North of Buon Ma Thuot, the road passed rubber plantations, hardwood forests and the corrugated leaves of coffee plants on the way to Pleiku. Pleiku became a combat zone between the North Vietnamese and American armies in February 1965 that elicited the name Rolling Thunder. So little Pleiku was left standing at the end of the war in 1975 that a near-total reconstruction began after the war. There are about 45,000 inhabitants with a large number of ethnic minority people. Riding elephants and trekking are the most popular programs on tours in this region.