VTH3 Run Reports

VTH3 #691

25/7/2015

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26 JULY 2015
BIG MOUNTAIN - Hem 444 French gun battery, mountain village, 633 steps!

It was fortunately overcast on Sunday, which made it relatively cool as we tramped away from Tran Phu Hem 444 towards the popular French gun battery. We enjoyed a rest stop for exploring and photos (no, there’s nothing at the “underground torpedo” site – that’s now marked for future exploration…).
Then it was “On On” again, alternately crossing from one side of the mountain to the other, swapping views of Vung Tau Bay with the shipyards and the city. We passed through two small mountainside villages and then the trail became a little more hilly, before finally disappearing into the bush for a short uphill climb to a small shrine – before descending the 633 steps to “upper ground” level, then down to the front gate and around the corner to a motel at 102 Tran Phu, owned and managed by a lovely VN family.
Medicoast Hotel provided sushi snacks today – very nice indeed! But they were suddenly augmented by enough bags of chips to last a month! Why? Oopso’s cheeky grin betrayed the culprit for so many sushi pieces now lying on the ground!
Ringmaster Basil called the Circle and nominated Ak Bars' niece Julia to rate the trail, which she awarded full marks: 10/10! Down Down for Hares Uncle and Basil!
Four Hash Virgins were introduced and welcomed: Julia, Bhuma, Peter Hong and Mr Giau. No visitors or returnees, so Mapdraw and Camel Bone were “punished” by the Circle for alleged sins long since forgotten. Then Basil (sushi) and UXO (chips) were applauded as today’s “Foodies”, before Uncle explained that we can’t guarantee the minimum number required for the proposed “700th t-shirt sale lunch” event, mainly because so many Russians are on holiday at this time. UXO volunteered to follow up and report. More details to follow when known.
STOP PRESS (Friday): Uncle and Faulty Brakes have set Sunday's trail (run #692) on Big Mountain's south and SSE faces - with a medium-difficulty ascent followed by two long and two short options for the descent to Circle at SB4. The heavy rain on Thursday morning turned parts of the longer descent options into a magic nature trail, complete with cascading waterfall - let's see what happens on Sunday!
We’ll meet on Sunday, as usual, at Sao Bien 4 restaurant, 2 pm for 2.30 pm start - in any weather!
On On!