Published:  10:19 Monday - October 11, 2010

At one end of the wall is a deep cave. According to Dinh Khuat, deputy police chief of Vinh Son Commune in Vinh Thanh District, it is a hidden tunnel that leads to the valley below the citadel.

• Hue – an ancient citadel of Vietnam

In the jungle near Kon Blo, a village of Vinh Thanh District in central Binh Dinh Province, stands the ruins of an ancient citadel called Ta Kon.

From the village, visitors must travel nearly four kilometers to the foot of Vinh Son Mountain and then walk through the jungle for nearly two hours to the citadel. Local Ba Na ethnic people of Kon Blo use this path to take their cows and pigs to graze in a valley at the foot of the citadel. Age-old trees with massive exposed roots line the path.

Looking from the top of the towering ancient citadel is a dizzying experience. It towers above the valley below.

Visitors can climb around the walls by holding on to the creepers and tree roots that grow out of the gaps between the huge six-sided building blocks.

At one end of the wall is a deep cave. According to Dinh Khuat, deputy police chief of Vinh Son Commune in Vinh Thanh District, it is a hidden tunnel that leads to the valley below the citadel. Legend has it that Trum and Tram, two kings of the Ba Na group, fled to the valley this way when the citadel was attacked by Bok Toponka, a neighboring king.

At present, visitors can climb for about 500 meters by holding onto the roots along the wall to get a sense of the citadel’s immensity. Ba Na locals know the way well but it takes more than a day to see the whole thing, Khuat says.

Ta Kon Ancient Citadel is in ruins. Although it is linked with many legends, its history is still a mystery.

Source: TTO