A Hike to the Top of Ba Vi National Park in Vietnam
There is a national park near Hanoi that I wanted to visit for a long time. It is Ba Vi National Park located about 50 km away from the Vietnamese capital; it is easy to reach by motorbike.
The problem is that I decided to go there by bus. It is not easy to reach the park by bus. From my home, I had to take three different lines of buses, and the trip lasted more than two hours. A long time… luckily, I went with a friend and we killed the time talking about tomatoes.
Ba Vi National Park is a hill you can climb to admire a beautiful landscape. A large road goes through all the park and you can drive through it easily with a car. We didn’t have a car… so we walked for 5 hours.
Walking gave us the time to slowly watch the landscape. We even went through a small track and found a little waterfall. Waterfalls are great to take a natural shower and swim a bit. The water was very clean and refreshing; especially after the long walk.
A bit further on the way, we met a banana leaf collector: a guy who was going through the park from early morning to collect banana leaves to sell them on the market. A load of folded bananas leaves was piled up on his motorbike. He was taking a break when we met him, so we had some time to talk.
He usually starts his work at 6 am and finishes around 5 pm. In a day, he can collect about 40 kg of banana leaves and sell them at a cheap price on the market. If I remember well, it was something like 5000 VND a kilo. In total, he would get about 200 000 VND with a day of work, which is less than 10 dollars. Impressive.
What worried me was that this guy was cutting banana leaves in an area which was supposed to be preserved (aka a national park). Anyway, rules apply only to those who follow them.
On the way, to the top, we also visited an abandoned church. The beautiful building was built by the French when Vietnam was still a colony. Now it was a magnificent ruin perfect for scary movies. When we arrived a couple was doing a photoshoot for their wedding. This reminded me of Tim Burton’s Corpse Bride — cool movie!
Someone else was photo shooting there. A cosplayer disguised in an anime character that I didn’t know. It was fun to see her act and play her character for the photos. I could feel the character shining through her.
I did some photoshoot too! I have always liked to be a model. Isn’t it the best job ever? Posing in amazing places, smiling with your eyes while some dudes take photos of your muscular body. Did I mention that I have the body of a god?! It’s a pity that it’s the one of Buddha.
After more than ten kilometres of walking a steep slope, we were tired. With no shame, I put my thumb up and waited for a kind driver to give us a ride. Luckily, the first car opened its door. A big black car. Rich people. A Korean guy with his family. He was married to a Vietnamese and the mixed gave them a cute boy. My friend and I were so glad for the ride. We were exhausted.
At the top of the hill, there was two temples. We went only to one of them because we were too worn out to climb the stairs to reach the other one. Anyway, the view from the first temple was beautiful. Plus, the sun was setting and this created surrealistic colors. Loved it!
The mixed couple gave us a ride to the campsite at the bottom of the hill. Camping is very regulated in Ba Vi (unlike banana leaves collection) and wild camping was unfortunately not allowed. So, we joined other campers on the grass around a kind of barbecue.
There was a Vietnamese couple with their kid. They brought a tent, iceboxes, a lot of food, tables and chairs. In short, they had all the comfort possible. They also looked financially comfortable. Isn’t it fun how some people like to come to the “bare minimum” even though they have a lot of money and can access great comfort?
Of course, everybody has a different definition of the bare minimum. My friend and I only brought a small tent and a few potatoes. Our rich neighbors were very kind and gave us food, they even ordered half a chicken to grill (yes it’s possible to order food in this campsite).
Even though I don’t like organized campsite, I had a good time talking with the couple, playing chess with their kid, and listening to the music of our other neighbors. The music was loud, but not a problem because I was so tired that I fell in slumber as soon as I lied down in the tent.
The next morning we hit the road again to go back home. Again, a long bus ride, but this time we were so tired that we spent the two hours sleeping.
This trip was cool! And the most interesting part were the people we met on the way. The hitchhiking part was incredible. I couldn’t believe it was so easy. The only thing I had to do was to ask for help, and a kind person came, opened the door and helped us.
People were nice, the road tiring and the landscapes beautiful. That’s what I’ll remember from this trip to Ba Vi National Park.
All photos are from the author.
