Gia Lai is located in the Central Highlands. It shares the border with Kon Tum, Dak Lak,  Quang Ngai, Binh Dinh, Phu Yen provinces and Cambodia. Pleiku is 186km from Quy Nhon, 197km from Buon Ma Thuot, and 550km from Ho Chi Minh City. The annual average temperature varies between 21 and 25ºC. Visitors have a change to discover many impressive, poetic scenes.

Gia Lai Highlights: 

++ Xung Khoeng Waterfall

Location: 30 km from the south-west of Pleiku City, Chu Prong District, Gia Lai Province.
Characteristics: Xung Khoeng Waterfall is a beautiful landscape in Gia Lai.

 ++ To Nung Lake

Location: approximately 10km from Pleiku City, Gia Lai Province.
Characteristics: Situated in the middle of the highlands red soil area, To Nung Lake looks like an emerald, with its green clear water.

The lake lies on the top of an extinct volcano. The view is spectacular with the lush vegetation and the colorful insects around the lake.

From the bank of the lake, one can get a general view of the area including Bien Ho Tea processing farm, Pleiku City, and Kon Tum Town. Legendary Horung Mountain nearby makes the lake even more beautiful. One can visit several rong houses and meet hospitable highland inhabitants. To Nung Lake is the pride of the Pleiku highland area.

++ Leaving the tomb festival

Time: Not fixed, often lasting from 3 to 7 days in spring time
Place: The cemetery
Objects of worship:The deceased people
Characteristics:Rituals of sacrifice offerings, eating, playing of the whole community beside the tomb house.

Unlike other ethnic minorities in Vietnam, some groups in the Central Highlands, including ½, Gia Rai, Ba Na do not have the practice of worshipping their ancestors and deceased persons. The bereaved only look after the tombs of the deceased for a period of three, five or seven years, and thereafter perform a ½leaving the tomb½ ceremony to bid farewell them to the village of the death, and the tomb is left unattended. The ½leaving the tomb½ Festival is the most important one reserved for the deceased held by their family members. All the local villagers attend the festival that lasts for three or four days. It involves two to three slaughtered buffaloes and hundreds of small jars of liquor.

The meaning of the ½Leaving the tomb½ festival is to see off the spirits of the deceased to their permanent world so that they can reincarnate and continue a new life. As for the living, they finish their duties and are free to remarry.

The festival is associated to the cycle of agriculture. It is held in the lunar first months that is the transition time between the two cycles of production. The festival is also an opportunity for farmers to give thanks to the gods and pray for a new bumper crop.

Although this ceremony is associated to the death, it is very cheerful, bearing the nuance of a festival. The festival includes three steps: taking the tomb to pieces, erecting the new tomb, and seeing off the death�s spirits to their world and treating the villagers with a feast.

Travel Guides in 67cities and Provinces of Vietnam:

Hanoi|Hochiminh(Saigon)|Halong|Hue|Hoian|Haiphong|Catba|Hoabinh|Caobang|laocai|Maichau|
Sapa|Sonla|Dienbienphu|Thainguyen|Phutho|Babe-Backan|Hagiang|langson|Bacninh|Hatay|
Haiduong|NinhBinh|Thaibinh|Quangninh|DongHoi|QuangBinh|Quangtri|Phuyen|Phutho|Thanhhoa|
Nghean|Hatinh|Danang|Taynguyen|Kontum|Gialai|Daknong|Daklak|Dalat|BinhDinh|Nhatrang|
PhanThiet|Muine|Vungtau|KienGiang|Phuquoc|Tayninh|Vinhlong|Travinh|Dongthap|Tiengiang|
Angiang|Cantho|Bentre|Camau|