The Central Highlands Kon Tum

Kon Tum, the capital of Kon Tum Province, is the last city before the Central Highlands swell into the mountainous jungle to the north and west. At the foot of these mountains along the Dakbla River, Kon Tum offers the most stunning scenery of the Central Highlands. Like its southern neighbors, the city of Kon Tum is an overcrowded provincial capital and altar to Euclidean concrete. Still, the city reflects the lazy Dakbla and moves at a slower pace than à Låt or Bu®n Ma Thuÿt. Kon Tum attracts returning veterans of the American War due to its proximity to k T® and Charlie Hill (see Daytrips from Kon Tum). It also offers access to nearby ethnic villages and is the start (or end) of an unrivaled drive up Hwy. 14 to the coast. Because of its seclusion, you will have many chances to practice your Vietnamese language skills. Don’t speak Vietnamese? Yeah, we know.

Transportation. The interprovince bus station is 2km north of the town center on Phan ình Phùng. All buses, even those going to the coast, head south through Pleiku. If you want to head north along Hwy. 14, you’ll have to arrange for your transportation in town. Buses go to: Bu®n Ma Thuÿt (6hr.; 7am; 40,000); à N{ng (14hr.; 6:30am; 56,000); HCMC (14hr.; 7am; 40,000); Hu\ (17hr.; 7am; 73,000); Pleiku (1hr.; frequently all day; 8000); Qu=ng Ngãi (11hr.; 7am; 40,000); Qui Nh£n (6hr.; 7am; 35,000).

Orientation And Practical Information. Kon Tum fits in the nook created by Hwy. 14’s crossing of the Dakbla River. Highway 14—called Phan ình Phùng in town—forms the town’s western border, while the Dakbla limits it on the south. Nguy[n Hu_ runs along the river at the bottom of town and is parallel to Tr<n H™ng åo, north of which is Phan Chu Trinh and Bà Tri_u. Forming a grid are Lˆ H·ng Phong and Tr<n Phú, parallel to and east of Hwy. 14.

Kon Tum Tourist, located in the Dakbla Hotel, is a state-owned agency that handles tours, permits, and transportation. The best way to see the sights of Kon Tum is to hire a knowledgeable motorbike driver who will act as your guide. Hiring such a driver from the tourist office to get to k T® costs US$15. Guide, driver, and permit to restricted hill villages runs about US$30. (☎861 826; www.kontumtourist.com.vn. Open daily 7-11am and 1-5pm.) Mr. Nhung (☎059 822 666 or 827 563; loannhung111@yahoo.com), an excellent driver and guide, is another option. Nguy[n Do Huynh (☎905 112 037; huynhguide@yahoo.com) is a thorough guide who carefully explains all sites in English. Investment and Development Bank, 2 Tr<n Phú, lies on the river and boasts an excellent English-speaking staff. The bank can only offer credit card advances when the director is in. (Open daily 7am-6pm.) There is no ATM in town. Police stations are eerily omnipresent. There’s one at 90 Phan Chu Trinh. The hospital can be found at 71 Phan ình Phùng (☎824 125). Internet access costs 3000 per hr. at Vænh Lßc, 99 Tr<n H™ng åo. The General Post Office is at 206 Lˆ H·ng Phong, at its intersection with Bà Tri_u; look for the giant radio tower. (☎862 361. Open daily 7am-9pm.)

Accommodations. All prices in Kon Tum are highly negotiable, and the hoteliers take pleasure in a good haggle, so be persistent. Family Hotel 2, 55 Tr<n H™ng åo, looks and feels new. Privately owned, with bright and modern rooms, this is the best value in town. (☎862 448. Rooms US$7-15; prices negotiable.) Dakbla Hotel 4, 2 Phan ình Phùng, is Kon Tum’s upper-end hotel. Situated right across the bridge into town, it’s a great place for tourists, but not necessarily backpackers. (☎863 333; ktourist@dng.vnn.vn. Rooms US$25-35.) Dakbla Hotel 2 2, 163 Nguy[n Hu_, down by the river, is the smaller, more spartan sibling of Dakbla Hotel. (☎863 335.) Thanh Quy Hotel 2, 215 Phan ình Phùng, just south of the bus station, offers neat and spacious rooms at a convenient location, though there’s constant traffic noise out the window. (Rooms US$8-10.) Quang Tr™ng Hotel 2, 168 Bà Tri_u, is the state-owned budget offering in Kon Tum. (☎862 249; fax 862 763. Rooms US$6-12.)

Food. Most restaurants in Kon Tum open around 7am and close around 11pm, although day-to-day schedules depend upon local events, festivities, and sports matches. Expect all menus to be in Vietnamese. Dakbla’s 2, 168 Nguy[n Hu_, is Kon Tum’s best tourist option, with reasonable prices and an extensive Vietnamese and Western menu. It’s one of the few places in the Central Highlands that serves dessert. It also sells the cultural artifacts from local Bahnar villages that decorate its walls. (☎862 584. Entrees 30,000-40,000.) Restaurant 84 2, on Tr<n H™ng åo across from Family Hotel, has photocopied the Vietnamese portion of Dakbla’s menu and serves up the same dishes in a pared-down setting for slightly cheaper prices (20,000-30,000). Quán H·ng Th©y, 211 Phan ình Phùng, is a friendly local place, with an excellent table-top stir-fry and a center-stage TV for sports matches. (☎915 261. Entrees 30,000-40,000.) Hi_p Thành 3, 29 Nguy[n Hu_, is a newer, nicer restaurant along the river, with an immaculate eating area and a typical menu. (☎862 470. Entrees 40,000-50,000.) Hoàn V´ 3, 81 Nguy[n Hu_, is a shiny upscale restaurant catering to Western tourists and prosperous government officials. The second-story seating area has a commanding view of the river and the surrounding countryside. (Entrees 45,000-50,000.) The cheapest eats in Kon Tom are found in the market (along Phan Chu Trinh) or at nearby small restaurants, such as Ph Bò Cuoí 2, 70A Tr<n Phú, and Restaurant 88 2, 145 Tr<n H™ng åo.

Sights. Kon Tum does not offer many sights in town, but the ones they have are worth at least an afternoon. Near the center of town, at the intersection of Phan Chu Trihn and Tr<n Phú, Bách Ai Pagoda is a typical small-town pagoda, offering an oasis of peace in the noisy city center. Two blocks east and one block south, the Seminary and Hill Tribe Museum, on Tr<n H™ng åo, is another remnant of the French presence in Southeast Asia. This white-washed wooden seminary produces many of the area’s priests and nuns but doesn’t cater much to the tourist. Across the street is a small chapel built into volcanic rock. Walk a few minutes toward the river and you’ll come across the Wooden Church and Orphanage at the intersection of Nguy[n Hu_ and L• T Trßng, Kon Tum’s most-used church. The orphanage is another living relic of the French colonial era. A visit to the church and orphanage is a glimpse into a past that has been consciously erased in the Central Highlands. The church, constructed in 1913, is made completely of wood, and it combines French and Vietnamese styles beautifully. The orphanage, behind the church, is full of friendly and curious children, mostly from local Bahnar villages. The nuns who run the orphanage are more than happy to show you around. (Free, but donations greatly appreciated.) The Rong House, on Tr<n H™ng åo as you head east out of town, is an example of the traditional Bahnar “community center.” Perched on stilts, rong houses stretch skyward for several stories. They’re built using only wood, bamboo, bark lashing, and a thatching for the roof. It’s an impressive sight, but can be unexciting unless a community festival is going on. Visitors are welcome to look inside the spacious (and empty) house; lucky visitors will arrive during a party and be invited to join in the dancing, singing, and drinking. The Bahnar and Kon Tum Villages are located at the eastern edge of town, just north of the rong house. The Kon Tum Village is the original settlement on the Dakbla River, which eventually grew into Kon Tum. You can drive a motorbike or walk their unpaved streets to see the architecture and lifestyle of the hill tribes. Be prepared to witness grinding poverty and a dire lack of sanitation.

Daytrips From Kon Tum. Forty-five kilometers north of Kon Tum are the remains of a US Airbase (Ph™ng Hoàng). The airstrip, now used to dry various tubers, is up Hwy. 14, past k T® (see below) and on the left. On the grounds near the airstrip are the remains of US bunkers; small nail-like pieces from old “beehive bombs” still litter the grounds. South of the airstrip is Hill 42, stretching for about a kilometer, another site where Americans were positioned during the war. Look carefully and you can still see remnants of the war, including artillery casings, old meal packets, and unexploded rockets. In the distance you can see Rocket Ridge, the location of a heavily used and heavily bombed helicopter base that was shared by the US and the ARVN. Skull Hill, the site of a clash between northern and southern Vietnamese forces in the spring of 1972, stands on the road to k T®, 17km from Kon Tum. The location of the bloody attack, where the Communists severed the land route to Kon Tum, is marked by a concrete shrine and three piles of stones where locals burn incense. Charlie Hill, 5km south of k T®, was the location of a southern ARVN fortification. Although the base was rather small, the fight for control of Charlie Hill became infamous. The South Vietnamese officer commanding the base refused to surrender or retreat in the face of the superior Vi_t Cÿng force. This officer, Colonel Ngoc Minh, and his 150 soldiers endured a siege that lasted two months before the VC were finally able to overrun the hill and kill them all. The hill is unsafe to climb, as it was heavily mined during the war, but it can be viewed from Hwy. 14.

A relaxing place to spend an afternoon is Kon Tum’s richer southern neighbor, Pleiku. Dominated by massive blocks of Soviet-style concrete architecture, this city, 48km south of Kon Tum, offers a convenient rest stop during a drive on the peerless Hwy. 14. My Tam 2, 3 Quang Tr™ng, is a family-run Chinese restaurant that packs in the locals with its superb fried chicken (20,000). Just outside of town, 7km north off Hwy. 14, Bien Ho Lake offers one of the best vistas in the Central Highlands, is a peaceful area to picnic or simply enjoy the scenery. The easiest way to get to Pleiku is by public bus (see Transportation).

Konkoitu Village, a mere 5km to the east of Kon Tum, is the only Montagnard village in the area that you can visit without a permit. Unfortunately, there isn’t much there except a few huts, a rong house, and poor Bahnar families. But the friendliness of the inhabitants, their willingness to show you their skills in weaving and fishing, and the stunning scenery make the short trip worthwhile. Hire a motorbike driver (20,000), head east on Tr<n H™ng åo, cross over the bridge, and take a left at the fork. Follow the road to its end.

k T®, 42km north of Kon Tum on Hwy. 14, was a strategic region during the American War, valued for its proximity to the Lao and Cambodian borders. The region was a major fighting ground for American, ARVN, VC, and NVA forces. Today k T® is a booming village that nevertheless recognizes its unfortunate historical past. A Victory Monument dominates the center of the town, paying homage to the April 24, 1972 Communist takeover of the town. This Stalinist marble tower and the two Russian tanks parked beside it—the first tanks to enter k T® in 1972—are the most commanding sights in town. Next door is a pleasant rong house. k T® is also home to a hot spring, which bears responsibility for the town’s name, which translates to “hot water.”

Farther northwest on Hwy. 14, near the town of Ngoc H£i, visitors can connect to the modern-day highway built over the H· Chí Minh Trail. The trail was used by North Vietnamese forces to infiltrate southern strongholds. The road is currently being expanded to connect into Laos, which is only 40km from k T® and 16km from Ngoc H£i. Foreigners will be able to obtain visas at the new border crossing when it opens in December 2006.