The resort city of Da Lat is known as a paradise of flowers, fog and love, set at an altitude of 1,500m in the Central Highlands of Viet Nam.
The city is renowned for its love stories and one of the most popular is the tale of K'lang (a boy from the Lach ethnic group) and Ho-biang (a girl from the Chil group), Viet Nam's equivalent of Romeo and Juliet. The area is known to local people as "the land of Langbiang", a combination of the star-crossed lovers' names. A visit to the tourist attractions and the legends that surround the place touches the hearts of the more romantically inclined, but it's also a great place just to get away from the heat and fast pace of daily life. Nui Voi or Elephant Mountain is a popular destination. The mountain is about 15km to the south of the city centre, and the 1,576m peak resembles two huge elephants lying in a green sky of water.
Unforgettable: Elephant Mountain is a popular destination for foreign and domestic tourists in the
Central Highlands Province of Lam Dong. — Photos courtesy of Nui Voi Tourism Company
The Lach people say that K'lang used to have a special gift with animals, and when he was 14, he successfully tamed two wild elephants from a neighbouring region – La Ngu Ha. The young couple's destiny was sealed on the day that K'lang rescued Biang from danger and they fell in love. The people, animals and plants were all very happy about the news, especially the two elephants, and waited expectantly for K'lang and Biang's wedding, but Biang was the daughter of a Chil chief, and he opposed the union.
Upward bound: Mountain climbing is popular with young visitors. — Photo tuoitreonline.com
Determined never to be separated, the couple decided that the only way they could be together forever was in death, so they sat together on a mountain until they passed away in each other's arms.
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