Rough Guide to Vietnam - Jan Dodd [147]
The central highlands | Through the highlands |
Phu Phong and around
As recently as five decades ago, tigers stalked the upper reaches of Highway 19 from Plei Ku down to Quy Nhon, known as the Giang Pass. Norman Lewis, travelling here in the 1950s, found a French military outpost commanded by “a slap-happy sergeant from Perpignan, a cabaret-Provençal, who roared with laughter at the thought of his isolation, and poured us out half-tumblers of Chartreuse”. The fort may have gone, but scores of Bahnar settlements(see "Around Kon Tum") speckle the route, as it snakes its way through a majestic blister of hills and down to the coast.
For the most spectacular panoramas, you’ll need to wait until you’re 65km out of Plei Ku, when the countryside slowly begins to level out. Shortly after scruffy An Khe, a kink in the highway leads you to the An Khe Pass, from where you can see the coastal plain yawning magnificently below you, embroidered by the Ha Giao River. By the time you’ve passed through Vinh Son, and traversed the bridge that crosses to more sizeable PHU PHONG, 50km from Quy Nhon, you’re down in the paddy of the coastal plain.
Phu Phong lies under the jurisdiction of Tay Son District whose most famous sons, the Tay Son brothers, engineered a popular uprising that succeeded in unifying Vietnam for the first time in the 1770s. Sickened by the land-grabbing and hunger afflicting their countrymen, Nguyen Nhac, Nguyen Lu and Nguyen Hué in 1771 mustered a peasant army, in order more volubly to express their anger. The army exceeded all expectations: by 1788 it had defeated the Trinh dynasty to the north and the Nguyen dynasty to the south, and Nguyen Hué had proclaimed himself Emperor Quang Trung of Vietnam – a situation he buttressed further a year later when he booted the Chinese out of northern Vietnam at the battle of Dong Da. Quang Trung’s death in 1792 deprived the Tay Son dynasty of his charismatic leadership, and ten years later French-backed Nguyen Anh of the Nguyen dynasty snatched power once more. Despite its brevity, the Tay Son period is recalled as a prosperous one, when economic reforms were established and education encouraged.
The brothers’ escapades are celebrated at the Quang Trung Museum (Mon–Fri 8–11.30am & 1–4.30pm; small admission fee), a three-kilometre ride by xe om from Phu Phong. Its exhibits include costumes, weapons, gongs and drums, and there are often demonstrations of martial arts, which are very popular in this region.
Beyond Phu Phong, countless brick kilns pepper the landscape, their rippling roofs seeming to melt in the heat. Quy Nhon itself is covered in "Dai Lanh and north to Quy Nhon".
The central highlands | Through the highlands |
Kon Tum and the minority villages
Some 49km north of Plei Ku, Highway 14 crosses the Dakbla River and runs into KON TUM, a sleepy, friendly town which serves as a springboard for onward travel to Laos as well as jaunts to outlying villages of the Bahnar and other minority groups such as the Sedang, Gieh Trieng and Rongao. There are about 650 minority villages in the province, of which only a few have been visited by foreigners, so the scope for adventure here is broad indeed. Unlike other provinces in the central highlands, local authorities in Kon Tum do not insist that visitors obtain permits and guides to visit most minority villages, so you are more or less free to explore as you like. However, you’re strongly advised to discuss your travel plans with the local tourist office to check on their feasibility, especially if you plan to head west towards the Cambodian border, which is still considered a sensitive area.
Known here as Phan Dinh Phung, Highway 14 forms the western edge of Kon Tum; running east above the river is Nguyen Hué, and between these two axes lies the town centre. Just south of Nguyen Hué is an attractive riverside promenade, which makes for a pleasant stroll in the morning or evening. At the junction of Nguyen Hué and Tran Phu stands the grand bulk of Tan Huong Church, with colourful bas reliefs in