Bach Ma National Park Day 3

The next trail, the rhododendron trail, began 12km uphill from the visitors centre. This would talk me a while to walk to, then hike the trail there and then hike down. Fortunately Joe had a motorbike and was allowed to officially ferry his parents there one by one. He was not supposed to give anyone else a ride. It took Joe 30 minutes each way to drive to the trail. He took his mother first while his dad and I starting walking to lessen the distance between pickups. His dad was next and I just kept walking. I had passed the entrance to the pheasant trail from yesterday and kept going. As I walked I glanced to the side of the road along a concrete barrier. I thought I was looking at a stick but as I followed the black stick, I came to it's head! It was a 1.5m snake! Often when I'm hiking in the forest, sticks can appear to be snakes at a quick glance, so I was really surprised when this stick turned out be to a huge snake! I was nearly beside the snake when I finally saw it. I think it was staying still and hoping I would just walk by. When I stopped to get out my camera the snake knew that he had been seen. He paused for a second and then made a fast retreat over the concrete and into the forest. I never did get a photo but I was happy to see a large snake. After walking over 8km all uphill, it was finally my turn for Joe to pick me up. The road was pretty hairy and bumpy in spots. The weather at the base of the mountain was gloomy and overcast but as we got higher we climbed above the clouds. At the start of the trial, the sun was shining, it was warm and breezy. There were great views too above the clouds.
The trail needed some maintaince. There was a lot of pieces of dead bamboo and branches. The trail led to the top of the rhododendron falls. We stopped here. Joe's mom stayed at the top while Joe, his dad and I descended the 689 steps to the base of the 300m high waterfall. I must admit it only took me about 5 minutes to go down quickly. It felt like much less than 689 steps but I wasn't counting. Now when I hear about a 300m high waterfall, I picture a 300m uninterrupted drop of water. This falls wasn't that at all. It was more like just steep rocks with the water hardly plunging away from them at all. There was single 300m drop. It was still impressive though and we hung out at the bottom for a while. Going up was a bit tougher. The steps are very high and space far apart, not good for climbing up. I was feeling it in my upper thighs, especially since I had walked almost 9km before even attempting them.
Joe had to ferry us all back down to the visitors centre and I knew I would be last. It was the middle of the afternoon and it would take hours for us all to get down. I started walking ahead of everyone. As I got closer to the road, an orange,black and white animal fleed from my presence in the trees. I didn't see it really clearly but I saw the colors. It was a buff cheeked gibbon, a rare primate living in the park. Minutes later I saw another smaller snake. This snake stayed still for a while and I was able to get some decent photos of it. It had been a great day, 2 snakes and a gibbon. I walked a few km down the hill and moved aside for a huge dumptruck to pass me. He stopped and gave me a free ride down to the base. This was great, this would save Joe a lot of time having to come back up to get me. I arrived at the canteen the same time Joe arrived with his dad.

The next day Joe and his family and I walked to a nearby river. We spent most of the day swimming and walking around. It was a beautifully warm and sunny day. It was a relaxing last day in the park. The next day I caught a bus to Hue.