Experience the best of Buôn Ma Thuột

Buôn Ma Thuột is the main city of Đắk Lắk province in the Central Highlands, at an altitude of about five hundred metres, on a plateau of red basalt soil that suits coffee. Robusta coffee is grown on plantations all around, and the city has a coffee museum, a coffee festival, and cafés on nearly every corner.

The region is home to the Ede and M'nong peoples, whose gong music is recognised by UNESCO, and visits to villages such as Ako Dhong show their way of life. Dray Nur and Dray Sap, twin waterfalls on the Serepok river, lie south-west of the city, and Lak Lake, a large freshwater lake with M'nong villages on its shore, is to the south. Yok Don National Park, Vietnam's largest, spreads over dry forest to the north-west.

Local dishes include grilled chicken with sticky rice cooked in bamboo tubes, and rice wine drunk through long straws from big ceramic jars at village gatherings. Coffee blossoms turn plantations white in the dry season, around February and March, and the rainy months bring green hills and heavy afternoon downpours.