After my trip to Dong Cham village, Huong Ho commune, Huong Tra town, I can see the mountain climbing tourism with pride in the greatness that the nature bestows for Hue.
Young people will regret if they do not try conquering Mount Hon Vuon
To avoid losing energy due to the heat, we started from 5 a.m., with the most important belongings being shoes, which was as soft as possible; as well as hats, towels and drinking water; it was okay with and without a stick, because trees grew closely, enough for us to change our hands from tree to tree continuously.
On her Facebook, she had guided the way very carefully, but it was not difficult for me to get to Huyen Khong Son Thuong Pagoda as I am a local. Then, that nearly 10-kilometer journey reminds me that visiting a landscape only once is just not enough.
The road has been changed so much compared to it was when I was a student. The narrow and rocky path, which made the owners of motorbikes feel suffering in the past, is now available for cars to freely go straight to the parking area of the pagoda. Several story-houses sparsely appear at the foot of the mountain, fading away the seclusion of forest and mountain.
Early in the morning, the monks did their own jobs, some of them pruned the branches of trees on both sides of the road, some climbed up to plant flowers on the cliffs; in the yard, these ones swept the yard, the other ones watered the trees,... creating a peaceful scene, giving those who were accustomed to the bustle of the city a light feeling.
From the top of Mount Hon Vuon, you will see the scenery around like a masterpiece of painting
From the pagoda’s yard, there is a signboard showing the way to the mountain, as far as you climb, you will easily recognize the sophistication of the human hand when turning large rocks into resting places, and small stones into clinging points to climb; sometimes, one will find a trunk placed in a horizontal position so as to prevent slipping when people going down the mountain.
Previously, when watching TV or listening to someone talk about the fun of mountain climbing, I had felt that it was so strange to old people. However, just as my heartbeat beating fast to conquer the height, I realized that Hue has available things that other places have to hardly create to do tourism.
We were all U50 years old; so some people in our group had to give up, even though some of them had climbed two thirds of the way; the rest of us took more than an hour to reach the top of the mountain. Everyone was gasping for breath; fortunately, there were many large rocks for us to take a rest. The cool breeze and the excitement of the youth groups helped us recover quite quickly.
"What time did you start that you got here so early?". "At 4:00 in the morning!"; "Are there all of you?". "No, three fell back; probably, now they are wandering around to enjoy the pagoda and garden"... Then, they laughed happily.
We were comforted and started to regain our visage, preparing to take a selfie for beautiful photos.
I had envisioned in advance the harmony when the two colors of white and blue of the clouds intertwining in the sky; but I was still dazed when spinning around to pan the view on the top of Mount Hon Vuon. The four sides were a masterpiece of nature, smartphones were used to freely capture photos of Tho Son lake, Khe Ngang lake lying in the middle of the mountain and the field.
None of the "old women" complained about fear. They kept sitting on the cliffs, put their foot down towards the green plain to take photos...
Going down the mountain did not take as much energy as climbing up, but easily to slip. And, as I had mentioned, there were trees, small and big rocks protecting visitors very safely. Because it is mountain climbing, we are somewhat difficult at our age, but it will be a mistake for young people to miss this destination.
Let's take a try to believe that it is not necessary to go far away for tourism, as Hue still has many interesting destinations that discovery only once is just not enough.
Story and photos: HUONG LAN