3 Best Sights in The South-Central Coasts and Highlands, Vietnam

Each ethnic minority village in the region has its own rong house, which serves as a community hall. These tall stilted structures, with long pitched roofs, often thatched, are where meetings, weddings, and other community activities take place. The size of the rong house is an indication of how wealthy the village is—and the roofs can be as high as nearly 100 feet. The Bahnar people usually build their rong houses from wood and bamboo, with wooden stilts, while the Jarai people use corrugated iron for the roof and concrete for the supporting pillars. There are a few rong houses within easy reach of Kon Tum, including two near the suspension bridge in Konklor Village.

This psychedelic flight of architectural whimsy will probably be the wackiest thing you see in Vietnam, which is saying something, given the local penchant for quirkiness. Free-form stairs and tunnels wend their way through multistory Dr. Seuss–like concrete trees that contain 10 hotel rooms, unexpected sitting areas, and concrete animals. Its owner and designer, Dr. Dang Viet Nga, who studied architecture in Russia, built the structure to remind people of the importance of nature and the environment.

Some of the staircases are very steep and the railings quite low. People who are unsteady on their feet or in charge of small children should be very careful.

Ho Chi Minh (then known as Nguyen That Thanh) himself supposedly taught here in 1910 as he was making his way down to Saigon, from where he set sail for Paris and other foreign shores. History records him as teaching Chinese, Vietnamese, and martial arts to the second grade. The school is a beautifully tended and unusual monument, with interesting little placards marking out where Uncle Ho rested and read.