After taking the National Highway 51 to Chu Hai Parish (Ba Ria Town), together with some help from local people, we could reach Nui Dinh (Dinh Moutain) with no difficulties. The higher we went up, the more winding the road was and up there we could have a panoramic view of Vung Tau. Lines of road-side pine trees and the cool air in the early morning made me feel as if I were somewhere in Dalat. But it was just Nui Dinh – the second Dalat in the seaside area.
SUOI TIEN (TIEN STREAM) – ANOTHER EDEN
Suoi Tien on the top of Nui Dinh is an interesting tourist attraction. In summer days – the time of dry season – there is no image of bubbling, whitecap water but whispering sounds of it instead. And rocks of different forms and sizes stir up tourists’ imaginations.
Getting along the stream up to its source, we can found with a flow of water winding its way underneath huge rocks rising high, as a brush of tenderness of water to the grandeur of the mountain. Big old trees with lianas shade the stream…like scenery of the long lost Eden. And there is an old story saying it was in the stream that fairies were playing and having a bath in moon-lit nights.
SUOI DA (DA STREAM) – A WONDERFUL PLAYGROUND
Going down to the foot of the mountain, we headed to Suoi Da – a familiar playground of young people in summers.
It is easy to figure out how the place have the name (Da: rock)… and there are five small lakes with its own beauty made by engulfed stones – five lakes with their name ranked from 1 to 5. And lake 5 – the biggest, and the most beautiful one - is our favorite stop. In burning hot summer days, it is great to wallow in fresh cool water surrounded by bamboo groves. Even in the early summer, the lakes are full with fresh cool water.
NUI DINH (DINH MOUNTAIN) – A TOURIST ATTRACTION
Nui Dinh is famous not also for being the highest mountain in Ba Ria - Vung Tau province but also for being a resistance base in the time of Vietnam War. Chua Hang - a pagoda of 200 years old – is a historical momument. There is also Day Bi Cave - the headquarter of Chau Duc district armed force - located 2 kilometers from the main road on the sheer mountain side.
In addition, over 200 pagodas and shrines scattered around the area of 60 km2 of the mountain have been attractions to Buddhists to visit or to take part in meditation courses, like those in Tinh Do pagoda. Each pagoda, mixing its distinguished architecture to the beauty of surrounding environment: the sheer mountain, the green forest, and the winding stream, creates its own mysterious beauty.
Nui Dinh is also a favorite place to adventurers – you can venture into the forest and then conquer the mountain of 500 meters high. The bamboo groves in the forest, the panoramic view of the seaside through the blind of lianas will be rewarding gifts to them.
At the top of the mountain, when enjoying a clear view of the seaside: the giant Christ statue, rice fields, shrines, ships floating on the sea and even berth of Cai Mep - Thi Vai deep-water port, I unexpectedly found myself in a little envy with the people of Ba Ria – Vung Tau: they possess a great treasure – beautiful landscapes.
