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Climb Mount Ba Den in the night

TAY NINH – At 9:00 p.m., the group leaned back next to a rock, feeling that they would sleep immediately, but the road to the top of the mountain was still far away.

This is the first time my friends and I went climbing Ba Den mountain, 986 m high mountain, known as the roof of the Southeast. At 13:30 on April 3, we started from the meeting point, An Suong intersection (Ho Chi Minh City), from here to Ba Den mountain more than 100 km, motorcycle ride nearly 3 hours. This means that the group will climb Ba Den mountain at night, originally expected to reach the top for 4 hours. We chose this time to climb in the cool weather and can watch Tay Ninh city up to the lights in the distance.

In addition to personal belongings, the group brought camping tents, grilled skewers of meat, vegetables, charcoal, cup noodles, rice paper … to spend the night, camp fire on the top of the mountain and the next morning watch the sunrise. .

Climb Mount Ba Den in the night
Afternoon drop on the way to the top of Ba Den. Photo: Tran Sang

In the direction of Highway 22, we arrive at Trang Bang town (Tay Ninh), which is famous for its banh canh and rice paper rolls. When passing the markets, you can easily see signboards selling specialties of people from two directions to and from. Now it is half way, the convoy headed to the provincial road 782, running about 1.5 hours to arrive.

Across the layer of cassava fields, bitter green, in the sky appeared a huge blurry blue patch, Ba Den mountain right to my right, only about 5 km away. The closer you get to the foot of the mountain, the cooler the path, surrounded by mango, custard-apple, and guava gardens in the harvest season. Along the two sides of the road, people are piled with baskets of fresh and freshly picked fruit, each of which is big and beautiful.

After parking the car and having dinner, at 6pm, the group started to share things to bring to the mountain. Each person receives a separate bundle of tangerines to take out when tired. We climbed the poles path, numbered 1 through 117. The pathway was full of trails and trees on the side of the road that were changing their leaves. Although excited about the destination, walking about the first 20 electric poles, we began to feel the weight on our shoulders and sagging legs.

The night covered, the team took their flashlights and put their heads on, divided two people into one another and then walked in the night, looking through the alleys carefully. The road is steeper, although the steps are available, but the road is erect vertically, taking a step one step requires a lot of strength. Below the steps is a thick layer of dry leaves, and we must be more careful with insects and reptiles.

The higher the wind blowing, the more sweat inside the body still poured, making the body cooler. All around us were only the glimmer of lights and the bright colors of the sky. Listening to the music ahead, we tried to walk quickly to catch up, another climbing group was also on the way. They played music so that the members of the crew would not get lost in the night. They shared that we should get to the top soon, because the darker it gets, the longer we go, the heavy loads and the fatigue will be easy.



On the way, underneath Tay Ninh City, lights were on. Crossing East-West boulevards, light-lit residential areas, each house is now only small dots of light in a night. “Nui Ba Den 600 m”, signposts clearly appear. We are happy to pass half the way. At 9:00 p.m., the group leaned back on a big rock behind to rest, feeling that they could sleep well, but they still had to go on.

From this section, the weather changed continuously, night mist covered the mountain and the road ahead of us was dim. Occasionally, there are a few strong winds sweeping the dew drops falling overhead, like a shower. We take our headscarves, our bodies, so we don’t get cold, but it’s also no better.

The road at this time is not much rock, but replaced with moist soil and shrubs. On the two sides of the road, there are no old trees, big vines, but bamboo, old bamboo rustling in the wind. At the top of our heads are fast white clouds, sometimes creating the starry sky, surprising everyone.

There are more than 10 electric poles we will reach our destination. From here the tents began to appear denser until we saw a clearing ahead. As soon as I heard the head of the group shout “We’re here, stop here!”, I dropped my backpack on my shoulder and the bag I was holding on the ground, stood and took a deep breath, it is past 11 o’clock at night. .

The male members quickly looked for a place to camp, the female friends made a charcoal fire, searched for firewood, and prepared a barbecue. The high wind in the high mountains made the fire difficult, and we sat next to the fire to warm it despite the tearing hot smoke. The feeling now is extremely happy, because he is about to rest after a long journey and have a meal when the hunger is about to split. The most important thing is to conquer the destination, see the surroundings, just like what I imagined. Follow vnexpress

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