Elephant Racing Festival in Dak Lak
The racing track of the festival has a length
of about 400- 500m and a width which allows 30 elephants to stand side-by-side.
Before the race starts, people give a series of horn sounds in different
pitches. Following the orders of the organizers, the elephants form a
line in front of the judges. Each of the intelligent elephants knees down to
greet the judges and the audience. After that, each group of elephant
comes to the starting line.
As one of the most frequently-visited
attractions in Dak Lak, Buon Don is famous for its unique
culture which has been described in literature and music for years. However,
even though many people come to Buon Don to ride the elephants, a lot of them
fail to witness the most important and interesting event of the village in a
year: the Elephant Racing Festival, which is organized every March. Yes, you
should not be one of them, because this is one of the many things that make
your trip to Tay Nguyen unforgettable.
Right after the signal, as if they are made
of spring, the elephants dart ahead while the sound of drums, gongs and the
crowd spread all over the forests and mountains. The elephants compete for many
rounds until one of them wins. This “winner” is then awarded with a laurel
wreath. It raises its tusk to thank the audience; its ears wiggle and its eyes
are half-closed when receiving the cheer of people, as well as their gifts:
banana and sugarcane!
Even when the racing would have already
left a deep impression on the audience, the other competitions of the festival
are so interesting that they attract everyone who has been already filled with
joy after the race. One of them is the swimming competition in which elephants
swim across Serepok
River
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The Elephant Racing Festival in Dak Lak
will surely mesmerize you with the bubbly feeling of a feast and the echoing
sounds of gongs and drums. Witnessing the spectacular performances of the smart
elephants in Buon Don for yourself, and you will understand why this event
intrigues thousands of people coming to this region every March. It is
indubitably the biggest cultural festival in Tay Nguyen, honoring the brave
spirit of the M’Nong Ethnic people, who are the pioneers in hunting and taming the
wild elephants of this land.
Ea Kao
Located only 12km to the Southeast of Buon Ma Thuot City, Ea Kao Lake is a tourism
site constructed in a large scale. Full of unique and exhilarating features, Ea
Kao Lake is a modern sight full of the traditional essences.
Ea Kao Lake Tourism Site has an area of 120
ha. The topography is really diverse, including many hills, slopes, streams,
etc. Besides, the weather there is wonderful: cool and beautiful with an
average annual temperature of 20.7oC and an average annual precipitation of
2.155mm. Without a doubt, this type of weather creates diverse scenery that is
perfectly suitable for tourism development.
The site is built in a natural space full
of green plants and colorful flowers. Besides enjoying the scenery, tourists
can also participate in a bunch of different cultural events and entertaining
activities. In more details, the site is divided into many smaller sections
such as: amusement park, hotels, flower gardens, restaurants, botanic, playing
ground for children, camping sites, natural preservation site, etc., all of
which are arranged logically and attractively in an order which best benefit
the visitors.
Surprisingly, the Ea Kao Lake Tourism Site
is not only an attraction with beautiful natural scenery full of tranquil
lakes; it also contributes to the region’s effort to preserve the environment
and the precious cultural values of the ethnic minorities. Coming to the Ea Kao Lake
Tourism Site, you will surely enjoy each moment relaxing within the fresh and
invigorating atmosphere of Central
Highlands.
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TRY A TOUR HERE!
Ben Nuoc Ceremony of the E-de ethnic group
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One of the oldest customs of the E-de
ethnic group is the Ben Nuoc Ceremony. This traditional event is held every
year after the harvest to wish for a peaceful weather, bountiful harvests, and
a well-off life. It is also a meaningful part of the spiritual life of the E-de
people and an occasion for the community to get together.
Ben Nuoc Ceremony usually takes place as a
festival of the village. After a long harmony of gongs which brings us to the
holly, spiritual world, the ceremony starts with the worshiping procedure.
People worship and inform their ancestors about the presence of all the
children in their family. After that, another harmony of gongs spread all over
the space as the Yang (the sun) Ceremony begins. The last part of the ceremony
is the performance of the girls in traditional costumes. They dance, sing and
march from the center to the gate of the village.
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The holly ceremony is always organized
carefully in a solemn way. The leader of ceremony reads the wishes of the
villagers. On behalf of them, he asks the God of Water to bring water, the most
important source of life to the village. After the ceremony, the fresh and cool
bowls of water are carried by the children of the village with alacrity.
Everyone gathers together and savor the taste of Can Wine while the sound of
Tay Nguyen gongs and drums keeps echoing forever.
The only Cham
Tower in Central
Highlands (Tay Nguyen), Yang
Prong Tower Yang Prong
Tower
The tower is 9m high with a square-shaped
base. Even though it looks like there are four entrances, in fact, the tower
has only one gate facing the East, which is referred to as the kingdom of the
Gods. The other three “doors” are located in the three other sides of the towers
and they are all artificial. Unlike the designs of many other Cham towers in
Middle Vietnam, the upper part of Yang Prong is expanded into a giant
cone-shaped roof, from which visitors can freely stretch their view over the
wondrous scenery of Central Highlands.
Coming to Yang Prong Tower
Buon Ma Thuot
City
Located at a height of 536 m, Buon Ma Thuot
is the capital of Dak Lak Province and also the biggest city in Central
Highlands (Tay Nguyen). The city has a calm, cool weather during the year, with an average
temperature of 23oC. In the language of the E-de ethnic people, Buon Ma Thuot
(or Buon Ama Y Thuot) means the village of father Thuot, the man who built the
first village on the bank of the Ea Tam Stream.
Buon Ma Thuot used to be the most important
part of Central Highlands. With the biggest
population, the most luxurious markets, the city was the administrative,
cultural, and economic center of the whole region. Buon Ma Thuot is the center
where all the roads connecting different provinces in Tay Nguyen converge. The
roads also do a great job linking Dak Lak with Dalat City (through National Road 27), Khanh Hoa, Ninh Hoa (through National Road 26)
and Ho Chi Minh City (through National Road 14),
etc.
Buon Ma Thuot is famous for many types of
fruits, vegetables and especially coffee! Buon Ma Thuot coffee has been
monopolized Vietnam Market for a long time; and not surprisingly, it has yet to
find any rival.
Tourists coming to Buon Ma Thuot can visit the
spectacular waterfalls: Dray Sap, Dray Anour, Dray H’ling – to name just a few.
They can totally enjoy the trips to the villages of the E-de and M’nong ethnic
groups to experience the essences of the Gong Festival, ride the elephant
during a hunt in the mysterious forests, or simply sit still on a piragua and
breath in the air of the Asian wilderness.
Besides the ancient constructions most of
which are carefully built wood houses, local people find it essential to build
more modern and creative building. Thus, when you visit Buon Ma Thuat nowadays,
you can see the wide roads decorated with green trees and beautiful flowers and
a lot of newly constructed residential complexes. However, the most important
thing to do in Buon Ma Thuot is nothing else but drinking coffee! Dak Lak’s Basalt empowers the city to grow
Robusta Coffee better than anywhere else in the world. Buon Ma Thuot Coffee has
been mesmerizing consumers from both inside and outside the country for decades
Try a tour to discover Vietnam attraction here!
