Camping and sup at Phu Ninh Lake

On the occasion of a friend of mine, Trung, returning to Da Nang to visit his mother, the two of us arranged an outing somewhere far away where we had never been before. This time, Phu Ninh lake in Tam Ky city, Quang Nam province was selected. Looking on google map this is a large freshwater lake, with many floating islands in the lake (coordinates 15.4945594, 108.4551269).

Through the photos shared on Facebook, I see that there are a few beautiful flat lawns along the lakeside, this place is also chosen by locals and young people to go camping. We plan to bring the sup to paddle out to the floating islands in the middle of the lake to find an ideal and private place where we can have fun and chat undisturbed. The location of the lake is about 10km from the center of Tam Ky city, an ideal place to stay away from the hustle and bustle of the city. My friend borrowed a scooter from his friend and we moved together on the chosen state highway (about 75km from Da Nang). The state highway leading to Tam Ky is quite beautiful with sunny sand dunes in a semi-desert style. Only plants suitable for that type of sandy soil can live such as leek, casuarina, ... We went from 14:30 pm when the sun was still quite hot plus the heat emanating from the surface of the road and the empty sand dunes along the highway. Trung drove so fast, causing me to almost roll over few times because I held the sup with great wind resistance😂.

Because Trung thought there would be a gas station on the road, with 1/3 of a tank of gas, we ran on the highway all the time without a gas station to refill. As a result, our motorbike ran out of gas in the middle of a scorching hot road and there was not a house nearby to ask for help. At this point we have travelled about 50km. We had to walk for more than 400m, fortunately, we saw a welcome gate leading to a small street with houses. We were planning to let one of us walk in to ask for help when fortunately, a middle-aged woman riding a motorbike in the opposite direction stopped to ask when we were carrying bulky belongings. We also told her about the situation and asked her if there was a gas station nearby because it was our first time here. She enthusiastically told us that the gas station was still far away, about 8km away. She told us to wait for the motorbike under the tree to cool down and then let her go into the small village to buy gas for us. We quickly thanked her and watched her disappear, we were glad that we didn't have to push the motorbike another 8km in this terrible heat. After waiting for about 10 minutes, she came back with a bottle of gasoline in a 1.5-liter soft drink bottle, she said that in the village they sell gasoline at grocery stores, so it is more expensive than gas stations. For us, it was a pleasure to have her help in time, we sent her gas money and gave her some money to thank her and received a smile on her sun-tanned face.

Continuing on the way to Tam Ky city, we went to the market to buy food and water for dinner. Then, I went to find a supermarket to buy a bottle of Korean Soju, when I got close to the supermarket, our motorbike tire was punctured, so Trung drove the motorbike to repair, and I kept our belongings and went to the supermarket to buy some wine and dry food to enjoy tonight. It was more than 5pm, which was beyond our expectations, so we moved quickly before it got dark. Followed the google map to the lake, we were stopped by a barrier across the road, we asked the security guard but he said cannot open the barrier due to covid epidemic prevention regulations. We had sup, so we found another way around the lake, it took about 6km more. We are just driving while looking for a path where we can ride our motorbike to the lakeside below.

After finding the lakeside, we moved our motorbikes down to the shore near the water's edge, running on the rough road of the shore, we felt like the tires were slowly deflated again. We thought it may be because the motorbike repairman has repaired it carelessly or the tires were too worn and easily punctured, but we didn't care what happens tomorrow, we wouldn't let the problems arise to affect this comfortable outing. We quickly split up to pump sup, collect firewood, load stuff and firewood on sup rowing. At 17:45, the sunset was sinking behind the mountains, but the red halo of the sunset was still bright in a corner of the sky. Fortunately, summer has just begun at the end of April, so the sun sets later than in winter, so we still had enough light to paddle. Honestly, Phu Ninh Lake brings the first impression is the vastness and overlapping by the hills and mountains, the rippled lake surface challenges us to row with the waves to avoid losing strength. Looking out into the distance, we saw a small mound without trees with only grass as small as hairs, as an attractive bonus with a 360° view of the campsite. Going up there to explore, we found that the ground on the top was quite flat, although a bit hard, so we cut a patch of grass at the bottom of the tent to make it easier to sleep at night. We each had a job, prepare food, set up tents, picnic tables and chairs, and provide lamps. We ate, drank, barbecued, and talked as the cool air around the lake bounced around until there were no trees to block the wind. The light soju warms the body slowly from the inside, balancing it with the cool feeling on the outside, giving it an indescribable and truly relaxing feeling. There was a moon that day, so the surrounding sky could still be seen dimly by the mountains in front of them. We all joked as if we were in Ha Long Bay. The two of us have not seen each other for a long time, and in such a quiet suitable location, it creates a deep conversation and relieves the stress and pressure after the severe lockdown.

Waking up in the morning by the early morning sunlight, we opened the tent door to see the surroundings in daylight. We have a feeling of peace and full of energy. Welcoming a new day in a strange and beautiful place will surely be unforgettable moments. We got a little exercise by paddling around the lake in search of something new. This is our first-time rowing sup (I just bought it 3 days ago and haven't had time to paddle) so the excitement was clearly visible on both of our faces. The feeling of freedom floating on the rippled lake is stimulating. Now we can clearly see the blue color of the lake. The attractive blue turquoise color blends with the green of the surrounding mountains and forests as an effective eye massage. Walking around the floating islands to admire the scenery, take pictures and have breakfast with cakes, then we decided to return because the lake is too large, it takes more time to paddle all the way. And the sun also starts to get hot at 8 am. After packing up my things and rowing back to get my motorbike, the tire was flat. Pushing motorbikes and belongings to the road, ignoring the tires because I decided to change the new tires, I stayed to look after the furniture and Trung kept running to find a place to fix the motorbike. After waiting for about 30 minutes, he came back to pick me up and then we went straight to Da Nang by another road, which is the Da Nang - Quang Ngai highway. Back to the city it was more than 12 noon, we had lunch and went home to sleep until the evening because we were tired from long-distance driving.

Ending a trip full of problems but still very satisfied when both increase the experience and interesting problem-solving. It's important to go with loved ones on simple and impromptu self-organized occasions to connect more closely.

Thanks everyone for reading my post and have a great weekend.