48 hours in Dak Nong

About 250 km from Ho Chi Minh City, Dak Nong is located at the southwestern gateway of the Central Highlands, with Gia Nghia city as its capital. This place is considered a new destination with the longest volcanic cave system in Southeast Asia, many majestic natural landscapes. Life here is not noisy and bustling but has a simple look with many unique cultural features of about 40 ethnic groups. This place also attracts tourists by the landscape of Ta Dung Lake, known as "Ha Long Bay of the Central Highlands" or Truc Lam Dao Nguyen Zen Monastery...

48 hours to explore Dak Nong as suggested by Ms. Cam Huong, a travel enthusiast who also works at the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Dak Nong province, and a group of tourists from Ho Chi Minh City.

Day 1

Morning

Breakfast in Gia Nghia city with dishes from many regions such as Dung Huyen Hue beef noodle soup, Lam Huong pho, Hu Tieu, Nghe An eel porridge, Tam Ky Quang noodles, and perch vermicelli. These breakfast spots are located on major roads in the city center such as Ton Duc Thang, Pham Van Dong, Chu Van An, Hung Vuong and have car parking. The price of each dish ranges from 30,000 VND to 50,000 VND.

After breakfast, depart for Krong No (about 90 km from Gia Nghia City) to explore C3 or C4 caves in the volcanic cave system of Dak Nong Geopark. According to Ms. Bach Van, working at Dak Nong Geopark, this is a basalt cave system formed from lava eruptions, which has set a record for its scale, length and uniqueness in Southeast Asia. This cave system was discovered by scientists in 2014.

There is almost no phone signal in the cave. Visitors can go for the day or camp overnight. "However, we do not encourage visitors to camp because it is quite dangerous," Bach Van said, adding that to explore the beautiful scenery with the stalactite system in caves C3 and C4, visitors should go on a guided tour to ensure safety.

After about 2 hours of exploring the cave, visitors can visit D'rap Sap tourist area (4 km from the cave) for lunch before experiencing the thrill of rowing on the Serepok River, crossing the rapids or relaxing to admire the mountain scenery before returning to Nuoc Trong stream to join in activities such as water cycling, canoeing, basket boating, swimming with buoys or playing on the swing bridge... before returning to the city.

Evening

Return to Gia Nghia, visit the monument of hero N'Trang Long, leader of the anti-French movement. The statue is nearly 20 m high and was built on Dak Nur hill, about 2 km from the city center. The entire monument is made of green stone, of which the main statue is 13 m high and the relief is 5.5 m high and 27 m wide.

This is a place where many locals and tourists come to check-in when coming to Dak Nong. The monument grounds are spacious and airy, but due to lack of shade, it is only suitable if you come after 5pm.

Dinner with Dak Nong specialties such as grilled pork and bamboo rice, bitter eggplant cooked with dried fish, rattan shoots and especially black H'Mong chicken prepared in steamed, stewed or grilled form. Some addresses in Gia Nghia city that visitors can refer to: Ngo Gia Trang, Phuong Van farm, Huong Lieu restaurant, Dien Trang Hoa Mai, Lodge restaurant.

For overnight stays, in Gia Nghia there is Robin Hotel with room rates ranging from 790,000 VND to 2.9 million VND per night; Ngoc Thuong Hotel, prices from 300,000 VND to 500,000 VND per night and many other hotels located on Hung Vuong Street. If you want to save on accommodation costs, visitors can sleep in the community, enjoy the peaceful space at Ngo Gia Farm and Homestay, priced at about 150,000 VND or experience sleeping in tents and bungalows at farms in Gia Nghia city.

Day 2

Morning

Get up early to go cloud hunting at the top of the hill in the Mong village (Dak Tan hamlet, Dak Nia commune), about 15 km from Gia Nghia city. Upon arrival, visitors will have to walk about 700 m on the trail. The view is of a peaceful village covered by layers of white clouds hovering over the hillsides.

According to locals, to hunt for clouds, visitors should be here between 6am and 7:30am, so they need to calculate the departure time from the city to be on time, because the road is a bit bad in some places.

After cloud hunting, visitors can drink coffee and have breakfast at the foot of the hill with some dishes such as chicken porridge, pigeon porridge, vermicelli with ribs, beef noodle soup before moving to Ta Dung Lake, a destination known as "Ha Long Bay of the Central Highlands".

Ta Dung Lake is beautiful because of its clear blue water, with continuous ripples creating bands of light and dark. Surrounding the lake are vast mountains and hills. In the middle of Ta Dung Lake, there are more than 40 large and small islands with many unique shapes. This is an artificial lake, formed in 2012 and in 2015, tourism in the surrounding area began to develop, becoming an ideal destination in Dak Nong.

At noon, visitors can visit Son Ma Claypot Rice Restaurant with a variety of dishes from North to South such as claypot rice, seafood hotpot, shrimp, crab, fish, snails.

Afternoon

Visit Truc Lam Dao Nguyen Zen Monastery hidden under the pine forest in Nam Nung Nature Reserve. The Zen Monastery is a famous spiritual tourist destination in Dak Nong. When entering the Zen Monastery, visitors will see that it is divided into many distinct areas: main hall, monk's quarters, exhibition area, guest house and other auxiliary works and details.

The main hall is built mainly of wood, with four large pillars, each 60-70 cm in diameter and about 13 m high from the floor. On the altar are bronze Buddha statues. With a quiet setting, the Zen Monastery is a resting place when you want to return to nature.

Leaving the Zen Monastery, visitors return to the city, go up to the 6th floor of Nam A Bank, where there is Doi Dep cafe to enjoy drinks and view Gia Nghia city from above.

Evening

Tourists can eat at Tan Tan restaurant, a rustic restaurant of the Central Highlands, suitable for tourists who like to try local dishes. The restaurant's menu is diverse from vegetarian dishes, meat dishes, hot pot, grilled dishes or soup.

Visitors can also choose restaurants specializing in chicken rice such as Hiep Hoan and Loc Phat with three main types: boiled chicken rice, fried chicken with fish sauce and mixed shredded chicken. In addition, visitors can also experience some snacks such as Be Map grilled spring rolls, spring rolls, and banh xeo with prices starting from a few tens of thousands.