Ngu Binh Mountain

Yesterday morning I woke up and went for a run.  I was on a new route that took me past Ngu Binh Mountain in Hue.  I was feeling a little heavy in the legs and also a little curious about the mountain.  Much like many times before, I had done a little research about this new route and noticed that a path was visible from Google Earth on top of the mountain.

In my morning daze, I thought I could cut my run short and get a little hill workout at the same time by finding the route that traversed over the top of the mountain.  I past the mountain along the east side, then traveled down a road north of it, and then found a dirt path that ran down the west side.  As I got halfway down the west road I noticed I never found the path that went up the mountain.  I wondered how hard it would be to just take off up the slope, so I did.  There was no path and I was pretty tired and sweat-drenched by the time I found the path on top of the mountain.  The effort was worth it, though, as I was greeted by a spectacular view of most of Hue City.  The way back down was fairly easy having stayed on the path all the way back down to the southern connecting road.

The view was so inspiring that I took note of where I came out on the way down and decided I would walk up this morning with my camera.   As the saying should go, "The best pictures are taken when you have your camera with you."  I took off while the moon was still up, and the weather looked fine; I thought for sure I would get some great pics.  But, as fate would have it, I was socked in by fog when I made it to the top.  I waited around hoping it would burn off, but by 0630hrs I decided the moment had passed and I worked my way back down for breakfast at the hotel.

I did manage to get some good photos of flora and other points of interest along the way, but now I am faced with the dilemma of whether I want to try again before I leave for good.  It is unlikely I will get as much free time in Hue ever again, and this could be a great opportunity lost.  On the other hand, it wasn't an easy trek even on the well worn path that I took this morning.  I will have to play it by ear.

In the meantime, day after tomorrow I will be heading to Dong Hoi in Quang Binh Province for a day trip.  The change of scenery could do me good.