I was born and raised in Buon Ma Thuot, a place that people have long called the city of... Eternal Sadness, because for many people, there is nothing to be happy about in that land of red basalt soil. Even wherever I go, I often joke with friends from all over: "In my Buon, we ride elephants to school! When we go to school, we wear formal clothes, but when we go home, we only wear loincloths." Yet everyone believes it.
I also left Buon Ma Thuot to go to university in Saigon like many of my friends. Only after leaving and returning did I realize how new and interesting my small city was. This place was no longer “eternally sad”, but truly an interesting city to explore.
Specialty coffee & sunset at the World Coffee Museum
I consider myself lucky to be born in the place known as the “capital” of Vietnamese coffee, to have the opportunity to be close to coffee trees and Robusta coffee beans typical of this land, and to grow up with the changes following different coffee waves. Change fromcoffee consumptionof the first wave, now I'm more interested inenjoy coffeein the third wave of coffee. When sipping drops of thick black coffee, the bitter taste filling my throat, or even a glass of iced milk coffee made from low-quality coffee beans, I no longer find them as delicious as they used to be. My pleasure now is to enjoy each sip from high-quality coffee beans and meticulously brewed by hand. They call it a "posh" name: Specialty Coffee.
I am fascinated by specialty coffee because it always brings me interesting experiences, no two drinks are the same. From each type of coffee variety, soil, coffee growing altitude, processing method, roasting method, extraction method, each cup of coffee will have a different flavor: floral aroma, tropical fruit aroma, orange aroma, chocolate aroma, jackfruit aroma,... And even whenpourCoffee, just a slight change in water temperature, water flow, pouring time will give different experiences of taste; strong taste or gentle taste, sour like acid or slightly sour like orange, is it smooth when drinking or does it have a ripple in the throat... There, if enjoying specialty coffee is an art, then the person who creates that cup of coffee is also worthy of being an artist?
To be comfortable being an “artist”, I also bought myself a set of “tools” so I can set out and pour coffee whenever I want. I often invite a few other “coffee” connoisseurs to gather in the empty lot opposite the World Coffee Museum to pour coffee, enjoy coffee and watch the sunset right in front of us. We all like this location because it is close to the city center, because of the open space around, because we like to watch the reeds swaying in the gentle, cool afternoon breeze, because of the sound of the kite flute floating in the sky… Everything blends together to make each sip of coffee more delicious and smoother.
Picnic watching sunset at Eakao Lake
Eakao Lake in the memory of a person who left Buon Ma Thuot to live in Saigon like me was a place to enjoy the breeze, sit and drink sugarcane juice and eat fried bananas famous in this area; a place to bring friends who studied and worked together to Buon Ma Thuot to play and enjoy the cool, fresh breeze; and sometimes a place to date (and break up) with a girl(s) back then. That was in the past, now for me, Eakao Lake has become much different. It just became more interesting!
This time returning to Eakao Lake, I went a little deeper into the Lam Vien area on the other side of the lake to picnic with my friends. Find a large open space and spread out the tarp, split up to collect dry wood to make a fire, prepare to grill the meat that has been marinated with rich spices; pour coffee and sip it until the meal; or take out the stand-up paddleboard (SUP), pump it up, drop it into the lake and paddle out to enjoy the vastness of the artificial lake...
And when the sunset gradually falls on Eakao Lake, the cool breeze blows in, mixed with the giggles of the friends, everything becomes poetic, peaceful and rustic.
Camping in Buon Don
When talking about Buon Ma Thuot tourism, it is impossible not to mention Buon Don. A place that is too famous with stories about the elephant hunting king, about the Bay Nhanh waterfall, about the suspension bridges, about the delicious local dishes. However, Buon Don is also becoming a destination for those who like camping, like to enjoy moments without phones, like to immerse themselves in nature with the typical dipterocarp forests of this place.
If you want to wake up on an island left over from the time when elephant hunter King Y Thu Knul went in search of new land for his villagers, come to Elephant King Island. On this island, there is only one M'Nong family living, with a living from raising cattle and poultry, farming, fishing, along with a motorboat service to take tourists to explore the rapids on the Serepok River and the Bay Nhanh Waterfall.
Elephant King Island is quite spacious and airy, surrounded by streams, so it looks very poetic. Another highlight is that just standing on the island, you can see the sunset behind the tall, bare trees, or welcome the dawn covering the surface of the nearby Serepok River. You can use a SUP board to paddle out onto the river, freely enjoying the wild beauty of Elephant King Island in the gentle sunlight. What could be better than camping with a "view" like that?
At around 7-8am the next morning, you can see the elephant trainer bringing the elephant from the forest back to the village - for tourists to see, take pictures or maybe bathe the elephant. This experience is not available everywhere!
If you like to immerse yourself in nature in the typical dipterocarp forest of Buon Don, come to the Dak Minh lake area, especially in the season of changing leaves, the dipterocarp forest takes on a dreamy beauty. This camping spot is most beautiful from the time the sun is about to set until the sun has returned with the sunlight that burns the skin. I am so in love with the space here when the sun rises, the lake surface in the early morning is quiet, becoming hazy with the mist floating in the gentle sunlight of dawn. A very interesting feeling of peace.
That's my Buon Ma Thuot, every time I come back from Saigon, I see Buon Ma Thuot changing, even though it's as slow as the way people here enjoy their coffee, but it's always interesting and new - just like the taste of a cup of Specialty coffee.
