Buon Ma Thuot

Despite its quiet appearance, Buon Ma Thuot is very quickly developing. However, most of this development is from internal investment rather than the tourism industry. There are very few tourist sites, but the people are friendly, the coffee is great, and a stop here is well worth it to get off the beaten track and see Vietnamese city life that does not revolve around tourism. It is also an excellent base of operations to visit Yok Don National Park, Ban Don Village, and Lak Lake.

Your usual selection of taxis operate here, including Mai Linh. The city is also eminently bikeable due to its compact size and flat terrain.

Mai Linh taxi phone number in Buon Ma Thuot is +84 500 381 9819, or 0500 381 9819 when using local mobile phone. Most drivers don't speak English, so prepare written notes or show them map on your smartphone screen.

• Ako Dhong (buôn Cô Thôn in Vietnamese): An E-de minority community on the northern end of BMT. It's reachable on foot, but ask how to get there first. It's a nice part of town with longhouses surrounded by flowery yards, although now being part of town it can't really be called a village any more. Maybe 'longhouse suburbia' is more appropriate.
• 🌍 Dray Nur waterfall (30 km by taxi from Buon Ma Thuot). Impressive waterfalls and recreation area, especially recommended in wet season. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 Đray Sáp waterfall (30 km by taxi from Buon Ma Thuot). Another waterfall, about 300 m from Đray Nur. Looks less impressive in dry season, but still interesting area to explore. 30,000 dong. (updated Aug 2017)
• Eatu Café, 22 KT Street, Ko Tam village, Eatu commune, ☏ +84 9 05 32 66 99, +84 9 63 24 66 99. Fair trade coffee cooperative and manufacturer, funded by the European Union. Open for visits. (updated Feb 2023)
• Khai doan pagoda
• 🌍 Lady Jiangshan. Breathtaking views from the hill top and halfway to the top. Well worth a visit on the way to Lak Lake. (updated Dec 2017)
• 🌍 Lak Lake. The mother lake of the Central Highlands. (updated Aug 2017)

• Visit Ban Don village, ride elephants. From center of Buon Ma Thuot, you can catch a bus every 30 minutes to go to Buon Don (Ban Don). You should wait for the bus at Coop Mart in order to have a seat. Otherwise, the bus is normally full.

• 🌍 Phượng shop, 45 Ngô Quyền, ☏ +84 500 3852 981. Wood sculptures and bamboo souvenirs, cocoa powder, coffee - ground and in beans, assorted nuts and local spices. Tour to coffee roasting factory can be arranged. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 Vincom Plaza, 78 Lý Thường Kiệt. Big shopping center with clothing stores, movie theater, fast food, supermarket and Baskin Robbins ice cream cafe. No local souvenirs there. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 CoopMart, 71 Nguyễn Tất Thành, Tân An, ☏ +84 262 3957 988. 08:00-22:00. Supermarket and shopping center, check second floor if you are looking for non-food items. KFC restaurant is located on the first floor. (updated Sep 2017)

Despite what the guidebooks say, Buon Ma Thuot has a very solid selection of good eats. Fast development and not much tourist infrastructure mean that the guidebooks are behind the times and sorely misleading. A wander just northwest of the main roundabout after around 18:00 will turn up a truly great selection of street stalls and small restaurants, offering up very tasty standards such as hủ tiếu, phở, bún, cơm, and nem. Check Ly Thuong Kiet nearby for a selection of roll-your-own spring roll joints.

A very tasty cơm hến, the Hue speciality, is available at a simple-looking place across the street from the Co-op Mart that also advertises Bún bò Huế. Walk past the shabby looking front room into a spectacular little back home, complete with garden, birds, and an internal waterfall.

KFC is available in the Co-op Mart building, if you really need it.

Coffee, coffee, coffee. Buon Ma Thuot is the capital of coffee in Vietnam, a country that is second only to Brazil in coffee exports. Because of this, cafes are on every street corner, and most are spectacular. Many offer several different varieties of bean and roast. Standouts include Emerald's Cafe in Tan Loi and, just east of town, Trung Nguyen's flagship coffee gardens (a huge pleasure garden complete with man-made mountains and waterfall, lined with coffee trees and boasting both traditional Viet and Ede designed buildings). However, it's very difficult to find a bad cup of coffee.

• Drink the local brew "ruou can".
• 🌍 Trung Nguyên flagship restaurant, 149-153 Lý Thái Tổ, ☏ +84 262 3958 868. 06:30-22:00. Coffee, drinks and food available, nice gardens with a lot of coffee trees, artificial cave and pond. Coffee can also be bought here, beans or ground. (updated Aug 2017)
• 🌍 Mehyco cafe, 159/3, Nguyễn Văn Cừ, ☏ +84 262 3865 221. Another cafe with a nice garden, belonging to a coffee manufacturing company. (updated Aug 2017)

• Ngoc Mai Guesthouse, B14 Dien Bien Phu (in the city center), ☏ +84 500 3853 406, ksngocmai@gmail.com. Great guesthouse/small hotel at the heart of the city. 200 m from the night market, plenty of restaurants around. Rooms with air-con, TV. Friendly staff speaking English and French. Indoor parking for motorbikes US$9. 
• Thanh Ngoc, 117 Nguyen Van Cu (close to km 3), ☏ +84 913436427. Great little hotel, for 150,000 dong, inclusive air-con, TV and incredibly friendly and helpful owners. Indoor parking for motorbikes, too. US$8. 
• Huong Khue, 32 Ngo Gia Tu (right next to the bus station), ☏ +84 913498346. Simple but clean. There are several other hotels on the same road. Rooms from 120,000 dong. Staff is helpful and friendly but knowledge of English is limited. You can take local buses to the center or walk for about 20 minutes. 

• Lak Lake is about an hour's bus ride to the south, on the way to Dalat. It's a beautiful lake with various minority villages all around. A few of them are reachable from Lak town on foot, others require a boat trip, motorbike, or longer hike. To cross the lake, you can choose between a boat or an elephant - it's so shallow that they can walk on the ground!

Between Lak and Buon Ma Thuot, a local bus runs every half hour or so. They have a couple of nice newer ones with AC (as of Jun 2013).

• Pleiku - A small Central Highlands city critically important to both sides during the Vietnam-American war for its strategic location. 160 km (100 mi) west of Quy Nhon.