I heard about the Black Virgin Mountain a long time ago, but somehow I kept on delaying my visit to this spot. Initially, I thought about going by motorbike on my own, but it would be quite a ride and I would have to sleep in Tay Ninh. Luckily, I found a group offering a day tour to this spot and I’m glad I decided to join.
From Ho Chi Minh to Black Virgin Mountain
The tour departed at about 5.20 am from the Sala area in District 2 and at 7.20 am we were already at the bottom of Nui Ba Den– The Black Virgin Mountain- ready to start our hike up. We started the hike a little before 8 am and at 10:45 am we finally arrived at the very top of the mountain. At 12.30 pm we started our hike down the mountain and we only reached the bottom at 4 pm.
We were back in Ho Chi Minh already in the dark after 6 pm. The price for this tour was 250K Dong and it included the transport and the guide that led us up the Black Virgin Mountain.
Hiking Nui Ba Den- Black Virgin Mountain
So, Nui Ba Den, or Black Virgin Mountain is the tallest one in South Vietnam. It took us more than 2h to hike it all the way up and we started at Quan Giu xe Duong Cot Dien Len Dinh a spot with a restaurant filled with hikers. All vietnemese! This is where the trail to hike up the mountain started. The trail is easy to do. It was tiring, yes, but overall I would say it wasn’t very hard. We Had some great views along the journey up surrounded by nature and its sounds. The area is filled with mango trees and lots of rotten mangoes on the floor.
But the best was at the top. The place still looks under construction, but there are many things to see already, one of them is the huge Lady Buddha statue that stands tall, above the clouds as we lose its sight all of a sudden.
The place has some nice gardens, and a fountain, and the views were better than I was expecting! WOW, such a wide view up in the Black Virgin Mountain. I could see a river, not that far, and the landscape was very beautiful to look at. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t the best when I visited and it even rained.
There are more things in the mountain than I expected. Another huge Fat Buddha statue sits among a golden decoration surrounded by some man-made waterfalls. Very impressive!
We had about 1 hour at the top of the Black Virgin Mountain and I thought it was short. I had no time to sit and rest from the hike. I only had time to explore around and appreciate the views. Once I realized, it was already time to start going down. That was the only downside of this tour. I could have enjoyed more time at the top of the mountain: Just sitting and enjoying the views, I didn’t have enough time I felt. I had to eat something quick and off we went again, this time all the way down. It was sprinkly when it was time to go down the mountain so some of the people in the group were wondering if it was a good idea to walk in such weather. Some of them decided they would take the cable car. Yes, there is a cable car to go to the top and avoid a 2-hour hike to the top of the Black Virgin Mountain, but what’s the fun of that? Haha, plus, It was pricey as they don’t sell a one-way ticket, so the people going down in the cable car had to pay something like 400K Dong if I remember.
There were still a lot of people willing to hike down under the rain, so I decided to go with them too and follow the adventure. Well, might sound unreasonable, but we are a lot of people so everything will be fine.
The way down from Nui Ba Den
The path down was different from the path we took on the way up. I was not expecting it, which was surprising. I didn’t mind, as we would have different views of the mountain. We would be hiking almost below the cable car line and I would have no idea about the start of this trail if not the local guides. And… guess what? it didn’t rain at all after all, so lucky!
Basically, we went down to reach the most touristy part of this place. We crossed the turtle rock and several pagodas closer to the end of the trail including Linh Son Phuoc Trung Tu, Long Chau Phuoc Trung Tu, and others.
I found the way down much harder than the path up the mountain. The greater part of the trail was through rocks on rocks. I remember begging for the rocky part to end so I could finally walk without needing to think about where to put my foot next. It was painful. I was dragging myself down the boulders and sliding down the rocks. “Please just end” I thought many times. It was also a much longer hike, it took much longer than the climb and I was surely not expecting it. If it was a dirt path, I think it wouldn’t have taken this long. I was absolutely dead at the end of the trail! Oh My god it was such a tiring day! I was sore for the next 4 days haha. So, my final thoughts are: this is a tough hike!
Once we finished the trail and met the street, I thought it would be reasonable that the bus would pick us up from there. But instead, they made us walk another 20 min to reach the place where the bus was parked, and where we started early in the morning. I mean… seriously? I was soooooo tired and still had to walk under the scorching sun to meet the bus and then wait there for the people who were slower. C’mon, wouldn’t it be much easier to pick up people from the end of the trail instead of making us walk through the parking lot? I was pissed with this situation though because the group was not together anymore and we had to be calling this and that to figure out which way to go. I could barely lift my feet off the ground at this point haha.
At the very end were a lot of souvenir shops, restaurants, and food sellers. At the top of Nui Ba Den were also some restaurants and some food but the offer wasn’t that wide. They were pricier too.
Anyway, for me, this trip was worth it. I was willing to have some nature time, and this hike definitely offered that. I was impressed with the views that were better than I was expecting, so overall It was a happy day and I enjoyed this day trip from Ho Chi Minh a lot. I recommend it and I feel like this spot doesn’t get a lot of attention. I barely saw foreigners at the top of the Black Virgin Mountain, and in general, this isn’t a very well-known place for foreigners to visit. But honestly, I think it makes a great day trip from Ho Chi Minh City in case you are bored and out of options for things to do while stuck in Saigon.
