Welcome to VUS Pleiku! This is our 58th campus, a recent addition to the VUS family. VUS is a leader in the Vietnam ESL market, providing courses that meet international standards for all age and skill levels. Our campuses have top-notch facilities and a dedicated support team. Each center is managed by a Teaching Quality Manager and has air-conditioning, computers, speakers and projectors in every classroom, as well as a fully equipped teacher’s room to prepare in. You can now find these great opportunities here, with VUS Pleiku!
Location
Pleiku can be found in the central highlands of Vietnam, about 375 km southwest of Da Nang. It sits at an elevation of approximately 740 meters above sea level, and is the capital of Gia Lai Province. The area is full of rolling hills, serene lakes, and lush greenery, and is cooler and more temperate than the lowlands of Vietnam. Its location makes Pleiku a great starting point for exploring the rest of the Central Highlands, which are known for untouched landscapes and rich tribal culture.
Convenience and Living Conditions
As a smaller city, Pleiku is filled with local fresh food markets bursting with fresh produce, as well as many small local coffee shops. You can also visit Kim Center, the local shopping mall, for all your shopping needs.
As the capital of Gia Lai Province, Pleiku is also home to a few hospitals, including the Pleiku City Medical Center and Gia Lai Province General Hospital.
Accommodation
There are a number of hotels in central Pleiku, as well as furnished apartment rentals around town. A local agent will be able to show you around to find your new home.
Daily Transportation
Pleiku is a smaller city, and is much more easily navigable by motorbike than the bustle of the big cities. There are a number of local taxi companies available, too, if you’re not comfortable on your own wheels. Pleiku also has a domestic airport, making it easy to get to other parts of Vietnam.
Cuisine
In addition to the usual Vietnamese staples like pho and rice dishes, Pleiku also has a few regional specialties to try. Crab sauce noodles are a pungent dish, consisting of vermicelli, fish sauce, and fermented crab sauce, topped off with bamboo shoots, fried pork skin, vegetables, and other assorted toppings.
Another dish is beef grilled in a bamboo tube. The beef is mixed with spices such as lemongrass, then stuffed in a piece of bamboo, covered with pandan leaves, and grilled for 20-30 minutes. The finished dish is delicious!
For the more adventurous, try the ants! This dish is prepared from weaver ant nests collected from deep in the jungle. Weaver ant salt might sound off-putting, but once you taste it, you will see that the slightly sour, rich, fatty, sweet and spicy flavor is addictive. In particular, weaver ant salt contains very high nutritional content.
Tourist Attractions
You can find a large monument dedicated to Ho Chi Minh, as well as Minh Thanh Pagoda, a beautiful example of Buddhist architecture. There’s also Pleiku Prison, a remnant from the wartime era.
Beyond that, Pleiku serves as a great jumping-off point for exploring the beautiful nature that can be found in Vietnam’s highlands.
Ham Rong, or Dragon’s Jaw Mountain, is only 11 kilometers south of Pleiku, making it a perfect day trip from the capital of Gia Lai. It’s an extinct volcanic crater covered in green trees. Formerly a military base of US troops, it is now a provincial telecommunications transmitting center. At over 1000m above sea level, the air on the mountaintop is refreshing and you can take in panoramic views of the city below. The path leading up is filled with flower blooms from October to November, making it a great place for photography.
T’Nung Lake is located at Bien Ho Commune, at an altitude of 800m, and covers a total area of 250 hectares and is 18m deep. The lake is actually an oval-shaped crater of an extinct volcano, and the clear blue water gives it the nickname ‘Pleiku’s Eye’.
Dong Xanh Cultural Village is situated 10km from Pleiku and belongs to An Phu Commune. Covering a total area of 8ha, Dong Xanh brings all the provinces of Central Highlands into one place. You can find Rong Houses, tomb houses, and wooden sculptures, as well as many flowers and plants of the area. You can also see the iconic T’rung instruments, which are famous across the country and have long been a symbol of the Central Highlands.
Special Events
In November you can join the annual Gia Lai Gong Cultural Festival in Pleiku City. The event is part of Gia Lai Culture and Tourism Week 2023 and honors the value of the Gong Culture of the Central Highlands Locals and tourists have a chance to experience cultural activities, including the street festival; community cultural activities; traditional folk cultural festivals and rituals; the exhibition of Central Highlands musical instruments; artistic photos about Gia Lai culture; special national relics and national treasures of Gia Lai province; knitting, weaving, and sculpting activities; and Central Highlands culinary culture; among others.
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