Gia Lai, a land imbued with the Central Highlands, majestic before the great forest

Gia Lai is not only a land blessed by nature with many beautiful wild landscapes, but it is also a land bearing the cultural imprint of the land and people of the Central Highlands. With a very rich and diverse tourism potential with high mountains and forests with many natural and artificial landscapes. The primeval forest here has a rich flora and fauna system, many rapids, streams, lakes such as Bien Ho , a famous scenic spot. Right in the Bien Ho Che area of ​​Chu Pah district, about 13 km from Pleiku city, is a vast tea area of ​​more than 1,100 hectares. This is the first tea plantation planted by the French in Gia Lai in the 20s of the last century.

Admire the spectacular waterfall in Gia Lai (Source: internet)

Diverse terrain and temperate climate have created for Gia Lai majestic natural landscapes in the middle of the jungle such as: Bien Ho, Ia Ly Lake, Ayun Ha Lake, Phu Cuong Waterfall, Waterfall 50, Chu Dang Ya Volcano, special national relic Tay Son Thuong Dao relic complex, archaeological relic of the Old Stone Age Roc Tung - Go Da, archaeological relic site proving the place where the first human traces on the territory of Vietnam - from the early Old Stone Age, dating back about 800,000 years. Monument of Martyrs' Memorial Temple and Dak Po Victory Monument in Dak Po district - a place to commemorate martyrs who died in the Dak Po battle .

The road to the Blue Lake is a shade of blue (Source: Internet)

Many hills and mountains such as Mang Yang Heaven Gate , Ham Rong Peak, Hang Doi Waterfall and K50 Waterfall, Buu Minh Pagoda in the early morning mist, the pagoda located next to the tea fields are famous spiritual tourist destinations of the Central Highlands. The road through the pine trees - Bien Ho Tea Lake, Buu Minh Pagoda to Ngo Son fields, Chu Dang Ya volcano is considered the most beautiful tourist route in Gia Lai. The artificial landscapes have immense rubber forests, tea hills, and coffee. Combined with the forest route, there are picnic routes by boat on the river, elephant riding through the forest... and a rich flora and fauna ecosystem with the special characteristics of the Central Highlands forest at the Kon Ha Nung Plateau World Biosphere Reserve. Besides the outstanding natural advantages, the culture of the two ethnic minorities that make up the majority in Gia Lai, the Jrai and Bahnar, is truly unique, clearly expressed through customs, practices, architecture, festivals, music, sculpture, folklore, cuisine, costumes...

Your way to the waterfall must overcome many challenges (Source: trinhhoaitri)

Kon Chu Rang National Park and Kon Ka Kinh National Park (ASEAN Heritage Park) will be interesting trekking destinations. Coming here, visitors can walk in the primeval forest to explore wild flora and fauna, majestic waterfalls, or can set up tents to camp overnight in the forest. Bien Ho tea products are now very famous, certified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development as high-quality Vietnamese agricultural and forestry products, exported to Australia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Singapore, etc.

In addition, Gia Lai also has a long-standing culture of ethnic minorities, mainly the Gia Rai and Ba Na ethnic groups, expressed through the architecture of communal houses, stilt houses, tombs, through traditional festivals, through costumes and musical instruments... musical instruments typical of ethnic minorities such as Gongs , Stone Instruments , K'ni, K'long put , Goong , T'rung , Alal ,... Festivals such as Buffalo Stabbing Festival, New Rice Festival, Grave Leaving Ceremony,... In addition, the province also has specialties such as Can Wine , Burnt Rice - Sticky Rice Wine, Dry Pho and famous sculptures such as Tomb House Statues along the Se San River flowing through the border district of Ia Grai. When coming here, visitors can take a motorboat to admire the immense water and many landscapes.

Tourists rush to Phu Cuong Waterfall, located only 44km from Pleiku city (Source: Internet)

It is known that from 2010 to now, Gia Lai has organized an inventory of 456 intangible cultural heritage records in the whole province. Of which, 3 heritages were included in the list of national intangible cultural heritages by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, including: Central Highlands Gong Cultural Space, Ba Na Epic in Dak Doa, Dak Po, Kbang, Kong Chro districts, and Yang Potao Apui Rain Praying Ceremony. Attention has been paid to the preservation of writings and languages ​​of ethnic minorities.

Illustration (Source: Internet)

Many research works and collections on folk literature and dictionaries have been collected, researched and published by individuals and organizations inside and outside the province. Gia Lai has organized many classes on gong tuning, statue carving, weaving, brocade weaving... for Bahnar and Jrai students; some folk rituals and festivals have been restored; Bahnar and Jrai artisan groups have taken turns participating in exchange activities and traditional cultural and artistic performances at home and abroad. The whole province has 32 outstanding artisans in the field of intangible cultural heritage honored by the President. Gia Lai has 41 ranked relics and relic clusters, including: 01 Tay Son Thuong Dao historical relic complex with 09 relics/relic clusters and the Roc Tung - Go Da archaeological relic ranked as a special national relic; 07 national relics and 24 provincial relics and relic clusters; There are 2 artifacts, a set of artifacts recognized as national treasures, including: Champa Buddha relief in the Central Highlands in 2017 and An Khe Paleolithic early stone tool collection in 2023.

Tall pine forests on both sides of the road to the lake (Source: Internet)

Gia Lai is not only a land blessed by nature with many beautiful wild landscapes, but it is also a land bearing the cultural imprint of the land and people of the Central Highlands. The basalt land full of sun, wind, red dust and the noise of war bombs has now transformed into a rich mountain town with vast rubber, coffee, tea hills... and is an ideal destination for those who want to explore the heritage of the Central Highlands gongs and the wild, majestic landscapes...

Coming to the sunny and windy land of the Central Highlands, visitors will easily come to the fresh, cool atmosphere of the "Pleiku eyes" of Bien Ho, let themselves drift on the immense tea hills of Bien Ho Che, discover the season of wild sunflowers blooming on the slopes of volcanoes that have been dormant for millions of years, or a little further away is the wild and dreamy beauty of the rubber forests in Dak Doa in the season of changing leaves. With the Dak Po gong festival nights, in which groups of Bana people perform traditional dances around the fire. With the festival nights, the sound of the To Rung, Goong and gong performances create a colorful space of a cultural festival imbued with national identity so that Gia Lai will always be the land that always beckons visitors to come and is also the focus for visitors to return./.

Yanjiang