Lap, a friend who taught Scuba diving, told me the story of going to Con Dao more than a dozen times. Waiting for the perfect water season every year, he eagerly boarded the ship, not forgetting to steal the propellers. How attractive is Con Dao that has to come back so many times? That question was the perfect motivation for me to start the journey.
Green trip, blue sky
Con Dao is small, isolated in the East Sea. The island is in full shape through the plane window. The sun was clear, the sky was deep blue. Trees and leaves are thickly knit - a good sign that this place has not been commercialized.
The road from the airport to the city center is fenced with trees. One tree close to another, absolutely not revealing any open ground. There are varieties of forest vines that keep dropping long branches of leaves into the ground. Every tree soars. I had to look my head out of the taxi to see the top. The road was none other than myself, wandering on the deserted sea road.
Entering town, the scenery is still green. The forest leads to the street, there are still forests in the street. You try to go any road, you also see them connected by canopies, star leaves, oil leaves. The old eagle tree here is much bigger, if compared to the eagle trees in the city. The stem is large and strong, the branches cover the sky. Lifting his neck to estimate, it's easy to think the leaves are bigger than his face. It is said that the eagle is a hundred years old, the green canopy has been cool for hundreds of years in front of the vast sea.
Only the initial green color, Con Dao is enough to charm nature "addicts" who spend time coming back here many times.
Centennial eagle trees in Con Dao
Someone show me where is Shark Nose?
I don't rush to find information about Con Dao because I want to keep myself surprised. Only when I arrived did I ask the landlady where to go. Borrowing the car for 80,000 VND / day, equipping the necessary items, I moved to the south of the island.
What is impressive often stays in the brain for a long time. My memory, to this day, is still clearly imprinted with the image of the Shark's nose opening its mouth full of sharp teeth defiantly.
The Shark's nose is exactly a ledge, shaped like a monster carrying its giant nose into the sea. The path is steep and steep, and it doesn't look like it humbles anyone. As I drove and looked down into the expanse of space, there was a fear of miscarriage in my stomach. And sea water? There exists such bright, pale and clear blue in Vietnam.
To see the Cape of the Shark, you must not be there. You need to stand a distance away to see the whole rocky rugged jaw. I didn't know that so I messed around a bit. It is also possible that the Shark Nose deliberately "plays" the comer, causing you to stay longer. Shark Cape is the only spot with the widest and most beautiful sunrise and sunset view in Con Dao, the way to this place with one side is the sea, the side of the mountain is beautiful. Bai Nhat, where you will probably enjoy abandoning your car and plunging right into the beautiful blue water. There are a few other theories, in the past Shark Cape was home to many different species of sharks, hence the name Shark Nose. As for me, it is probably because it resembles a shark's nose, the most dangerous fish of the deep blue ocean.
The road to Shark's Cape is beautiful, isn't it?
Monkey, where are you going?
Saying goodbye to Shark Cape, I eagerly headed north to Con Dao. In contrast to the claw-toothed South Island, the North Island is calm and gentle, always loving to protect creatures. I met the first long-tailed monkey in my life here. A purely natural creature, growing on the fruit of a tree growing across a mountainside and a small insect.
The meeting was brief for 10 seconds. Bursting out suddenly from the branches, the monkey bounced up and sat on the railing protecting the slope. The quick figure, the pale pink face, the facial hairs pointed out funny. Characteristic brown and gray feathers. He gave me a look, ignored it, and then disappeared.
Long-tailed macaques often walk in groups. So even when he was gone, I knew the shaking foliage was caused by the other members. Here, where Con Dao National Forest is strictly protected and the flora is rich, the monkeys are living in an "upper-class monkey" lifestyle. Eat non-GMO fruit, swim in the sea for free and sleep in King beds of tens of square kilometers of forest. That made me think a lot about city life, where I always have to contend with the rigor of life. After decades in a tiring urban place, coming to Con Dao I felt relieved. Nature is liberal, the air is clean, people are peaceful. Even the motorbike I rode all day did not need a lock because in Con Dao, no one took it.
I wonder if that monkey friend remembers me? But I vividly remember those impressive 10 seconds of lightning.
Mineral nature in Con Dao
No skyline in Con Dao
From north to south or going in the opposite direction, Con Dao still quietly shows a beauty "without horizon". Whether you try to stand high in the mountains or squint in the distance, the sea only returns a sense of infinity. It was as if Con Dao wanted the person who came to be relieved not to worry, and began to think a lot. There is no prosperous city with shops filled with goods for sale, Con Dao is a few steps away but attracts people to visit. This place, only the person who spends hours passionately threading each foot into the fine sand and is silent before the blue sea comes. Complex emotions are inherently difficult to put into words.
If you have the chance, come here and experience it for yourself!
Article: Ha Mi
Photo: Shutter Stock