Legendary beauty of Lak lake

(Cinet)- Lak Lake, located at Lien Son town – Lak district, one of the largest natural freshwater lake in Vietnam. Lak Lake has an area of about 500 hectares, situated at an altitude of over 500m above sea level.
 

Residents living around the lake are mostly the  M'Nong, villages like Le, Jun, M'Lieng still keep their customs and traditions, and retain a lot of precious things in the traditional long house-on-stilts like the K’pan(long bench used for visitors or artisants), the H'gor(female-drum), gongs,etc.

Surrounded by the primitive forests of the Central Highlands , Lak lake is a higlight of the region, so,  when visiting here, tourists can enjoy the diversity of fauna - flora. According to statistics, there are 548 species, in which 118 families of them, 132 species of birds, 61 mammals, 43 reptiles, amphibians, including some endemic and rare. Besides, Lak lake is shelter of numerous species of aquatic life, fish and shellfish which are major economic resource for local residents living in the area around the lake. This is really a splendid lake; a destination of Ecology - Culture unique attractions with a natural poetic beauty of the surrounding mountains and forests.
 

Come to Lake Lak, visitors not only have opportunities to explore the natural beauty, ride an elephant visiting villages, row a dug-out canoe sightseeing around the beautiful lake and see local people fishing by their own ways but also enjoy Gongs shows, exploring the cultural traditions of indigenous people - The M'nong.
Three generations of Dam Nang Long’s family have involved in taming elephants and Long has the largest number of them in Lak lake. Long said the central highlanders in general and the M’Nong in particular love elephants very much and consider them a symbol of power and prosperity for their clans and families
After being tamed, the elephants will go to the village and an admission ceremony will be held to welcome them. From then on they become new members of the family, and are named according to a member of the family. According to M’Nong tradition, the elephants share their love and have the right to the family’s property. They will be buried after they die, Long added.
The M’Nong organize a lot of ceremonies and festivals each year to show their love for their animals including a village admission ceremony and prayers for the elephant health. In particular, the elephant racing festival attracts a lot of tourists. The bravery and strength of M’nong men are reflected in the festival.
The long house of the M’nong is also an attraction for the tourists. Furniture in the house such as the ancient Kpal bench, H’gor drums, gongs and jars tells stories about their traditional culture and customs.
Jun and M’Lieng are M’nong hamlets which still retain many traditional customs including the craft of brocade weaving. Performances of traditional dances, gong and other traditional musical instruments as well as the local cuisines make the tour of villages around Lak lake even more tempting.