Buon Me Thuot

All photos on this page
© John Holstein 2020

On my first night, not knowing where to eat, I was forced to go to a huge restaurant. I asked the waitress for chicken and vegetable fried rice, and this is what I got. She must have been a newly-arrived immigrant in Vietnam if she couldn't understand such a simple order. ;)

Meet Thao. She is the friend of a Korean friend of mine. It works in Vietnam and Korea: A friend of a friend gets royal treatment. She picked me up for breakfast every day and treated me to a delighttful Vietnamese breakfast. A few days we spent the whole enjoyable day together.

Outdoor market street shaded by glorious banyan trees.

A rain tree (aka monkey pod tree) on the lovely compound of Dak Lak Museum. This small town's museum is better than the museums in some of Vietnam's largest cities.

A few of the original 16 arhats at Khai Doan Pagoda. You can learn more about arhats and see more photos of the temple here.

Tao and I spent a pleasant evening at the gorgeous "Tropical Garden" that Hau Ho (far left) is expertly developing at his home.

Hau Ho is an artist of several media.

Two quiet guests from the temple provide an unusual sight.

Dao Hung and his parents at the lunch they invited me to in their home. Hung, a fellow Couchsurfer, showed me some interesting spots in Buon Me Thuot.

The hip, funky and wonderful Dala Cafe that Dao Hung took me to.

Check out their singing at this video clip on YouTube.

This seems to be the most common way of spending an evening with friends in Vietnam.

It was difficult to leave wonderful Buon Me Thuot. But the mountains and rivers on the way to Quy Nhon provided some consolation. The bus driver wouldn't stop for me to take photos (Can you imagine that!) so I had to take them through the window.

Back to Vietnam 2020

Buon Me Thuot

KoreaMosaic Home Photos Home Countries Vietnam Vietnam 2020 Quy Nhon Saigon 2020	All photos on this page © John Holstein 2020

Buon Me Thuot is a small city in Dak Lak Province, in Vietnam's Central Highlands. BMT residents say that the mild climate has perfect weather year around. I can vouch for that--t was perfect every day for the week that I was there. It's something of a paradise--clean, quiet, not much traffic, friendly people.






On my first night, not knowing where to eat, I was forced to go to a huge restaurant. I asked the waitress for chicken and vegetable fried rice, and this is what I got. She must have been a newly-arrived immigrant in Vietnam if she couldn't understand such a simple order. ;)






Meet Thao. She is the friend of a Korean friend of mine. It works in Vietnam and Korea: A friend of a friend gets royal treatment. She picked me up for breakfast every day and treated me to a delighttful Vietnamese breakfast. A few days we spent the whole enjoyable day together.






Outdoor market street shaded by glorious banyan trees.






A rain tree (aka monkey pod tree) on the lovely compound of Dak Lak Museum. This small town's museum is better than the museums in some of Vietnam's largest cities.






My room at Zen, a basic guest house a 30-minute walk outside Buon Me Thuot. They had recently opened for business, so there were a few problems--like the sink's faucent that went berserk, and an old bike that was so hard to pedal it seemed to have barrels for wheels--but the owner and staff were pleasant and, like everywhere else in Buon Me Thuot, it was spotlessly clean.






Old-style PC room






A few of the original 16 arhats at Khai Doan Pagoda. You can learn more about arhats and see more photos of the temple here.






I ate at this friendly small restaurant a few times and was enthralled by the strange sound of traditional Vietnamese pop coming out of the karaoke next door. Check it out for yourself at my video clip on YouTube.






Tao and I spent a pleasant evening at the gorgeous "Tropical Garden" that Hau Ho (far left) is expertly developing at his home.






Hau Ho is an artist of several media.






Two quiet guests from the temple provide an unusual sight.






Dao Hung and his parents at the lunch they invited me to in their home. Hung, a fellow Couchsurfer, showed me some interesting spots in Buon Me Thuot.






The hip, funky and wonderful Dala Cafe that Dao Hung took me to.






Check out their singing at this video clip on YouTube.






This seems to be the most common way of spending an evening with friends in Vietnam.






It was difficult to leave wonderful Buon Me Thuot. But the mountains and rivers on the way to Quy Nhon provided some consolation. The bus driver wouldn't stop for me to take photos (Can you imagine that!) so I had to take them through the window.

Back to Vietnam 2020
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