Pleiku
Pleiku is a city in the Central Highlands of Vietnam and the capital of the province Gia Lai.
Get in
By bus
Duc Long Bus Station is 3 km east of the city center and has buses to other provinces and Laos. A xe om should be no more than 20,000 dong, but you may be able to bargain it down to 15,000 dong. There are local buses to the city centre, but they are not frequent.
There are frequent buses to Quy Nhon (3 hours, 80,000 dong as of Mar 2011). Mai Linh buses depart at 07:30 and 13:30. Mai Linh has a night bus that leaves Da Nang around 21:00 and reaches Pleiku in the early morning (160,000 dong, Mar 2011). There are also frequent buses to and from Buon Ma Thuot.
Mai Linh and Dien Hong have buses to Laos - Attapeu, Xekong, and Pakse. Mai Linh buses to Attapeu (175,000 dong, Mar 2011) takes around 7 hours, to Pakse around 12 hours. Departure in Attapeu is at 07:00 and in Pleiku 07:30. The fares include lunch in Ngoc Hoi.
From Kontum frequent buses stop in a station near the market. 22.000 dong (Dec 2013)
Agents in Banlung, Cambodia can book cross border bus/van tickets to Pleiku. However, Vietnam eVisas are NOT accepted at this crossing, so you will need to either have a physical visa in your passport from an embassy/consulate or be from a country that gets visa-free entry.
By plane
- 🌍 Pleiku Airport (PXU IATA) (5 km north of the city centre). Pleiku's tiny airport has flights with small airplanes (ATRs, Fokkers) to Ho Chi Minh City, Hanoi, and Da Nang.
Getting there and away: A xe om from the city center is likely to cost 30,000 dong, a taxi should be between 50,000-100,000 dong. You are unlikely to find any xe oms on arrival in Pleiku airport. If you want to save money, you could walk or take a taxi to the main road and take a bus from there — buses from the north (Kontum, Da Nang, etc.) pass by there. Turn left as you leave the airport building and walk along the barracks.
See
Biển Hồ - A lake a few kilometres north of Pleiku.
Minh Thanh Pagoda - A nice pagoda adjacent to a temple that can be visited for free in the centre of the city (Dec 2011). Look out for the picturesque illustrations of people being punished in hell.
Go next
- Quy Nhon – The inexpensive and tourist-free alternative to Da Nang, yet off many people's radar and therefore still a tranquil and authentic, lively and pleasant city with a much (among the locals) hyped beach, half way between Nha Trang and Hoi An.
- Da Nang – The fifth-largest city in Vietnam. Famous to tourists for its beaches, early Champa history, and convenience as a base for exploring Hội An and Mỹ Sơn. 300 km (185 mi) north of Quy Nhon.
- Hoi An – A well-preserved 15th–19th-century trading port popular among foreign tourists and honoured as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1999. 290 km (180 mi) north of Quy Nhon.
- Buon Ma Thuot - City off the beaten track that does not revolve around tourism.
- Kon Tum - A relaxed little town with few sights and surrounded by minority villages.
- Banlung - (Dec 2011) Minibuses to the Cambodian border in Le Thanh leave from Noi Thinh bus terminal right next to the central market at around 08:00. The ride costs around 80,000 dong but you might get it cheaper if you know how to bargain. In Le Thanh you can get a minibus on the Vietnamese side of the border which takes you across the border and then to Banlung in Cambodia for around USD5. The fee for the Cambodian visa is USD20 and you need to bring one passport-sized photo.