Ham Rong Mountain of the majestic Hoang Lien Son Range in northern Lao Cai province’s Sa Pa district has been listed among top 8 stunning sunsets in the world, according to the US’ Huffington Post newspaper.
“The sun sets over the mountain range across the valley, and the fading light paints the town and surrounding area with an array of colour”, says the newspaper.
The Huffington Post also notes that visitors have to pay about VND70,000 (US$3.25) for access to the mountain park, but it's worth doing it once.
Ham Rong Mountain peak rises as dragon-head. The name of Ham Rong was derived from the legend that, in primitive age there were a couple of dragons which became attached to each other while the deluge was rising high. Walking up, they hurrily separated from each other but failed. They were drifted to different places.
After a long time, the female dragon was petrified but still tried to raise its eyes to the male dragon on the Hoang Lien mountain in the west because its instinct for survival remained.
Currently, the Ham Rong Mountain is home to a number of some pretty orchid gardens and "rock gardens". Rounding on the list of top 8 are Summit Lake in Mt. Rainier National Park (the US), Panorama Ridge in Garibaldi Provincial Park (Canada), Schwabacher Landing in Grand Teton National Park (the US), Playa Jacó (Costa Rica), Mauna Kea Summit (Hawaii), Torrenthorn (Switzerland), and Mt. Tamalpais (the US).