The Central Highlands

The central highlands of Vietnam is a very stunning destination because it owns so many beautiful landscapes, rich culture and traditional custom of different minorities. Traveling to Central highland, tourists will have a great chance to discover the beautiful things via so many attractive activities from trekking tour to Eco tour.

Besides owning the spectacular scenery, central highland is very famous with a lot of coffee. This region has slowly opened up to tourists in the pass. However, in the recent years, the tourists can discover the main destinations of this area such as Kom Tum, Buon Me Thuot, Dak Lak , Plei Ku and off course Dalat is the most highlight of this area.

The central highlands is a home of 47 different minorities with diversified culture and custom, so when traveling to this area, tourists will have a great chance to enjoy the space of Gong culture which is special music was recognized by Unesco in 2005 after Hue court music.

Traveling to the central highlands, tourists will have a chance to riding the elephant and discover the different tribal village, enjoy the Can Wine during enjoy the dancer in Gong dance show and other activities that will bring you a memorable Vietnam trip.

The best time to travel to Central Highlands

Weather in Central Highlands is influenced by Tropical Wet & Dry climate with temperature is from 18 to 34oC, the hottest month is June when a maximum temperature is about 34 – 35oC, the coldest month is December. So, it is nice place for tourists travel all year around. However, the best time to traveling in this place is from November to May of next year when you can enjoy the beautiful of coffee flowers on March, magnificent landscapes in Buon Ho, Phu Cuong waterfall, or plantations of rubber and much more impressive places.

How to get to Central Highlands from Ho Chi Minh, Hanoi and Danang.

If you are traveling to Central Highlands from Ho Chi Minh you can take the flight of Vietnam airlines which offer 02 flights per day to Pleiku, one in the morning and one in the afternoon. From Plei Ku, you can take the private transfer from local travel agents or take a taxi to city centre.

If you are traveling to Central Highlands from Hanoi, you also can take the flight of Vietnam airlines to Buon Me Thuot and Plei Ku. Vietnam airlines offer one flight in the morning for both places. From Buon Me Thuot and Plei Ku, tourists can book the private transfer or taxi to the city central.

If you are traveling to Central Highlands from Danang, you can take the flight of Vietnam airlines to Buon Me Thuot and Plei Ku. To Buon Me Thuot, they offer one flight in the afternoon. To Plei Ku, they offer one flight in the late afternoon. Besides, if you would like to have a package trip to Central Highlands from Danang, you can take the private transfer with the routing is Danang – Kon Tum – Buon Me Thuot – Dak Lak – Da Lat – Ho Chi Minh.This routing is an amazing trip for those who like to get a memorable adventure Vietnam tour.

Top tourist attraction to see in Central Highlands

The central Highlands is an amazing destination for tourists who like getting off the beaten track, it is quite easy for tourist to combine the Central Highland adventure tour with the main tourist sites in the big cities such as Ho Chi Minh, Hoian, Dalat or Nha Trang. So in this article we would like to introduce the main tourist attraction you must see in the central highland when traveling in Vietnam.

01 – In Kon Tum

Kon Tum is a beautiful mountainous province which is located in the West of Truong Son mountain range which has the border with Quang Nam, Quang Ngai provinces Laos and Cambodia, so it owns so many interesting things including mountains, hill, plateaus, and valleys. So, when traveling to Kon Tum, tourists not only have a great chance to enjoy the beautiful natural landscapes but also explore the traditional culture and custom of local people.

Ethnic villages: When traveling to Kon Tum, the first thing tourist want to see is a ethnic village, because there are so many minorities live together. In Kon Tum, tourists can come to visit Konkotu Village which is representative for Ba Na group. This village is located only 10 km from city center. Ba Na group is one of the minorities who is still keeping a lot of traditional custom such as dancing and playing with different instruments.
Kon Tum church: This church is located in the centre of Kon Tum city which was built in 1913 to 1918 by a French Prie. The contraction of this church is combined between Roman style and Bahnar still house. The decoration was very close the nature, daily life and culture of people in this place.
Communal house (Rong house): This is a beautiful and special house only can find in Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces. It is a symbol of the culture of people in the central highlands. This is very amazing, imposing stilt house in the middle of village use for public ceremonies such as the wedding, meeting, or praying ceremonies.

02 – In Buon Me Thuot

Buon Me Thuot is considered as a capital of Central Highlands, it does not have many tourist attractions as in the main cities like Hoian, Saigon, or Dalat but Buon Me Thuot is a very nice place for tourists discovering different hill tribes, imposing waterfalls, and enjoy the bird watching and riding the elephant.

Dray Sap Waterfall: This waterfall is one of the most imposing waterfalls in Buon Me Thuot you must see in your Vietnam tour. Located in a primary forest in Nam Ha commune, only 30km from city centre. This waterfall is attracted tourist by its beautiful view and nature.
Dray Nur Waterfall: Dray Nur is another waterfall on Sepepok River, it is also very beautiful waterfall but less well known than Dray Sap because it is smaller.
Buon Don (Don Village): Don Village is the most famous place to visit in Central Highlands. Traveling to this village, tourists will have a chance to take elephant ride crossing Serepok river and going around the village.
Coffee in Buon Ma Thuot: When traveling to Buon Me Thuot, one of the most famous and beautiful place which tourist cannot skip is visiting coffee plan station. Coffee of Buon Me Thuot is not only famous in national, but also in international. If you are person who likes the taste of Coffee, this is a perfect place for you to choose the different type of coffee and we think you cannot skip the most famous Trung Nguyen coffee

03 – In Plei Ku

Plei Ku is a provincial capital city of Gia Lai, this area is very fresh with cool weather all year round, so it is very suitable for growing rubber, coffee, and pepper trees. Besides, when traveling to Plei Ku, tourists also can visit a lot of beautiful tourist sites such as beautiful Sea lake, Yaly Hyrdo station, T’nung lake, Fossil Tree Water Park.

Sea lake ( Bien Ho): Sea lake is the most beautiful natural lake in Plei Ku with the area of 250 ha and the depth of 40m. The lake is surrounded by mountain and pine forest trees. Traveling to this place, tourist will have an opportunity to enjoy the fresh air and escape from the chaos of the city. In this lake, you also can take a boat trip to discover the beauty of the lake.
Yaly waterfall and hydro power station: This is the most fabulous and largest waterfall in Pleiku which is located in the north of Plei Ku city with 15km only and between Kon Tum and Gia Lai provinces. Besides Yaly waterfall, you also can visit Yaly hydro power station which is located on Sisan river which far from Yaly waterfall 5km only. This is the second largest power station in Vietnam after Hoa Binh power station on Da river in the Northwest Vietnam.

Interesting things to do in Central Highlands

Central highlands is one of the most exciting places you should discover in your Vietnam holiday. Because it is home of indigenous tribes, traditional villages, sparkling waterfalls and the odd elephants. When traveling to Central highlands, you will have a lot of opportunities to do the interesting things like riding elephants, Hiking & camping in the national park or enjoying overnight in long-house-on-stilt.

Hiking & Camping in Yok Don National Park: This is the biggest national park in the central highlands and also in Vietnam with a lot of different pieces of birds and animals are noted in the Red Book. When visiting this national park, tourists have a chance to ride the elephant and take the boat to cross the Serepok river to go deeply to the jungle where tourist have a chance to hike through the forest and stop for camping.
Trekking to village Ede village: When traveling to central highlands, all most of the tourists cannot miss the trekking tour to visit Eden village where you can visit the traditional long- house-on-stilt of Ede hill tribe. In this village, tourist will have a chance to better understanding about the lifestyle of hill tribe in this area.
Discovering the heritage of Lak lake: To be one of the largest natural freshwater lakes in Vietnam. Lak lake is the most pretty one with a natural beauty of surrounding mountain and forests. When traveling to this lake, tourist can take part in some exciting activities such as ride the elephant to visit Jun, Le village – the traditional village of M’nong people. Besides, tourist also can take a canoe to travel around the lake to learn how local people fishing by their traditional way.
Visiting beautiful waterfalls: When traveling to Central Highlands, the imposing waterfalls are places tourists should not miss because of their natural beauty.
Trekking to Banar village: If you are a person who want to deeply explore the lifestyle of hill tribes in Central Higlands. Banar village is one of the most interesting village you should discover. In this village, you have a chance to explore the beautiful Rong house, meet the Banar people and learn about their traditional culture and custom. Besides, you also can enjoy the Gong show, drink wine and dance with local people here.

More information on Cambodia here. Laos here

Have a nice trip!