Ten thousand steps to the head

Trekkers to Dau

Located in the "5 mountains" system of Cam mountain

At dawn, the top of Cam mountain seems to be submerged in clouds. From Thuy Liem lake, travelers on foot to Vo Dau must go through a winding concrete road up and down. At an altitude of about 600m, leaning to the Northwest, about 3km from the Maitreya Buddha statue, Vo Dau is part of the "5 mountains" system of Cam mountain, including: Vo Bo Hong, Vo Ba, Vo Ong Buom and Vo Thien Tue. If visitors choose to walk here, it takes about 1 hour, and by motorbike it only takes 15 minutes. According to folklore, Vo Dau is considered the first mountain of Cam mountain.

Another legend says that Vo Dau looks like a dragon's head. In Vo Dau, there are two mysterious spiritual tourist attractions: Temple 13, the temple of Hoa Son Thanh Mau and Cuu Huyen Tram Ho. Pilgrims believe that when coming to Cam Mountain, they must conquer Temple 13 by weaving through the crevices, going deep into the stone maze to open their hearts. Some people crawled out of the cave and exclaimed that Temple 13 is just like the cave "mother gave birth to". They also believe that if they crawled through Temple 13, it would be like being born again in this world. Even during the day, Temple 13 is very dark and quiet, making it very difficult to crawl through, so they must light it with candles or use a flashlight to see the way.

When we reach deep and narrow places, we have to take a deep breath to get through. Inside the cave of Palace 13, it is deep, about 50m long, with many dark places, making people suffocate when they first go through. Palace 13 is also known as the "gate to heaven" on Cam mountain. Outside are large rocks that look like they were erected by the hands of a supernatural being. After exploring Palace 13, visitors continue their journey to climb to Dau cliff, more than 100m away. Meeting a group of tourists from Bac Lieu province passing by, Mr. Hai, who sells water near Dau cliff, happily invited everyone to sit on a chair to rest and continue climbing.

Mr. Hai said: “According to the ancestors, Vo Dau is a sacred place in Cam mountain. In the past, Vo Dau was very difficult to go to. Forest goers said that it took a whole day to get to Vo Dau, they had to use machetes and sticks to mark the way and make their way. In the past, this place was very dark and deserted, so many wild animals lived there, even tigers and big snakes. The terrain here is dangerous, but in the past, the ancestors came here to practice asceticism.

Attractive destination

Nowadays, the road to Vo Dau is very easy to travel, because there is a wide and straight concrete road. Along the mountain road, there are shops and motels to serve pilgrims. Many groups of tourists from other provinces come to explore Cam Mountain and stay for a few days. In the past, there was no road, so traveling was difficult and people had to work hard to transport goods. Therefore, each time they came to explore Cam Mountain, tourists had to bring their own rice and food up the mountain to find a place to stay and ask the mountain people to cook. For the convenience of pilgrims, the shop owners here enthusiastically take care of the kitchen work. This is the way they attract more and more tourists to Cam Mountain.

The owners of the vegetarian noodle shops located next to Dau Cliff said that in the past, tourists here stayed overnight and had a great time eating and drinking. At night, they went up to Dau Cliff to make offerings. Strangely, no one knows when the ancestors built a temple to worship the Holy Mother and the Nine Generations of Families on the top of Dau Cliff so that today tourists come and worship regularly. Currently, on Dau Cliff, people have built a corrugated iron roof to protect them from the rain and sun. Many groups of tourists come here to pray for good luck and prosperity for their families.

Mr. Nguyen Van Chi (in Cho Moi district) led a group of more than 40 pilgrims here to worship and enthusiastically said: "First, we go to the mountains to see the scenery, then we visit the temples, caves, and hermitages on the mountain. This morning, we climbed to some points on Cam mountain. Particularly, Vo Dau is the group's last stop. When going to Vo Dau, people believe that praying is to pray for peace and to send away bad luck in the year. Some people also pray to the mountain god and the holy mother to bless them to overcome disasters." Every year, in May (lunar calendar), we climb Cam mountain on pilgrimage. A 2-day tour on the mountain will help everyone explore all the temples, caves, hermitages, and valleys here.

Now, the road to Vo Dau is convenient, if there are elderly people or children in the group, tourists can ask a motorbike taxi to take them up. The day we stopped at a hammock shop near Vo Dau, we saw many tourists stopping at the shop to rest. The shop owners here generously invited tourists to lie in hammocks to rest. Although many people did not buy drinks, they still welcomed them enthusiastically. Ms. Tuyen expressed: “This season, there are many tourists coming to Cam mountain. During the climbing process, some tourists brought water and food for convenience. However, we still kindly invited them to rest. In recent days, there have been quite a lot of tourists coming to Vo Dau, business on the mountain is also quite favorable, and people have a stable income.

This season, the weather on Cam Mountain is sometimes rainy, sometimes sunny, and sometimes you can see clouds embracing the mountain. Leaving Dau, travelers go through the clouds, everyone seems to enjoy this fairyland.

HOANG MY

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/van-buoc-vo-dau-a422100.html