The Central Highlands is not only famous for coffee or the sound of gongs, but also famous for the Indochina junction, where any traveling soul wants to conquer once.
For travel enthusiasts, conquering all “four poles, one peak, one fork” in Vietnam is considered a definite goal to be completed. In addition to the four poles (North Pole Lung Cu in Ha Giang, West pole A Pa Chai in Dien Bien, Eastern pole Mui Doi in Khanh Hoa and Southernmost point Dat Mui Ca Mau), the famous Fansipan peak also has Indochina junction belonging to Bo Y commune, Ngoc Hoi district, Kon Tum province is also on that list. This place is located at the border of three countries Vietnam – Laos – Cambodia, so people have an interesting simile that at the Indochina junction is the place where “a rooster crows all three countries to hear”.
To get to the Indochina junction , you have to move from Kon Tum city towards Bo Y border gate, with both sides of the road are rubber forests planted straight and evenly, dotted with a few more rice fields and carpets. Green grass makes the air very cool and pleasant. On the way, you will pass through the territory of Dak Ha district, where there are wide, beautiful roads winding along the hill, sometimes there are a few coffee gardens that appear at eye level.
It is about 60 km from the city to the border commune of Bo Y in Ngoc Hoi district, at this time you can slow down, observe the pace of life of the people of the Central Highlands, and do not forget to stop for a rest. at a roadside market, to enjoy a cup of coffee while listening to an interesting story, to feel the rich “highland quality” of this land.
Going further for about 20km, you will arrive at Bo Y international border gate, show all documents and learn the way carefully before reaching the milestone.
Up to the end of the asphalt road has not reached the milestone yet. At this point, you will see a signboard with stone steps covered with green moss, but you have to conquer those steps to reach the sacred landmark of the border area between the three countries. The monument is made of granite, placed on the top of the mountain with an altitude of 1,086m above sea level, 2m high, weighing nearly 900kg with a triangular cylinder, each face facing the direction of that country has the name of the country and the national emblem. grave.
Compared to the northernmost or westernmost points, the Indochina junction does not seem to be as difficult to conquer. But perhaps for anyone, being able to touch this place on the border and see how beautiful their country is will feel really emotional, lucky and happy!
You can conquer the Indochina fork at any time of the year, but perhaps the best time is still from October to December of the lunar calendar because this is the time when Kon Tum enters the wild sunflower season. Blooming yellow in every corner of the sky, next to it are rubber forests entering the season of falling leaves, making the scenery on the way more charming than ever.
However, there are also some things that you need to keep in mind in the journey to conquer this border landmark to make the trip the most complete. Always make sure to go at a safe speed if you travel by motorbike, partly because on this road there are many traffic police checkpoints to check speed, partly because of road signs in this Central Highlands area. is not clear, easy to confuse with the amphitheater, there are quite bad sections, many potholes, potholes, …