A group of young, environmentally conscious social networkers picked up heaps of garbage while hiking to a mountain in Hanoi last weekend.

On Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning, around 20 backpackers who got to know one another on social networks scaled Tram Mountain, which is secluded in the outlying district of Chuong My in Hanoi.

The mountain is known among local pilgrims for three pagodas, Tram, Hang and Vo Vi, in its proximity.

It is also popular with trekkers who scale its five peaks to get themselves ready for more overwhelming mountaineering challenges, such as climbing the Fansipan, which is located in the northern province of Lao Cai and dubbed "the Roof of Indochina."

The rocky peaks tower against the skyline and dot the paddy fields which stretch as far as the eye could see.

It takes between 15 and 30 minutes to reach one of the five pinnacles.

The mountain also offers a perfect place to behold picturesque dawns.

In recent times, just like in many other scenic spots across the country, litter left behind by mindless tourists and trekkers has inundated the area, giving the mountain-pagoda complex an unkempt, uninviting look and marring its beauty.

Le Thi Tung, who does the cleaning at Vo Vi Pagoda, located in the vicinity of the Tram Mountain, lamented that the mountain-pagoda complex has been plagued by rampant littering in recent years, though tourists are constantly warned against doing so.

The Saturday and Sunday hike differs from many other mountain or forest treks undertaken by today’s youth in that these hikers painstakingly picked up “tons” of garbage which riddled the area.  

The group garnered around 100 kilograms of rubbish of different kinds, most of which were plastic bags, and then brought their trash to an official dumping ground in the area. 

“A great admirer of the Tram Mountain, I’m pained by the unsightly littered spectacles. I felt urged to do something to help remedy the situation,” Ngo Huy Hoa, a Hanoi native, said.

Hoa gathered around 20 young people for the litter collecting, mountain hiking trip.

The youngsters went to great lengths to remove every single piece of rubbish strewn all about, particularly those purposefully stuffed into crevasses and ‘ingeniously’ camouflaged with luxuriant weeds.

A girl is pictured collecting trash left behind by pilgrims and trekkers between cliffs in Tram Mountain. Photo: Tuoi Tre

A young person braves the scorching sun to leave no stone unturned to collect trash. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Sacks of garbage are collected and brought to a dumping ground, located some 500 meters from Tram Mountain. Photo: Tuoi Tre

Tram Mountain is popular with trekkers for its picturesque beauty and mountaineering challenges. Photo: Tuoi Tre

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