DaLat Day 2: Trekking Lang Bian Mountain

Today was a 9am start with our guide and driver. We headed straight out to the base of the mountain and started walking up via the farming areas avoiding the main road that heads up to one of the peaks in the area (very touristy and you can go up there by jeep, but eh). It was already quite warm and the path was relatively visible if you decided to try this by yourself. We headed through a coffee plantation then into the base of the pine forest. The climb was fairly steep in parts, I took it slow so that I was able to finish each small section. You've finished this bit when you've rounded the top and come to the road. Head up the road to the right and you'll need to pay for path access, the more people the cheaper. 

From there follow the path through and down into the valley, it was blessedly cool there, you then start to work your way up to the summit of Bidoup Ban, 2,287m high. The steps are very steep in the final 400m so be wary of catching your foot on the wood reinforced steps. Once up the top there is a wonderfully cool breeze but no shade. The top is completely exposed and we found it to be covered in rubbish. You can camp overnight and do the whole route in 2 days or go further than we did. 

We then headed back into and out of the valley and then headed to the top of Lang Bian where we had a picnic lunch and rested. From there we headed down to the touristy aspect where their used to be an American base up there. We saw some people parachuting and gliding around us, which would be fun but also terrifying. We then headed down the mountain via a small trail, which is full of rubbish in the beginning. The rest of the trail is fairly simple but be careful of the pine needles as they can be very slippery and cause you to loose your balance/footing. You also need to dodge the horse poo along the way, the locals have horses for tourists to ride and take photos with (some are painted to look like zebras). 

We came across, what our guide called, a Mekong mimosa. It looks like a wattle tree but the leaves are the wrong shape; we also saw some beautiful orchids on our way I think they might be from the Cimbidium family. Overall an amazing trip, wear proper socks otherwise you'll be like me blistered and sore (ended up finishing the hike in my socks, it was less painful then my shoes). 

We got back and cleaned up then had street food for dinner. We headed out and came across a place that was serving a duck noodle dish called Miên Viet. It was amazing, tastier than what we could've found by the lake. Then sleep before canyoning tomorrow