnic artisans residing in the three districts of Ea Kar, Krong Nang and Krong Bong coming to Ha Giang to participate in the 2nd National Mong Ethnic Cultural Festival (November 2016).

On a moonlit night in the highlands, in the aroma of a cup of coffee, there is a gentle scent that is both familiar and strange. Following that scent, right at the beginning of the street “Book Street”, we suddenly come across the Vuong Banyan flower, the flower of the ocean, the “beauty queen” of the Truong Sa archipelago. Under the canopy of leaves, next to the Banyan fruit, are clusters of buds, the flowers are blooming, gently swaying in the wind. The white color of the petals, the purple-pink color of the pistils with a layer of yellow powder in the moonlight makes the flowers more colorful and sparkling.

Cruise on Lak Lake.

The following afternoon, at the base of an ancient Kơ nia tree, Mr. Huỳnh Quang Hổ boasted: The Vuong banyan tree was given by Trường Sa soldiers during the visit of the Dak Lak Province Ethnic Group to the island. The tree was planted in the premises of the headquarters of the Dak Lak Province Fatherland Front Committee. Now the headquarters has moved to a new location, but the Trường Sa banyan tree is still cared for and protected.

What is special is the location of the Museum - where the flag brought back from Lung Cu in the northernmost part of the country is kept and displayed, the location of the ancient Kơ nia tree symbolizing the Central Highlands and the square-fruited banyan tree, symbolizing resilience against storms on the remote island, forming the three corners of the triangle, of which the Victory Monument is the center. Perhaps, it also represents the solidarity to overcome difficulties and victory of people on the border and remote islands.

Following National Highway 27, the route connecting Dak Lak and Lam Dong provinces, through primeval forests and prosperous villages, we arrived at Lak Lake Tourist Area (Lak District), located about 50 km from Buon Ma Thuot City. "Coming to Lak will surely bring success" is the slogan of Lak District, carved on a stone slab by the roadside right at the gate of the District Party Committee, People's Council and People's Committee, making almost everyone who comes stop to take pictures. There are many anecdotes, beautiful and impressive images surrounding this saying about the heroic district of Lak.

Lak Lake has an area of about 6.2 square kilometers, located at an altitude of more than 500 meters above sea level, with the main water supply coming from the Krong Ana River. Gifted by nature, this is the largest natural freshwater lake in Dak Lak province and the second largest in Vietnam (after Ba Be Lake). Lak Lake possesses a beauty that is both wild and poetic.

The majority of people living around the lake are M'Nong people. Around Lak Lake, there are still traditional long houses with objects bearing traditional cultural identity. In particular, the brocade weaving craft is still passed down through generations.

The Palace of King Bao Dai (the last king of the Nguyen Dynasty) is two special historical structures of Dak Lak province, one located next to Dak Lak Museum and the other built on a hill by Lak Lake. Surrounded by many beautiful green trees, from the 3rd floor of the villa, you can admire the entire Lak Lake and the surrounding areas.

Article and photos: Dang Phuong Hoa

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