Considered to be the center of the Central Highlands, Buon Ma Thuot culture, attracting tourists thanks to the vast fields of coffee, the majestic waterfalls or the beauty of the legendary Serepok line.
The ideal time to travel to Buon Ma Thuot
Buon Ma Thuot has a clear weather in two rainy seasons. The dry season starts from November to April next year. The rainy season starts from May to October. Due to the relatively mild climate, the annual average temperature is 23-24 degrees Celsius, so you can go to Buon Ma Thuot at any time of year but ideally especially in December (bright yellow wildflowers and local festivals are wild) or 2-3 months (coffee season and attractive elephant racing festival).
Transportation to Buon Ma Thuot
Buon Ma Thuot is about 350 km from Ho Chi Minh City, about 1,400 km from Hanoi. You can choose to travel by road or air:
- From Ho Chi Minh City: If you go by car, it will take you about 7-8 hours, tickets can be purchased at Eastern bus station for about 200,000 - 240,000 VND in one way with many trips during the day. You can choose a late trip (22h) to take advantage of the night sleep on the car.
In addition, you can choose direct flights of Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar for about 1-1.5 million round-trip. It only takes about an hour to fly in Buon Ma Thuot.
- From Hanoi: you can buy air tickets of Vietnam Airlines, Vietjet Air, Jetstar for about 2-3 million round-trip VND. The flight from Hanoi to Buon Ma Thuot lasts about 1h40 minutes.
The airport is about 15 km from the city center, there are many taxis so you don't have to worry about moving.
Hotel in Buon Ma Thuot
Buon Ma Thuot does not lack hotels from budget to luxury. You can find many hotels on Ngo Quyen, Nguyen Duc Canh, Nguyen Cong Tru, Nguyen Chi Thanh streets ... If you go on a holiday, you need to book in advance to avoid out of room or be forced to price.
Depending on how long or short your Buon Ma Thuot trip can be, you can schedule your visit to be reasonable. The most visited places are within 50 km of the city. Here are a few places to visit that you can refer to:
Rock Elephant Mother
Located in the commune of Yang Tao (Lak district), the city center. Buon Ma Thuot is about 40 km along Highway 27, stone Elephant Yang Tao consists of a pair of stone Elephant Father and stone Elephant Mother appeared in the middle of the mountain forest, bringing with her the thrilling and mysterious legends. According to estimates, Elephant Elephant Stone has a length of about 200m, the circumference of the rock is about 500m, about 30m high and weighs tens of thousands of tons. This is the largest monolith in Vietnam.
From the ground, it only takes about 15 minutes to reach the highest peak of the rock by climbing over gentle slopes. From the top of the Elephant's Rock, you can observe many regional attractions such as Yang Reh Lake and Chu Yang Sin Range - the roof of the Central Highlands. Although coming to the top of the stone Elephant Mother is not difficult but you have to be careful because there is very little grip on the rock. On strong wind days, climbing to the top of the Elephant Elephant is quite risky because the climber can be swept off the cliff by the wind.
Ko Tam tourist area
Ko Tam resort is 8 km from Buon Ma Thuot City center, located right on the highway 26, 789 Pham Van Dong, P. Tan Hoa, Buon Ma Thuot City. Here, visitors can learn about the Central Highlands cultural diversity and many identities. In particular, all the architectural works in the tourist area are built with bamboo, the wood looks impressive and fancy.
Here, there is a stilt house that displays the pictures, ethnic instruments of the Ede people or the water wharf area which are recreated in the most natural way expressing the cultural beliefs of the people, added it is an artificial fishing lake with baskets of boats to create opportunities for visitors to get a new experience of sailing.
Dak Lak Museum
Also known as the Museum of Ethnic Culture in the Central Highlands. Built right on Bao Dai Palace - a historical monument of Dak Lak, the museum has about 1,000 artifacts and images, organized into 3 main display spaces (biodiversity and people's culture ethnicity and history). This is a cultural architectural work built in a modern style combined with national cultural traditions. In particular, Dak Lak Museum is also one of the pioneering museums in the use of indigenous languages in the display.
Victory Monument Buon Ma Thuot
The monument is located in the middle of Nga Sau roundabout, with a model of a flag vehicle to commemorate the victory of Buon Ma Thuot, which is also a sacred symbol of the city people. Wherever you go, just seeing the Nga Sau symbol is like seeing your home.
Lake Ea Kao
The lake is located 12 km southeast of the center of Buon Ma Thuot, in the territory of Ea Kao commune, formed from blocking the streams of Ea Knin, Ea Kao, Ea Chut, Cu Mblim ... to build irrigation works. irrigation for rice and coffee. Interestingly, although irrigation works since 1983, until now, the lake space of Ea Kao is still bold. Under the lake is a diverse ecosystem with many species of freshwater fish and shrimp. Around the lake are rolling mountain ranges and rich flora with forests with many old trees.
Cluster of Gia Long waterfall, Dray Nur, Dray Sap
Don Nur waterfall is located 25 km away from Buon Ma Thuot city along Highway 14, nearly 3 km from Buon Kop hydroelectricity, this is a majestic waterfall that nature has bestowed on Dak Lak. Dray Nur means a waterfall. So the waterfall also has the colloquial name of the waterfall. This waterfall is also called Upper Nur. Dray Nur is located right next to Dray Sap waterfall (also known as Chong waterfall) and is just a distance from Dray Sap, a suspension bridge over the Serepok river. Both are beautiful and majestic waterfalls.
Gia Long Waterfall also has another name is the Dau Sap Thuong waterfall, located adjacent to the Dray Sap waterfall towards the upstream. According to the words of the local people, the waterfall name is associated with Nguyen Anh (Gia Long) fleeing Tay Son's house. In order to have a unique name for the waterfall and mark the historical value of the landscapes, the locals started calling the name of Gia Long waterfall instead of the Dray Sap waterfall. However, there is a theory that the waterfall name was set by Bao Dai when he came here to travel.
Thuy Tien Waterfall
Thuy Tien Waterfall, also known as Ba Lau waterfall, is a waterfall in Dak Lak, the waterfall is located in Ea Puk commune, Krong Nang district. This is a beautiful, unspoiled landscape in the middle of the forest with countless stones lying on top of each other and the roots of closed forest trees look very strange.
Because there are 3 levels of pouring water, it is also called the Three Floor Waterfall. The first floor is narrow and has a small slope with easy steps. The second floor is spread out with many stone steps, and there are shallow water surfaces that can be bathed. The third floor of water from above poured down a wide and deep lake, tossed in white foam and returned to the gentle flow, curving between the deep blue thousands.
Yok Don National Park
Yok Don National Park is located in 3 districts: Buon Don district, Ea Sup district (Dak Lak province) and Cu Jut district (Dak Nong province). Yok Don is considered one of the largest special-use forests in Vietnam, located on a relatively flat area, with two small mountains south of the Serepok river. The forest is mainly natural forest, mostly dipterocarp forest. Yok Don is also the only national park in Vietnam to preserve this particular forest. Guests coming here will enjoy typical types of ecotourism such as elephant riding, walking, and mountain biking in primitive forests. In particular, at night, you can go see wild animals, go on a solo boat on the poetic Serepok line.
Chu Yang Sin National Park
Chu Yang Sin National Park is located in Lak and Krong Bong districts of Dak Lak province, 60 km east of Buon Ma Thuot city. If you want to find an attractive ecotourism place, this is the perfect choice. Cycling terrain, watching the green pine forest, learning about the wild birds or solitary canoeing on the river until the picnic is the exciting experience you can not miss when you come here.
Tay Nguyen University
Located at the front of Le Duan Street (Ea Tam, Buon Ma Thuot), this is a university in a multidisciplinary, multidisciplinary area. Having an advantage of an area of about 30ha, the school invests in lecture halls, laboratories, research labs, dormitories, libraries, Tay Nguyen general hospital ... to facilitate students and lecturers to study and research. On the campus there is a lake called "love lake" and a horizontal wooden bridge is very suitable for you to take pictures "virtual life".
The school also retains a rather special architecture, located in the middle of the lecture hall 1-5-6 and the library has a long corridor of brick and tile roofs, wooden pillars with equal spacing, both sides are rows of old and large flowering trees planted in straight lines bring an incredible ancient space.
Buon Ako Dhong
Buon Ako Dhong (often called Co Thon) is located in the North, about 2km from Buon Ma Thuot city center. "Ako" in Ede language means the watershed, "Dhong" is the valley. Ako Dhong is a watershed. "The valley of the watershed" eats the water of the Ea Nhang stream, is famous for its rich trade, also known as the "tile house" or "Buon Ama Rin". Festivals held regularly by Ama Rin village patriarchs, traditional lyrics, music and dance always sound under the long roof. The color of the plateau is always forever in Ako Dhong village, attracting many tourists when coming to this basalt land.
Trung Nguyen Coffee Village
Trung Nguyen Coffee Village is not only a place to buy famous coffee but also is designed as a miniature park. The landscape is beautifully designed, majestic like large waterfalls, bridges, streams, ponds, stilt houses ... with tourists coming in and busy. At this point, you may not need to buy any product, do not need to drink water in the bar and still be able to visit this population for free.
Ban Don
Not only possessing beautiful landscapes, from the great forest to the majestic river or the burgeoning elephants, this place also has special dishes such as grilled chicken, fire and Ama Kong wine.
Lake Lak
About 56 km south of Buon Ma Thuot City, this is the largest freshwater lake in the Central Highlands and second in Vietnam (behind Ba Be Lake). Surrounding the lake is covered by primeval forests. In addition to the natural beauty, villages of the M'nong people living around the lake will also provide you with a very unique cultural experience. Lak Lake is also an ideal place for you to watch the sunrise and set during the day.
Delicious dishes not to be missed
- Red Vermicelli is a specialty of this plateau city. The name of the dish originates from a vermicelli with a characteristic red color of broth. The dish is combined with many ingredients such as crab bricks, quail eggs, vegetables ... You can enjoy this popular dish at the intersection of Tran Phu & Y Zut, corner of Phan Dinh Giot Street - Le Hong Phong or at Le Duan corner - Phan Dinh Giot.
- Bun gio chop: (or vermicelli) with broth quite similar to bun bo Hue. The biggest difference is in the material section. Instead of using beef, people in this plateau use the meat on the back of the pig. The meat is picked up and washed, then cooked to cook in the pot of water, then take it out to cool. Whenever there is a customer to order, the owner takes each piece to put the key and drop it into the pot of water used for hot, then put it into a bowl of vermicelli which is available with a little bit of sauce, and finally for the green onion, onion and broth Hot in the bowl. You can enjoy this dish at 222 Nguyen Tat Thanh Street, 18 Tan Da Street, bun bo restaurant on YBih Aleo Street, Ba Trieu corner - Hung Vuong ...
- Biscuits filled with grilled meat mixed with many ingredients: a plate of wet cake, a plate of grilled meat, next to cucumber, green mango, pickled sauerkraut, herbs ... All are wrapped up and served with a cup of spicy sauce Tear the tongue. Visitors can visit the address E45 Tran Nhat Duat (sold from 3pm).
- Beef dipped with tamarind with sweet and sour taste, served with bread, watercress and salad are also famous delicious dishes. Address: 62A Le Thanh Tong.
- Lam rice, fire-chicken chicken are two famous dishes of people in Ban Don. Here, you can enjoy this dish in restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot.
- The leaves of the Ede people are also called leaf hot pots. Dishes made from 10 types are different forests. When eating, there is a very bitter and pungent taste. You can find this dish in specialty restaurants in Buon Ma Thuot.
- Fish-sour soup or fish-crab hotpot - tourists can hardly ignore the specialty fish of the majestic Serepork river. This is a delicious dish and has a very good cooling effect on sunny days. In addition, lentils are also used to store fish and soup. You can enjoy this dish at Phuong Dung & My Lan - Hoa Phu.
- Dried Pho 2 Bowl Tien: 39 Le Thanh Tong. Airy, clean, famous space in Buon Ma Thuot. Serving dry pho with a strong flavor, just eating. Serve fast, attentive.
- Bun Rieu on Le Thanh Tong and Xo Viet Nghe Tinh streets.
- Hot cast cake in Phung Chi Kien street (near fried cake shop), in the morning, can be eaten at Ba Toa market (Nguyen Du street, across Chui bridge to ask Ba Toa market, the shop only sells for 7-9am).
Some nice cafes you can visit
1990 cafe (63 Nguyen Thong)
True to its name, 1990 coffee brings an old, casual feeling to the guests. From the outside of the door, the owner of the shop for hanging the classic black and white sign "Ban Me Coffee 1990" opens a simple space with old bookcases and wooden items tinted with time. The shop has 3 small rooms with large windows, and a nice apartment.
House of Lens (14/19 Cu Chinh Lan)
The cafe has a classic direction, pure coffee, a music exchange place every Thursday and Saturday evening. The songs are mostly accoustic with a gentle guitar, violin and warm voices.
Coffee bus (16 Nguyen Son)
Coffee bus is a rendezvous for young people who want a new, unprecedented experience in Buon Ma Thuot, instead of sitting and enjoying a glass of water in a spacious restaurant, you will sit in a space of a familiar bus. . But it is not that the restaurant is not beautifully decorated.
Thi cafe (71 Ly Thuong Kiet)
The main style is vintage, so from the typical patterned brick color, the sloughing wall color to the sofa table are kept intact, bringing a peaceful atmosphere like back to the old days. The coffee market has a pure and special type of coffee, so even coffee connoisseurs in Ban Me land must give praise.