Kon Tum

Kon Tum province is a mountainous area of Central Highlands region of Vietnam, lies in the boundary of Vietnam-Laos-Cambodia. Most of its territory belongs to West of Truong Son Range. Its topography is a combination of hills, mountains, highlands and valleys, with sloping mountains dominating north and east. There are many montagnards, mainly Banhar, but also Rengao, Jarrai, Xedang, Jolung, Rade, Ede and Jet.

Tourism in Kon Tum is the combination of natural beauty and traditional culture. Coming there, visitors do not only seize the opportunity of admiring the beauty of nature and steeping in the vibrant history of war monuments but also enjoy the traditional living activities ethnic minorities and their festivals such as Đâm trâu (buffalo stabbing), Cồng chiêng (festival of gongs),….

1. Kon Tum Wooden Church:

Kon Tum Wooden church lies on Nguyen Hue Street, Kon Tum capital. Built in 1913, it is a wooden work of Roman architecture style. From a distance, there appears a lofty and imposing bell-tower on the sky. Wooden pillars and frames inside are built and connected each other in a sophisticated and skillful manner. The church palace is decorated as the design of Tay Nguyen’s ethnic minority. This church is the place where Christian believers gather to do praying in solemn and respectful atmosphere.

2. Bana village:

There are several Bana minority groups living in Kon Tum, or more generally in the Central Highlands, including the Ba Na Kon Tum, Ba Na Go La, and Ba Na Na Ko. Each group resides in a different area.

Visitors to a Bana village are able to see beautiful wooden houses on stilt, which have different shapes and sizes. They are either quadrilateral or square. The staircase leading to a house is made of a tree trunk. Each of the steps is meticulously chiseled, which reflects the carving skills of Bana men.

The Bana people are the first among the ethnic minority groups in the central highlands to own written language and how to use buffaloes and cow to plough their fields.

Nevertheless, their lifestyle has remained primitive. They just pestle a small amount of rice sufficient to feed the whole family in a day. The Bana people are famous for their hunting skill. Visitors to any houses can see there are several wooden bows and pots of arrows hang on the wall. Like any other ethnic minority peoples on the Central Highlands, The Bana people always keep fires burning in the middle of their houses. Family members and friends sit around the fire to drink, eat, and talk. The fire also keeps the house warm.

Most of the male Bana people have scars on their chest. These are self-inflicted wounds. The man inflicts himself by piercing the burning end of a timber into his chest or cutting himself with a sharp knife when a family member is dead. That is to demonstrate his pains over the lost of the deceased.

3. Communal House (Rong House)

The Rong House can only be found in villages to the north of the Central Highlands, especially in Gia Lai and Kon Tum provinces.

It is a large, imposing, beautifully decorated stilt house built in the middle of the village. It is where community activities take place, reception of guests, meetings, wedding ceremonies, or praying ceremonies. It is also the place for reception of guests.

The Rong House of each ethnic group has its own architectural style, design, and décor. Yet there are shared features. In the village, it is often the biggest house roofed with yellow-dried gianh leaves and having 8 big wood columns. The rafters are decorated with patterns of bright colours, depicting religious scenes, legendary stories about ancient heroes, stylized animals, and other familiar things of the village life. The most salient feature of the décor of the Rong House is the image of the brilliant God of Sun.
The Rong House is a symbol of the culture of Central Highlanders, an age-old and stable culture. The bigger the house, the wealthier the village is. It is a pride of the whole village.

4. Tay Nguyen Grave House

Tay Nguyen Grave House is located in the Central Highlands, Kon Tum Province.
According to aged old customs of ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands, after the burial of the deceased they grave to shelter the grave from rain and sunshine.

The hut is usually stocked with personal belongings of the deceased. Two or three years later, family members of the deceased are going to remove the hut and build a new, bigger wooden house there. In addition, the grave is to have meticulous decorations. The grave house is surrounded with a wooden fence within there is a wooden statue resembling a human being, a bird or an animal. The practice of removing the makeshift hut is usually organized in the spring and is considered a festive day.

The ritual is called Le Bo Ma (Leaving-the-grave). In this day villagers are gathered at the cemetery ground and the family members bring food offerings including rice-distilled rice, rice, cooked pork and other meat. After the offerings are given to the deceased, villagers are to sing songs, dance and enjoy the drink and the food taken down from the altar. They have the belief that the deceased has returned to join the feast with those alive.

5. Kon Tum’s Prison

Kon Tum Prison is located in the western part of Kon Tum Town, Kon Tum Province.
The prison was built by the French to detain patriotic revolutionaries. Since 1975, the end of the war, Kon Tum Prison has been a historical vestige of Vietnam. It has been badly damaged over the years and now only one stela and eight graves of revolutionary combatants remain. Kon Tum Prison is a revolutionary historical monument site.

6. Dak To, Tan Canh Battle Field

Dak To, Tan Canh Battle Field lies on a 600 meter high hill, 1 kilometer of the southwest to Dak To district, along the national highway No.14, from Dak To district to Ngoc Hoi district. It is the fiercest battlefield of Central Highlands and the strongest base of the USA and Saigon puppet government in the north of Central Highlands.

Dak To, Tan Canh Battle Field was realized as a national historical site. Tourists can meet an imposing victory monument at the centre of Dak To town. It shows the solidarity and faithfulness of Central Highland people to our Communist Party. It is also a place to commemorate the revolutionaries who laid down in this field for the nation victory. From Dak To center, tourists can see a big stele which records famous victory pertaining to Dak To-Tan Canh. Phuong Hoang airport built by the USA spreads 2 kilometer to Ngoc Hoi district. Some combat trenches of invaders are still maintained.

Dak To district embellishes and maintains the historical sites. Tourists can know Central Highlands battlefield, our history of struggling and culture of ethnic groups in Kon Tum. They can visit, do research and study about specific features on ethnic culture in Central Highlands (such as Rong houses (communal houses), culture activities, festivals, music performance, etc.), then relax at Dak To Hot Spa, Dak Lung Waterfall at Kon Dao commune.