Lak Lake in the Central Highlands province of Daklak is hemmed between low mountains and home to many kinds of wading birds. The only fresh water lake in the province, it has some of the province’s best scenery.
About 50km from Buon Ma Thuot City, close to National Highway 26, it is fed by Krong Ana River and is about 5 kilometers square.
We visited Lak Lake on a beautiful day. It was about one kilometer walk from the bus station. Along the road were houses of H’Mong people selling hand crafted souvenirs.
We hired a wooden boat to take us around. The water surface was perfectly still, so the only sounds we could hear were from the oars. Golden sunbeams and white masses of clouds inspired us to take a lot of photos.
We disembarked and climbed the embankment to see where the local H’Mong people grow vegetables, coffee and corn. Beyond the corn and vegetable farms, were vibrant green rice fields.
We tramped around the ripe rice fields to soak up the fresh smell and sense the peace and simplicity of the countryside.
We finally got to the primeval forest surrounded the lake. Covering about 12.2 hectares, the forest has a biodiversity system with 547 flora species, 132 birds, 61 animals, 43 types of amphibians and 43 types of fish, shrimp and crab.
We seemed to get lost in the tall trees, and met some local women in traditional costumes who were in the forest to find bamboo shoots.
We then went to M’lieng Village where we saw women carrying harvested corn on their backs and herding cattle back home. The landscape was very rural with cottages and stilt houses scattered around bamboo clusters. The culture of the highlands has always been an inspiration for artists as well as attracting tourists. We got absorbed in listening to legends about elephant hunters in the past from local villagers, learning more about the meanings of traditional festivals.
As many other travelers to Daklak, we did not miss out on the elephant ride around the village, enjoy ethnic musical performances such as gongs, t’rung or stone musical instrument performances at the village’s communal house and we stayed at the Lak Resort.
Enjoying specialties of the highlands such as lam rice (rice cooked in young bamboo tubes), grilled chicken, ruou can (wine drunk out of a jar through pipes) and fish paste is another thing that tourists should try, to experience the soul of the highlands.
