Located on National Highway 20, about 200 kilometres from Ho Chi Minh City, to tourists, Di Linh is a stop on the way to Dalat, the city in mist and pine trees.

A panoramic view of Ka La Lake in Di Linh District, Lam Dong Province

In fact, apart from waterfalls such as Bobla, Hang Cop or Liliang, tourists often stop at the town for a while to enjoy tea or coffee at Linh Vu Cafe or Tam Chau tea shop, the specialty of the central highlands. However, one destination that tourists should not ignore is Ka La Lake.

Ka La Lake is located at the foot of Brah Yang Mountain. Brah Yang means ‘House of the Heaven’ in K’Ho ethnic language.

For locals, they just consider the man-made lake as a water supply to irrigate for their tea or coffee farms. However, to tourists, the stunning scenery is a joy to behold.

From the center of Di Linh District, visitors should head on National Highway 20 to the intersection to Phan Thiet City. This is the starting point of National Road 20 connecting Di Linh and Mui Ne and this is also the way to the lake.

On the way, tourists will meet a hamlet of K’Ho ethnic people who live a rustic and simple life. Images of papooses on the back of women in colorful brocades on the way to tea farms or kids running on the trail make the scenery more peaceful.

Nestled at a height of 1,000 metres above sea level, the afternoon at Ka La Lake is rather cold at about 20 Celsius degrees. The mountainous wind blows strongly, pine leaves whisper softly while the lake surface ripples and reflects dark blue clouds in the sky.

Built in 1997, Ka La covers over 300 hectares, not including Da Riam Stream, Ka La is now supplying over 1.6 hectares of rice, vegetables, coffee and tea farms as well as domestic water for about 24,000 households in Bao Thuan And Gung Re communes. As the water surface is large, locals also go fishing on the lake.

Coming here, tourists should not forget to hire a boat to cruise around the lake.