Visit Buon Don to explore the land of the "Elephant King"

Legend of Elephant Hunting King

Buon Don is home to many ethnic groups, mainly Lao, De and M'ong. The name Ban Don in Lao or Buon Don in E De means "Ice Village" - a village created by islands on the legendary Set-Pok River flowing back.

From the Buon Don Cau Bao Tourism Center, visitors can buy electric bus tickets to visit the village and admire the typical wooden houses of the ethnic people here. In particular, an indispensable stop on the journey is the house of Amakong - a famous elephant hunting hero in the land of a thousand.

The ancient stilt house is hundreds of years old, now managed by Me Linh - Ama Kong's daughter. This place still preserves many tools for hunting, pureeing wild elephants and many legendary stories about the once-famous "Elephant Hunting King".

According to Me Linh and the villagers, there was a man from Laos who came down to the Serepok River to trade and then married a M'ong girl. The couple built a house on a small island on the river, named Ban Don. One of their children, Y Thu Knul (1828 - 193), is in remarkable health and is imprisoned by a person in the corrugated iron ring.

During that time, the fields in Buon Don were often attacked by wild elephants. Y Thu Knul called on the villagers to participate in hunting and purely raising elephants to transport goods. He hunted a white elephant with two amber goats, brought them home to improve and give to King Xiem (now Thailand). From there, Y Thu Knul was presented with a lot of wealth by King Xiem and was stripped of the title of " future President of the Elephant Hunting Company".

Throughout her life, Y Thu Knul has traveled everywhere, hunted more than 400 wild elephants and collected countless precious medicinal herbs to prolong her life. After his death, the successor to the title of "Elephant Hunting King" was the son-in-law of Mr. Ama Kong.

Ama Kong's father was the son of a rich and powerful prison captain in the region. As a child, he attended Tay Ho school for 7 years but did not like it, so he decided to leave for Buon Don with other brave men to hunt for wild elephants.

Learning from his father-in-law's experience, Ama Kong caught 298 wild elephants, including 3 white elephants and 1 elephant given to King Bao Dai. During the resistance war, he also gave elephants to officers to transport food and war invalids, and was awarded the First Class Anti-American Resistance Medal by the State.

Me Linh said: According to legend, during his lifetime, Ama Kong was fluent in many languages such as: M'ong, Phap, Lao, Cambodia, Gia Rai, E De and Kinh. Ama Kong is highly respected and respected by the villagers. He once drank alcohol and went hunting with King Bao Dai, Prince Xi-Ha-Nuc ( Norodom Sihanouk) of Cambodia.

In addition to the legend of elephant hunting, Ama Kong is also famous for its kidney-healthy goji berries that prolong life. He has a total of 28 children. Notably, at the age of 80, Ama Kong still married a beautiful wife 50 years younger and had another child.

Currently, Ama Kong's stilt house still preserves many tools for hunting and raising wild elephants along with photos of the "Elephant Hunting King" welcoming distinguished guests and heads of state. Me Linh also sells kidney and goji berries passed down from her father to future generations.

Visiting elephants in the great forest

From Buon Don back to Buon Don Cau Do Tourism Center, visitors will be able to visit the Ao Dai, a place displaying artifacts and documents related to the life, culture and history of the Central Highlands people. Here, visitors can also listen to tour guides tell the story of the close relationship between people and elephants in Buon Don, introduce the customs of M'nong boys or the model system, the customs of women's arrest of their husbands of the girls of E De...

Going deep inside the tourist area, many people will be overwhelmed by the majestic, cool green landscape that Mother Nature has given this place. The legendary Set-Pok River flows through green oases, connected by solid and poetic suspension bridges. Around, the hundred-year-old Si roots are down as evidence of the longitude and strong vitality of the old forest.

Previously, one of the most popular activities for tourists when coming to Buon Don suspension bridge tourism center was riding an elephant. However, this service has officially stopped operating since February 10, 2023 to deploy an elephant-friendly tourism model, improve the welfare of domestic elephants and maintain and conserve domestic elephant complexes in Dak Lak province.

Instead of riding elephants, visitors will be able to observe elephants in the natural environment, interact, take photos with elephants, feed them... In addition, the Center also organizes many interesting and attractive activities such as experiencing the Se-ro-pok River by boat, listening to singing and music, gong music, enjoying Central Highlands cuisine, visiting unique architectural works...

Ms. Hai Nam, a tourist from Ho Chi Minh City who led a Chinese friend to Buon Don for tourism, shared: "Although we are quite sorry not to ride elephants, we support this nature-friendly tourism activity. Instead, we were given elephants to eat, take photos with elephants, and listen to many interesting stories about people and elephants in Buon Don.

In addition, we also have the opportunity to wear ethnic costumes to take photos, row boats on the Se-ro-pok River, dance, sing with the locals, enjoy unique local cuisine... This is still a destination that tourists should definitely not miss when exploring the Central Highlands".

Mr. Nguyen Duc - Deputy Director of the Viet Dien Tourism and Hotel Branch, Representative of the Buon Don suspension bridge tourism center said that in the early days of stopping elephant riding activities, the number of visitors decreased sharply, sometimes up to 90%. However, over time, as tourists gradually formed the habit of friendly travel and became more aware of the importance of elephant protection, the number of visitors began to increase again.

"Currently, Dak Lak province has 33 elephants, of which 22 are from Buon Don commune. The number of elephants at the Buon Don Cau Do Tourism Center is 5.

Every day, two elephants of the Center are brought to the visitors' reception area, the "working" time is not more than 4 hours/day according to regulations. The work of raising and caring for elephants is undertaken by the local ethnic groups themselves, according to a systematic process," said Mr. Duc.

Mr. Duc added that most of the elephants are old and past the breeding age, so for many years, Buon Don has not welcomed any more baby elephants. Therefore, both the people and tourism workers here are always worried about the future of their herd of domestic elephants. Everyone hopes to find a feasible solution to gradually recover the quantity, extending the presence of this iconic animal in the Central Highlands.

Today, although there is no longer the scene of riding elephants in the forest like before, Buon Don still retains its own unique appeal thanks to the pristine beauty of nature, rich local culture and legendary stories. Not only a tourist destination, this place is gradually transforming into a typical model of sustainable tourism, where people and nature coexist and develop.