Blogs from Pleiku, Gia Lai, Central Highlands, Vietnam, Asia

Tuy Hoa to Phu Toc We left the luxuries of our 5 star hotel after 2 days to head into the central highlands. We meandered in land following the course of a canal. The hills began to rise out of the rice paddies and we caught our first sightings of the adorable pot belly pigs roaming around the minority villages. Once we parted from the canal, the land became dry and dusty and the road a single bumpy lane. Traffic was sparse so we only disappeared into the odd dust cloud! The hillsides were stripped of any trees leaving a brown and rather depressing landscape. The houses were different, long wooden homes with chickens, pigs and the odd cow wandering about. Living standards appeared quite basic although an essential to every home was a satellite dish ... read more

Kontum is mainly famous for its wood sculptures and for being a main staging post for the French during their time in Viet Nam. Here the main religion is Christian and everywhere in the town are churches, but more often than not you will see a Buddhist temple next door. One church in particular, a wooden church, was built by the French in 1911. The mix of Christianity with Khmer and ethnic minorities is very evident here in the carvings and stained glass windows. Inside the church you can see elephants pulling logs, a community shelter and Jesus blessing the fisherman. Out the back of the church is the orphanage, home to over 200 kids from new-borns to 18 years old. The previous night I’d met Roz from London, a volunteer teacher there and she’d said ... read more

6 & 7 December 2009 - Pleiku was our final destination on the 5-day trip. This city is the capital of Gia Lai province. Again we had to go by mini bus, but this time the distance from Kon Tum to Pleiku is only 50km. There were 23 people inside the 16 seater mini bus and it was fully packed. I couldn't move my legs for one and a half hours. At one section the road was under construction, so the mini bus couldn't go too fast. At least we felt safe, even though it was uncomfortable. Ticket is also cheap, only VND 15,000 (80 US cents) for traveling 50km. At 3pm we arrived at the center of Pleiku city. Next day we rented a taxi and traveled 11km to the Great Lake (Biển Hồ) and ... read more