Mount Ba Ra

From far off, Mount Bà Rá stands out above the low hills of Phước Long, one tall rise on its own. The climb to the summit is 1,767 stone steps, starting at Bằng Lăng Hill. Along the way the mountain turns out to be more than a view. It carries many layers of story: the cultures of the S'tiêng and Khmer peoples, the memory of a colonial prison, traces of the resistance, and a place of worship at the top.

The mountain is 723 meters above sea level. It stands in Sơn Giang ward of Phước Long. That is in the area once called Bình Phước, now part of Đồng Nai Province. The Mount Bà Rá and Thác Mơ site was ranked a national historic site and scenic landmark on April 20, 1995, by the Ministry of Culture and Information.

The mountain's names show several cultures meeting here. The S'tiêng people have two names for it, usually understood to mean the spirit mountain. They are Bơnom Brah and Yang Yumbra. The Khmer people call it Chân Phật Mountain. Both names reflect how important the mountain was spiritually to local communities, even before other groups migrated to this land. A legend tells of two sisters, Bà Đen and Bà Rá. It is a folk tale passed down through many generations, and it is best heard as a cultural story, not as an event with historical grounding.

The heaviest layer of history here belongs to the years of French colonial rule. From 1925 to 1941, the French built a large prison at the foot of the mountain. It had three camps, Camp A, Camp B and Camp C, and it held several groups of prisoners, political prisoners among them. Nguyễn Thị Định was held here from 1940 to 1941. She later became deputy commander of the Liberation Army of South Vietnam. The foot of the mountain and its memorial stele house honor the sacrifice of people who chose the path of struggle.

The climb begins at Bằng Lăng Hill. A stele house and a memorial temple stand there for the fighters, soldiers and civilians who died in the Bà Rá area. From there to the summit are the 1,767 stone steps, a climb of moderate effort. It does not have to be done in one go. At each resting place, the forest and the valley spread out below.

On the summit is a spiritual area with a shrine to the Buddha, the Holy Mother Thiên Hậu and Bà Chúa Xứ. Thiên Hậu is a Chinese goddess of the sea. Bà Chúa Xứ is a mother goddess believed to grant protection and prosperity. It is a living place of worship. People from the area have come to it for generations, bringing their devotion among the clouds and the mountain wind.

On a clear day, the summit looks down on Phước Long, on Thác Mơ ward, and on the Thác Mơ hydropower reservoir, which covers about 110 square kilometers. The green water spreads at the foot of the mountain, ringed by forest and hills. Many local sources call this scene a fairyland in the high mountains.

Bà Rá once had a cable car system 2,063 meters long, with 32 cabins. It went into service in 2010 and ran from the foot of the mountain to near the summit. Whether by the stone steps or, in its running days, by cable car, the way up leads to the same moment. From the top, the whole Phước Long area lies spread out like a living map, with the Thác Mơ lake glittering among deep green slopes.