DAY 1 : ATTAPEU-KON TUM

Starting from ATTAPEU, on the Bolovens plateau in the South of Lao, we drive through a more and more mountainous area, along a road that keeps winding in the middle of a thicker and thicker forest. The Vietnamese companies find a large stock of wood for logging in that area.
After covering over one hundred kilometers, we arrive at the pass which is the natural border between Lao and Vietnam. We go through the usual formalities at both immigration offices and the landscape is radically changed. On the Vietnamese side, there are still mountains, but a large number of villages and intensive agriculture show man's presence.
We drive as far as KON TUM. Almost one hundred thousand people inhabit that mountain town, most of whom have come down from the mountains (Bahnar, Jarai...) On the outskirts we come across a Bahnar village. Its people are an animist and matriarchal ethnic group who have come up from Indonesia. We stroll at a leisurely pace in that rustic village with its cob-walled houses on stilts. The inhabitants smile kindly at us as we pass- by.
We visit the community house, called « the Rong », a building also on stilts, hooded with a tall thatched roof.
In Kon Tum, we visit a Roman catholic seminary and not very far from it, a very beautiful wooden church dating from the beginning of the 20th century. We have dinner in town and sleep at the Indochine hotel (3 *).

DAY 2 : KON TUM

After breakfast, we take a walk around the streets and alleyways of the place to discover the local life of a mountain Vietnamese small town. We walk as far as the "Eva Café", a traditional three-storied house. Its wooden walls are adorned with Vietnamese poems, carvings and even a few stained-glass windows. We stop for a few minutes to savour a good local coffee. Then we drive on towards KON JO RI, along the mountain slopes covered with magnificent terraced rice-fields.
Then we drive through a forest and arrive at the River Dak Bla. The river brings life to the mountain ethnies. With a little bit of luck we may catch sight of some traditional pirogues carved out of a single tree-trunk carrying a few villagers. We drive on along that river to reach a bamboo suspension bridge, we go across it rather reluctantly, a totally unjustified feeling.
We, too, very willingly take a short cruise on the Dablak as far as Kon Ko Tu, another mountain village that we visit before heading back to Kon Tum.
We have dinner in town, where you'll be able to taste a goat stew, the local special dish. We spend the night in Kon Tum at the Indochine hotel.

DAY 3 : KON TUM- BAN ME THUOT

In the early morning, we take the road towards Pleiku. After a short stop by the lake of Bien Hô to look in wonder at the surrounding landscape, we arrive at Pleiku where we visit the Minh Thanh pagoda. It is known to shelter no less than 500 wooden statues of monks and a giant one made of jack-tree wood.
At the beginning of the afternoon, we arrive at Ban Me Thuot , the capital of the province of Da Lak. That town is also the largest one in the area, populated with mountain minorities and famous for growing and roasting the best coffee in Vietnam. After a short visit to "the Dam San", our hotel (3*), we head for the ethnic museum where our guide makes us share his knowledge of the mountain tribes by sighting the costumes, tools, fishing and hunting implements. At the end of the afternoon, for illustrating the lessons of the museum, we drive to Angko Dong, the neighbouring village of the Edé roman catholic minority, whose houses on stilts are lengthening as the family is growing larger. We can admire the Edé women while they are weaving. We have dinner in town and sleep at the hotel.

DAY 4 : BAN ME THUOT_- LAK Lake

After breakfast, we start for Lake Lak, south of Ban Me Thuot. Here, Emperor Bao Dai had had a palace built on the hill overlooking the lake. We begin the discovery of that magnificent place by a very pleasant ride on elephant back that, after a short run on land amongst field activities, leads us straight into the lake itself. Our very well trained pachyderm does not let us get wet and paces firmly towards the opposite lake side.
We soon reach M'Lieng, a village of the M'Nong ethnic minority. There, we can watch the family life and activities of those mountain people. Afterwards, we board traditional pirogues and sail on the quiet waters of the lake. How silent it is! To end up the afternoon, we enter the typical village called Yang La, before reaching "Lak Resort" our hotel and its small bungalows on the lake shore.
In the evening, we attend the dance and music show given by the mountain ethnies and we won't miss the traditional welcome ceremony of those people by sharing the local drink out of one earthen jug.
Dinner and night at our inn the Lak Resort.

DAY 5 :On the road to DALAT

We take a small winding road through the undulating hills towards Dalat On our way we stop to visit a village of the M'Nong ethnic minority, who came from the North, then the one of another local minority: the K'Hor.
If a few brick-making factories line our road, agriculture is still the main resource of those plateaus. We wonder at the beautiful landscapes offered by rice-fields and numerous coffee plantations. We advise you to stop at one of the cafés alongside the road to enjoy the local black coffee with its special aroma. We are slowed down during our journey to Dalat by many cattle herds which also follow that road.
We arrive at Dalat for lunch. Dalat is a charming touristy town covering the hills. The numerous green-houses for flower or vegetable growing set around the dwellings give it a peculiar look. That privileged natural site is especially appreciated for its pleasant mild climate. In the afternoon we visit the embroidery workshops, a group of several buildings in the purest traditional Vietnamese architecture, where we are introduced to the century-old art of the embroiderers, with their numerous pieces of work and pictures, all more beautiful than the others.
We settle at the hotel and have dinner in town.

DAY 6 : From DALAT to Ho Chi Minh

We begin the morning by a pleasant stroll in the Flower Garden of « Minh Tam ». For about ten years, that garden and its greenhouses have presented visitors with a colourful show of many varieties of flowers. We carry on visiting the Bao Dai Villa, the old Yersin school, then we stop at the Dalat railway station before taking the road to Ho Chi Minh City. Outside Dalat there is an option for amateurs : you can enjoy yourself by going down the Dalanta Falls on a mechanical sledge. Before we arrive at B'Lao for lunch and a coffee tasting-visit at a coffee roasting plant, we drive through hills covered with tea and coffee plantations as far as the eye can see.
We pursue our journey towards Ho Chi Minh City. At about one hundred kilometres before the regional capital, we drive near Lake Lagna, and the floating houses of its fish farmers. We arrive at Ho Chi Minh City, settle at the hotel, where we'll spend the night after having had dinner in town.

DAY 7 : Ho Chi Minh

You may have a free morning and a transfer to the airport for the flight back home. Or an extension of the journey, from days 5 to 8 of our tour called Central and Southern Vietnam : « Along the China Sea » .