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Destinations >> Central Highlands :> Central Highlands - Kon Tum Kon Tum province lies in the Central Highlands region, located on the bank of the Dakblar River. Kon Tum town is well off the tourist trail and sits a mere 50 kilometers from Vietnam’s western border with Laos. Kon Tum has an area of 9,934 square kilometers and a population of approximately 330,000. The name Kontum comes from the name of a village of the Bahnar ethnic group. In the Bahnar language, Kon means "village" and Tum means "pool." The province is the homeland of the Bahnar ethnic people who make up 60% of the province’s population. The Bahnar people are the first among the ethnic minority groups in the Central Highlands who have their own written language and know how to use buffaloes and cows to plough their fields. To date the lifestyle of Bahnar people remains very primitive. Their houses are wooden ones on stilt, which have different shapes and sizes. They are either quadrilateral or square. The staircase leading to a house is made of a tree trunk. Each of the steps is chiseled meticulously, which reflects the carving skills of the Bahnar men. Bahnare people are famous for their hunting skill. There are always several wooden bows and pots of arrows hanging on the wall of the Bahnar’s houses. Like any other ethnic minority people on the Central Highland, the Bahnar people always keep a big fire in the middle of their houses. The fire that is always kept alive is where family members and friends sit around to have drink, food and talks. The fire also keeps warm for those who sleep around it at cold nights. Most of the male Bahnar people have scars on their chest. These are self-inflicted wounds. The man inflicts himself by piercing the burning end of a timber into his chest or cutting himself with a sharp knife when a family member is dead. That is to demonstrate his pains over the lost of the deceased. :> The wooden church During the first half of the 20th century, the town of Kon Tum was the home to an administrative centre for the French. The wooden church with a part – European and a part – rural Vietnam is an evidence to the affect of French colonial architecture that left in the area. The all –wooden church was built between 1913 and 1918 by the French priest of Stephano Theodore Cuenot, the first Catholic bishop of the Kon Tum diocese. It is made from Kachit wood and the design is based on Roman Catholic church designs as well as the stilt houses of Bahnar ethnic people. Same to Pleiku, the rainy season starts in Kon Tum from May and ends in November. The dry season begins in December and finishes in April. Average temperature in the year is 23 degree Celsius.
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