Ta Nang - Phan Dung are two small towns in the Central Highland of Viet Nam, connected by a long range of small hills, which creates a magnificent trekking trail, passing through a diverse of terrains with a mass of stunning views.
Ta Nang - Phan Dung, the most gorgeous trekking trail in Viet Nam
Morover, this trail is only around six hours driving from Ho Chi Minh, the biggest city in Viet Nam, is quite suitable for those who want to escapse from the hustle and bustle of city life
Last year, before the Covid breakout, I had chance to travel to Ho Chi Minh city to visit my friends during Tet holiday (New year holiday in Viet Nam). After a few days exploring every corners of the city with my friends, we was bored of the busy life, so we decided to get into the nature of Central Highland to have a trekking adventure. And that was a really adventure because: 1. that decision was made at a coffee shop at 3p.m, we hit the road at 7p.m on the same day, and 2. we didn't have any local guide or porter to lead us through the trail, everything we had was a faint memory of a friend, he had trek this trail only one time before...
Ho Chi Minh city with peaceful vibe during Tet Holiday
After coming home to prepare our backpacks (I had to borrow/buy every stuffs for the trekking because I just brought things for a easy city trip😅), we gathered together at 7 p.m, 2 boys, 2 girls with 2 motorbikes. Our journey began!
From Ho Chi Minh city, we hit the road, along the National Highway 20 to Ta Nang, Lam Dong province, with an estimation that we would reach a hostel in Ta Nang, near the trekking starting point at around 12 a.m, so we could sleep for a few hours before the trekking at dawn.
But, that was too good to be true...
The road as it should be...
...in a morning
After two hours driving in the lowland area, we started to get on the pass, to get into the mountainous road, it was the time that the mist and fog covered us, and it was getting thicker and thicker while we got higher into the Highland. All we could see was not more than 2 meters in front, on the mountain road, with the speed of 10km per hour, we reached our hostel at 4 a.m.
We got up at 6 a.m and went to a market nearby to get some food and drink for the trekking, just some simple stuffs like snacks for lunch and a chicken, some pork to grill for the camping at night, and of course, having a large bowl of noodles for breakfast and a big cup of coffee :))
We started our trek at 7 a.m. The first part of the trek was quite peaceful, we passed by grassland and the farms of local people
Trekking trail going through the grassland to get into the pineforest
Our trekking trail. The grassland running along the pinetree forest
It had rained for few days before, so the trail was quite muddy.
Every 10 steps, we had to stop to remove the mud on our shoes
Can you guess what tree is this?
...
Coffee flower. Its smell was really nice while we walked through the coffee farm
After an hour of trekking, it started to rain, so we got into a hut of the woodman, to wait and have some snacks.
Everything we may hear was the sound of the rain drops falling on the thatched roof, falling on the leaves, and the sound of the wind blowing though the pinetrees. The sound of nature, we totally immersed in and it was entirely peaceful.
(when I wrote this post, that sound and feeling was recalled to me, just like only me and my laptop in that hut again)
After a while, the rain stopped and we got back our trekking, started the hardest part of the trail.
Because of the rain few days before, the water stream had been quite strong, and swept away the proper bridge, at that time, it was just a big falling tree used as a temporary bridge
And this was just one stream on our trail, and the esiest one. Some streams after this, I had to wrap my phone and protect it in the backpack, so I couldn't take any photos. Totally about 5 or 6 streams more than this
A famous philosophers in Eastern culture Lao Tse Tung (Lão Tá») once said: "Be still like a mountain, and flow like a great river" That was totally right for our trekking.
The great streams flew strongly and washed away the brigdes, and after that, the mountains made us stand still many time to rest and huff and buff.
The slopes were really high, about 20-30%, along with the slipery of the mud. It was a destruction combo.
Everytime we reached a pinetree, we had to link our back to the tree to rest. because of the gravity and heavy backpacks, it was quite difficult to stop in the middle of the slope.
This slope is called "Dốc mẹ ơi", which means " Oh my Mom", because that is the phrase we always use when getting into big huge problem :)
Even the trail was quite nice, in the middle of the pine forest with the sound of the insects and the wind, it was quite hard to say if we could "enjoy" that atmostpher or not. Everything we did were walk, rest, breath, and do it again.
After three hours climbing, we finally "conquered" all the slopes. And it was time for lunch cause all of us were exhausted.
Lunch at the peak of a hill, surrounded by the pine forest, we spread a tarpaulin on the ground, unpacked some snacks and drinks. Only now that we could enjoy the nature. I'm totally sure that it is the most delicious lunch I have ever had, even it was just some sandwiches
After a light lunch and a powernap in two hours, we restarted. The trail from here was getting esier, and the view was getting more and more stunning.
After get out of the pine forest, the terrain of hills spreads to the horizon.
We might see our trekking trail getting up and down over the hills
Not so easy, but after "Oh my Mum" slope, it was just a piece of cake
Another piece of cake
After eating to many pieces of cake, you also need to rest 😂
And enjoy the wonder...
...of the nature
"I believe I can flyyyyyyyy
I believe I can touch the skyyyyyyyy"
This check point took us around one and a half hour, because the scenery was marverlous, also the sun came back after a long cold rain, we couldn't do anything but sit down and immerse in the picturesque view (and also took a bunch of photos, of course 😂). We almost forgot all the tireness from the sleepless night before.
But the sun was setting down the horizon, we had to move to our camping spot, which was just a short walk from there.
And Here we are
Our camping spot was a plain peak of a highest hill...
...with the view to the end of the world
After setting up the tents, we unpacked our backpacks, cover the tents with a waterproof tarpaulin, prepared the sleeping bags, and started to cook for our dinner.
Because we camped on the top of the hill, it was quite hard to find the wood for fire, we had to walk down to the bottom of the hill to gather woods and get some fresh water from a stream.
Look easy but not easy, it is really true when you start a fire in the nature, especially on a windy hill
But nothing is impossible, the fire was on. We boiled some water for instant noodles and grill the pork and chicken we had got from the market in the morning
Thank you ladies for cooking, after setting the fire, I walked around a took some photos of the dusk
That night was really cold, the wind blew constantly and the temperature hit 10 degree Celcious.
However, I really miss this feeling. The weather was cold, the sun was setting down, leaving the mountains and jungles behind, we sat by a fire and talked about the world, the love, and the relations between people. We brought the blankets out to cover and sat together and shared our secrets, until early morning, we got into the tents and rest for a while.
And lucky for us, the day after was a beatiful day, we didn't have any problem on the way back
I will always remember this journey
At the end of the journey, on the motorbike on the way back, the sun farewelled us in a amazing way.
It was when we passing a small towm, the road was perfectly straight and the sun setting down right in front.
And this was a perfect end of my journey.
Thank you for coming with me till the end.
And hope to see you in my next trip.
Thank you <3
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