Yok Don National Park The park runs all the way up to the border with Cambodia, with the beautiful Srepok River flowing through it. Unfortunately, deforestation is a big problem, particularly in the region closest to the entrance. Yok Don is home to 67 mammal species including wild elephants, tigers, leopards and rare red wolves. [...]
The Ede name translates as ‘Thuot’s father’s village’, but Buon Ma Thuot has outgrown its rustic origins without acquiring any real charm. An affluent, modern, but rather characterless city (pronounced ‘boon me tote’) it is inundated by traffic from three highways. Its only saving grace is coffee: the region grows some of the best in [...]
TThere are two minority villages around the lake that often receive visitors. On the south shores near the town of Lien Son lies Jun village, a fairly traditional M’nong settlement filled with rattan and wooden stilt houses. The villagers are surprisingly nonplussed about visitors, even though DakLak Tourist MAP GOOGLE MAP ( 0500-385 2246; www.daklaktourist.com.vn) has [...]
Cat Tien ( 061-366 9228; www.cattiennationalpark.vn; adult/child 50,000/20,000d; 7am-10pm) comprises an amazingly biodiverse area of lowland tropical rainforest. The 72,000- hectare park is one of the outstanding natural treasures in Vietnam, and the hiking, mountain biking and bird-watching here are the best in the south of the country. Always call ahead for reservations as the park [...]
The spectacular Ngoan Muc Pass is 43km southeast of Dalat. On a clear day you can see the ocean, 55km away. As the highway winds down the mountain it passes under two gargantuan water pipes that link the lake with the hydroelectric power station at the base of the pass. South of the road (to [...]
Bao Loc is all about tea, silk and the cultivation of mulberry leaves (which make up the silkworms’ diet). Roadside rest stops offer free samples of the local tea. It’s a practical place to break the journey between HCMC (180km) and Dalat (118km); Easy Riders often stop here. Nearby Dambri Falls (admission 10,000d) is one [...]
Dalat is Vietnam’s alter ego: the weather is spring-like cool instead of tropical hot, the town is dotted with elegant French-colonial villas rather than stark socialist architecture, and the farms around are thick with strawberries and flowers, not rice. The French came first, fleeing the heat of Saigon. They left behind not only their holiday [...]
Why Go? There’s a rugged charm to this distinctly rural region, with pine-studded hilltops soaring over intensively farmed fields and remote, bumpy roads meandering through coffee plantations. Two national parks are of key interest. Cat Tien is a Unesco-listed biosphere with an impressive variety of flora and fauna. Yok Don is Vietnam’s largest protected area [...]
Isolated from the mainland, the Con Dao Islands are one of the star attractions in Vietnam. Long the Devil’s Island of Indochina, the preserve of political prisoners and undesirables, this place is now turning heads thanks to its striking natural beauty. In addition to hiking, diving and exploring empty coastal roads and deserted beaches, there [...]
A popular weekend escape from Ho Chi Minh city, Vung Tau rocks at weekends when beach-starved locals and expats descend in numbers, but it is relatively quiet during the week. The city enjoys a spectacular location on a peninsula, with ocean on three sides, and the light and sea air makes it a refreshing break [...]
The fishing village of Long Hai, now only 15km northeast of Vung Tau thanks to a major bridge, has a pretty white-sand beach and the area benefits from a microclimate that brings less rain than other parts of the south. This is why Bao Dai, the last emperor of Vietnam, built a private residence here [...]
A beautiful road parallels the coast between Phan Thiet and Long Hai, passing some memorable scenery, and traffic is light. There are pockets of tourism development, but for now most this coastline is a beguiling mix of giant sand dunes, fishing villages, wide ocean views and some near-deserted beaches. This region makes a great day [...]
The highlight here is the white reclining Buddha (Tuong Phat Nam). At 49m long, it’s the largest in Vietnam. The pagoda was constructed in 1861, but the Buddha was only added in 1972. It has become an important pilgrimage centre for Buddhists, who stay overnight in the pagoda’s dormitory. Foreigners can’t do this without police [...]
Before the discovery of Mui Ne, Phan Thiet was an emerging resort town in its own right, but it has been eclipsed by the new kid on the block. The town is traditionally known for its nuoc mam (fish sauce), producing 16 to 17 million litres of the stinky stuff per annum. During the colonial [...]
Once upon a time, Mui Ne was an isolated stretch of beach where pioneering travellers camped on the sand in the early 1990s, but it was too beautiful to be ignored. Times have changed and it is now a string of resorts, expanding in number every year. However, the beach retains much of its charm [...]
© Copyright by Dailytravelvietnam 2012 – 2024.
All rights reserved.
