Prison museum
French-era cells in the centre, then the provincial museum if gong culture is why you came.
Kon Tum Prison
The French-era prison is in the city centre, a walk from the church. A ticket is 30,000 VND, and the cells and displays take about an hour and a half. This is colonial prison history, not a light heritage stroll. Go in the morning, before the heat.
Gongs and the museum
The provincial museum holds the gong collection linked to UNESCO’s listing of the Central Highlands gong space, the background to the ensembles in the Ba Na villages. Gongs are not a daily ticketed show. The Culture, Sports and Tourism Week brings five or six days of gong performances and folk-art contests. Pơ Thi, the Ba Na new-year ritual with a buffalo offering and gong dancing, falls in the 12th lunar month in villages including Kon K’Tu.