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Kontum

Kontum is a sleepy small town inhabited by Montagnards including the Bannar, the Sedang, the Jarai and the Rengao. Though the hill tribes in the central highlands are nowhere near as colorful as those in the Northern Vietnam, Kontum is worth visiting if you are trying to avoid the beaten track. One interesting aspect of the village life is the communal Rong house, a thatched roof building on stilt. Accommodations and dining options are spartan, but the interesting sights are really worth the journey.

There are interesting sights and traditional hill tribe villages in and around Kontum that you can explore on foot in one or two days. The Seminary, the Ethnic Hilltribe Museum, the Wooden Church and Kontum Prison on the bank of Dakbla River are worth paying a visit.

Out of the town, it is the battlefield during the American War. Remained historical sites including Charlie Hill and Dak To, now denuded peaks, and a short ride up the now-paved Ho Chi Minh Trail takes you among some great mountain scenery and ethnic villages.

Kontum travel also offers a selection of possibilities including multi-day trips involving sleeping rough and visiting very remote villages. Accommodations and dining options are spartan, but are worth the journey, especially if you can enjoy gong performance and drinking rice wine from ceramic jars.