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BUON ME THUOT |
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| Sited 160km west of Ninh Hoa, BUON ME THUOT is chiefly of interest
for its outlying minority Ede villages of Tour and Ban . The town itself
is the western highlands' unofficial capital, and, during French
colonial times, developed on the back of the coffee, tea, rubber and
hardwood crops that grew so successfully in its fertile red soil; coffee
is still the backbone of the local economy. If you need to while away a
few hours in town, try the Dak Lak Museum (Mon-Fri 7-11am & 1.30-4.30pm;
$1), which comprises the History Museum on Le Duan, chronicling the
struggles against both the French and the Americans, and the more
interesting Ethnographic Museum , a little further down the road on the
opposite side, (entrance on Nguyen Du) with its display of exhibits
pertaining to local minority peoples, among them a scale model of an Ede
longhouse, rice-wine jars, and instruments for taming elephants. You
could also check out BUON KO SIER , an Ede community 2km beyond the
Saigon Moi eating-house. Now effectively no more than a district of Buon
Me Thuot, it's still a convenient way of witnessing a longhouse
community going about its daily routines. |
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