The Mong people in Ngu Chi Son passed on a fairy tale that: Once upon a time in this land, every year on the third and eighth day of the year, the Mong family did not have anything to eat. Hmong people defied danger, wild animals stalk their lives into the forest to hunt and gather food and wait for the harvest to have rice and corn. Seeing the scene where the Mong people were full and hungry, the God of Heaven placed a hand on the ground with a finger pointing up to the sky, in the palm of the hand containing a precious grain cave. The God of Heaven told the H'mong people: "This precious rice cave is for people who run out of rice to take home to eat, remembering the harvest to bring back the rice". Since then, the Mong people at the foot of Ngu Chi Son mountain no longer have a "blind eyes". One day, the rice cave was poured into by a bad guy who brought poor grain into it. The God of Heaven knew that the precious grain cave was dirty and lost its sanctity, so it closed the cave door. The rice cave disappeared, leaving only the hand of the rock mountain of Heaven. Therefore, the road to Ngu Chi Son, although not long, is a challenging and arduous road with steep, high rocky slopes. It's a place where, as Tong Ngoc Han wrote: "...a place where even the best hunters have to falter".

Starting from the central church of Sa Pa town, we went to Ngu Chi Son commune via National Highway 4D to Lai Chau and turned into provincial road 155. After about 1 hour riding a motorbike, we watched the beautiful nature on both sides of the road. With rolling mountains, green terraces, sometimes interspersed with fields of lilies, high-tech chrysanthemums and high-quality salmon farms, we went to Anh Duc salmon farm, located in Suoi Thau village. 2 and is also the gathering place to start climbing.

Ngu Chi Son seen from afar (photo: Nguyen Trung Kien)

Located at an altitude of about 1600m above sea level, Suoi Thau 2 village with over 100 Hmong households scattered around the foot of Ngu Chi Son mountain creates a charming painting. The simple houses of the Mong people are lying quietly on the hillsides like their simple and idyllic lives. Accompanying us were 3 Hmong porters, Mr. Giang, Mr. Ru and Mr. Chao. The “co sisters” (good brothers – in the Hmong language) always told us to climb slowly, stay strong and enjoy the wonderful atmosphere of the high mountains.

The journey to climb Ngu Chi Son can be divided into 2 stages, the first stage is from Suoi Thau to the shack at an altitude of 2549m (according to the Garmin GPS watch), the second stage is from the shack to the top at an altitude of 2822m (according to the GPS watch). Garmin).

Crossing Thau stream (photo: Bui Ha)

At the first leg, we crossed Thau stream to come to the plateau of revolving flowers - a wild flower that grows naturally in small clusters. Rotating flowers grow naturally throughout the plain as if waving to a traveler. Although there is a long and difficult climbing road ahead, but looking back, the autumn scenery in sight is extremely beautiful and magical. It wasn't long before the landscape changed from plain to old-growth forest. Alpine old forest starts at an average altitude of 1800m. In this passage, some "co-women" remind us to walk quickly and evenly to keep our bodies warm and avoid squeezing. Passing the leafy, humid area, you can stop to admire the scenery at an altitude of about 2400m. The vegetation in the forest is diverse with layers of natural landscapes such as bamboo forest, azaleas, old trees, shiitake mushrooms, etc., making you feel lost in Western fairy tales. In particular, in the clear skies and deserted forest, when you look back you will see the sea of ​​clouds in the distance, the white waterfall in the middle of the forest roaring with joy the welcome song for the traveler.

Shiitake mushrooms grow in the middle of a beautiful old forest like a fairy (photo: Bui Ha)

However, you will be really challenged when coming to the rocky terrain about 1km long. Because the trail is quite narrow, we are reminded to climb slowly, regulate our breathing and always check our knee protection, gloves and shoelaces. The steep cliffs with a slope of up to 70% create a spectacular natural landscape. Just raise your camera and you will have beautiful pictures for a lifetime at Ngu Chi Son. Before coming to the shack, you will enjoy a cool breeze in the waist area (bamboo forest). After about 4 hours of continuous climbing, the group arrived at the shack at an altitude of 2549m above sea level. The shack was built in 2017 by the "co-billionaires" of the Mong people in Ngu Chi Son commune, completely with their bare hands. Only then can we see the power of human beings, although small, but do not succumb to nature.

After resting, having dinner, we went to bed early so that the next morning at 6am we set off to conquer the top of Ngu Chi Son and will descend the mountain immediately to return to the starting point before 4pm. From the shack, the cliffs we had to overcome were much steeper, there were steep points up to 80%, climbing entirely by wooden ladders and needing to hold on to ropes for support. Our delegation had the presence of Mr. Tran Xuan Tien (Topas Travel's expert in trail construction and trekking). As someone who has experience in building sports tourism products and has conquered many high mountains throughout Vietnam, Mr. Tien assessed that conquering Ngu Chi Son is not difficult but not easy. However, in exchange for the hardships and hardships, it is the sweet joy of conquering the top. And according to the group's GPS watch, the peak we conquered was 2822m above sea level.

On the top of Ngu Chi Son (photo: Nguyen Trung Kien)

The emotions in us right now are bursting with success, having surpassed our limits. Climbing is like a form of "green stimulant" that makes life less stressful and pushes yourself to improve. The agility and flexibility you learn while climbing make you more patient, more proactive in problem solving, and more in tune with your ego. Especially when you have successfully conquered Ngu Chi Son - the first majestic mountain of Lao Cai, come here to join us surpass your limits and honor yourself on emotional roads.

Bui Ha