During the doldrums which is Tet (Chinese New Year) in Vietnam some friends and I decided to go on trip to a nearby mountain. On a side note, I’m interested at just how little Vietnamese do for Tet publicly. There was a firework display but aside from that everything just shuts down. So for someone who doesn’t have Vietnamese people to celebrate with you get stuck with nothing to do.
There were six of us and 3 motor bikes. I didn’t drive since I haven’t practiced at all. We were drinking on Monday night and decided impetuously to go. We planned to go to the Ba Vi national park which is home to a 4,000 foot mountain and is only about 50 km from Hanoi. It was drizzly and cold on our drive up. Luckily we spotted a lady selling gloves. Otherwise I wouldn’t be surprised if we got frost bite. The road is easy enough. It’s a pretty much a straight shot from Hanoi through vast agriculture. I was struck by just how flat this part of Vietnam is.
Up until we arrived at the small town of Son Tay which was about 20 km from the foot of the mountain I didn’t see any signs of elevation. We looked for a hotel in the ghost town that is Son Tay during Tet. As we drove around aimlessly we stumbled across a two star hotel that could put us up for 5 dollars a night per person. I thought this was reasonable since we were only staying one night. With only a finger pointing us in the direction of the mountain we set off hoping that it should be quite obvious where this goliath is. It was still raining a bit and the visibility was bad. There always seems to be a fog that hangs over much of Vietnam, especially at this time of the year, but that day was especially bad. I couldn't even see the mountain as we continued down this country road. We also assumed that a national park as big as Ba Vi national park would have an obvious sign. We were completely mistaken about that and we ended driving until we got to a dirt road littered with pot holes. It was definitely doable in a Land Rover or 4X4 but those little Honda Waves were more like scooters than actual motorcycles. There was a ferry crossing just where we stopped so I tried to ask some people directions. It was no easy task since my Vietnamese is still quite bad but I got the idea that we had gone too far and had missed a turn off somewhere. We turned back and stumbled upon a road that seemed like it could lead to a national park. It was definitely headed toward the mountain. We drove down this idyllic road through the rice paddies into a small town. Just beyond the small town were a large gate and a toll man. It looked like we had finally found the right place. We paid the man and took off in great excitement thinking that we could finally drive up mountain. After about a hundred meters we were directed to a parking lot and we had to get off the bikes. We were confused since we were told you could drive up to summit but just went along with it. As we started walking through this strange place I began to think we had made a mistake. There were plastic dinosaurs scattered around with play grounds and a child’s swimming pool. The place was surreal and not at all what I expected. There was a nice waterfall and a trail that seemed to go up to the mountain so we decided to hike a little bit.
We got stuck at one stream crossing since the Vietnamese built a pretty ridiculous bridge that was so narrow one of my feet was too wide. A couple of my friends made it across using the bridge but I crossed using the myriad treacherous stones. We hiked a bit farther but it was definitely a dead end but it was a nice scamper about.
We headed into town a bit disappointed that we couldn’t find the actual mountain but determined to find it the next day. It took ages to find a place to eat because of the paralyzing effect of Tet but we eventually found some nice pho. Son Tay was a nice town and the people were all very friendly.
In the morning we got up and headed out hell bent on finding this mountain. We decided that the turn off has to be on the same road since there really was only one major road. All of a sudden we spotted one of many small signs directing people to Ba Vi. I finally learned the word for national park which is quite different than the word for park which I already knew. On a whim we tried it out and finally found the mountain. We biked straight up the mountain and the road is actually pretty well maintained. There was only one incident of one bike falling into a ditch but they survived. The weather was better but the visibility was still bad and for the last quarter of the trip up the mountain we were in a cloud. It was also freezing cold and damp. Once we made it to the top we just had to hike for another 30 minutes or so the actual top where the Vietnamese built a spectacular temple and a shrine for Ho Chi Minh.
Unfortunately, you couldn’t see anything from the top of the mountain because of the heavy fog. Mountains covered in mist are beautiful but difficult to photograph. I stood at the top of the mountain and I could just imagine how spectacular the view could have been. At times you could see notions of the horizon before us. Fog is like lingerie. It can give you a glimpse but hides the essentials. It is enticing nonetheless.
From the top of the mountain we made our way down and stopped a few times to photograph the scenery. If you look really carefully you should see the temple at the very top of the mountain.
After that we beasted it back to Hanoi making real good time. It was definitely a good trip. I really enjoy mountain air.
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