| Close to Hanoi, Con Son is both beautiful and historic, | | | | laughter as they ascended they expected to see |
| yet left off the majority of tourist itineraries. Pine | | | | others atop the mountain. Upon arrival the scene was |
| forests, hundreds of years old, sweep down the | | | | empty save for a chessboard left amid a game. The |
| mountain ranges to ancient pagodas and the views | | | | visitors concluded that some heavenly deities must |
| from the mountain top are spectacular. | | | | have descended from the clouds to play, but flew |
| The main draw of Con Son is Con Son mountain and | | | | back when they heard others approach. |
| the 13th century pagoda that sits as its base. One of | | | | The climb up Con Son Mountain isn't exactly arduous, |
| the three centres of the Buddhist Truc Lam Trinity | | | | but you'd be lucky not to break a sweat on a hot day. |
| during the Tran Dynasty, the pagoda underwent | | | | The 600 step, 200 metre incline, littered with sweet |
| restorations during the 17th and 18th centuries. | | | | papers and empty bins disguised as tree trunks, is |
| On the flat top of the mountain is the "White Cloud | | | | popular with Vietnamese and the odd foreigner and |
| Temple", farther up sits the legendary "Fairy | | | | small confectionery stands selling water and soft |
| Chessboard" | | | | drinks in old glass bottles dot the path |
| The story goes that visitors arrived at the pagoda one | | | | The view is worth the trek. Serene rather than |
| clear day in autumn. They stayed the night then | | | | spectacular, it looks down the mountain and over |
| trekked to the mountain the following morning. Hearing | | | | peaceful countryside and rice fields. |