Richard and Bao's road trip to Tay Ninh: Nui Ba Den

Five hours driving time and about 200 km each way - I am now the veteran of a motor cycle road trip to Tay Ninh. Well two, if you count the day trip at Tet with Bao to My Tho. But this time I've been a driver and the trip was made on the Yamaha!

The motoring-minded of you will by now have done the calculations and concluded that we made very slow progress. However, you have to bear in mind that it's very unusual to travel more than about 70km per hour on the highway, and that for the most part motor cycles in Vietnam range in engine size between about 115 and 135 cc rather than the beasts we have in Australia. Throw in the weight of driver and passenger (or a Vietnamese family, a pig and half a dozen chickens/ducks). And while you're travelling at these speeds you don't feel like you are going slow, although you are conscious that the kilometres tick over more slowly than on a car trip on the open road in Australia.

Bao worked in Tay Ninh for about 1.5 years and the visit was a chance for him to catch up with old friends and colleagues and for us both to see the main sights, which are the main Cao Dai temple and Nui Ba Den (Black Lady Mountain). This is a mountain that rises out of the very flat land of Tay Ninh province. The mountain has both a legendary and a modern history, which result in its slopes containing both temples and shrines, and some traces of its importance to all combatants during the French and American Wars.

We left Vung Tau at about 1pm on Friday afternoon in sunshine but unfortunately soon were getting very wet, an experience that was repeated as we left Ho Chi Minh City on the road west. The dirty bike you can see above tells part of that story. So did Bao's shoes and our raincoats. But rain doesn't usually last too long in Vietnam and we made the final third of the journey on dry roads although it was dark (6pm) by the time we arrived and found the hotel, with a very welcome shower, that Thong had recommended. Then dinner, coffee with Thong and friends, supper and bed!

Oh, the joy of being able to sleep until 8am on a Saturday! Selfishly I didn't have a single thought of the classes I was not teaching! Instead we got up, went out for breakfast and to wash the aforesaid dirty bike and then ... Hmm the bike doesn't want to run properly! The engine keeps cutting out as though the petrol is dirty or maybe there isn't any left? Or are the electricals wet? Nope, these aren't the causes - and now it seems to be running OK again. So we headed out of town to Nui Ba Den.

I have only one rather shaky (taken from the back of a travelling motorbike) photo that shows the whole of the mountain, so it's difficult to get the idea of how out of place and immense it can seem. Travelling across the plains towards Tay Ninh the mountain is not visible and then suddenly it's there - very much there. I always liken it to the mountain in Close Encounters of the Third Kind just because of the presence that it has. The Lonely Planet guide says that the mountain is 850m tall - just to give you some idea. Throughout our visit the summit was covered in cloud - except for a brief period (read on, gentle reader!).

This was my second visit to the mountain temple complex. The first was more than 10 years ago with David and some of the family from My Tho. I think that visit was during the week and I don't recall many people being there. Even when we first arrived this time the parking lots were relatively empty so I didn't anticipate a large number of people but as we started climbing the steps it was clear that many people were using Saturday to make a visit. It was about 10am when we reached the complex and it was a hot climb (though nothing compared to what was to come!) - and just remember that everything used up here is carted up by porters. We passed a few on the way, zigzagging their way across the steps to conserve energy and pouring with sweat. Of course, there is the easy way as well - cable car and toboggan.

As well as the main temple complex there are now smaller temples and shrines higher up. Yes, we visited them all! One of the interesting things is that foreigners don't seem to come here - Lonely Planet says this, and the evidence plus the curious stares from everyone confirmed this. But so too have the reactions of teachers who I've told about the trip - they don't know where I'm talking about (with the exception of Rick who is a true Vietnamphile and has been everywhere. Rick used to sing - in Vietnamese - at Vietnamese weddings in California!) until I mention the Cao Dai temple. This is because the day tours from Saigon only go to Cu Chi tunnels and the Cao Dai temple - OK but it seems that everyone is oblivious to the mountain! Do they not look out of the coach windows?!!

The views from Nui Ba Den at any point on its slopes and summit are fantastic. The side we climb faces back east, so it looks into Vietnam and Binh Duong province, but Tay Ninh province is also surrounded by Cambodia on three sides. We see rice fields and orchards and rubber tree forests, as well as the immense body of water that is Ho Dau Tieng. This lake catches and controls floodwaters, and releases water to Ho Chi Minh City when it's needed.

From the temple complex it's possible to keep climbing to the summit of the mountain. Bao has climbed part of the way before and is keen to give it another go. Last time was with Hiep and the climb ended because Hiep 'declined' to keep going. I agree to give it a go but don't promise to go to the top. I already have sounding in my head that concept that there is no top to the mountain!

We start out - there are properly formed steps, though obviously little used because there is a large build-up of leaves, etc. This is very unusual in Vietnam on oft-frequented pathways. The steps are steep, and the handrails are very welcome. A little way along there is a drink stall (and a dog), so they must be expecting at least a few adventurous people. But now the steps are giving way sometimes to boulders instead, clearly placed there or else nature has been extremely obliging. We see another two climbers coming up behind us ... and then we meet three young people (2 girls and a boy) coming back down. I'm not sure what's happened but I get the idea that they have turned back. Hmmm ... but then they decide to continue after all, so now there are seven of us toiling up.

Ahead of us we see the cliff faces of the main bluff. I look at them and seriously doubt the possibility of climbing up there. We are getting hotter and hotter, notwithstanding the cooler air, and we have no water or food with us! We rest several times. I tell Bao that I don't want to go any further. I'm already thinking about the difficult climb we've made and how it will be just as hard to get down. I say we don't have any water or food and it's already 12.30 (we started this adventure more than an hour ago). He says that Hiep only came this far last time and wins me over to try a little bit more.

Now we're walking through forest and the path is getting muddy - and slippery. We are starting to climb up into the bluff. We reach a point where there is shrine in the rocks, and a red arrow pointing us up. Where? Oh, we have to climb up the rocks! OK, we do that and walk some more. Another arrow pointing up. How? Oh, there are some metal hoops driven into the rock wall! We have to climb up this wall!!! We do it. More muddy paths, still winding and working up the mountain. We take a rest. One of the girls has brought along some sachets of Vinamilk. Sweetened warm milk has never ever tasted so good!

We come to another cave, with another shrine, but this one has something more. It's been a medic station during some combat. We walk some more - more mud, more sliding though noone has fallen over yet. Still climbing but the rocks and now even the trees have given way to grass. It seems we are getting close to the summit, though it's always, always just round that next bend or over that next rise.

Now we see radio masts! The summit must be near. We pass another shrine and then we see a fence and gate - Keep Out! There is a dog barking. A face appears. We ask if we can buy some water. We can! We ask if we can buy some food. We can! Instant noodles have never ever tasted so good. We rest. The sun is out, ... but now we see clouds rolling across again. We are told of another path we can take to get down. I think this is good because I don't like the prospect of sliding and clambering back down the way we came. I'm even more heartened when I see how the path starts with well-laid out stone steps. We start out, and also start to see that this path basically goes straight down! It's steep, sometimes it gives way to rocks but generally speaking it's a well-formed path all the way down the mountain, straight down the mountain.

Along the way there are banana trees. They have bananas. Some of the boys decided that they will take some bananas home. They are heavy and it's a long way to go but we do it anyway. Bao jars his leg. It hurts him to walk. He is in a lot of pain but he has to walk. I help to carry the bananas some of the way but the person I'm carrying the load with is walking quite fast and it's a struggle to keep up. I hurt my foot. Oh I forgot to tell you that my usual walking shoes have started falling apart so we've made the decision this morning that I would be better off to wear sandals. Some of the Vietnamese are wearing thongs!

We walk down and down and down ... and I note the sun getting lower and lower in the sky. Eventually we are down, and it's not yet quite dark. The car park is just up the road but we get a lift there anyway. The people living here tell us that they usually get up and down the mountain in 2 hours each way. We started at around 11 or 11.30. It is now past 5 in the afternoon. We rested for maybe 45 minutes at the top and took innumerable short breaks going up and down. We are never doing this again!