Crying, laughing, happy, scared with the experience of Pu Si Lung – Rooftop of the border area

Pu Si Lung has an altitude of 3083m – The roof of the border area

If anyone has ever conquered the top of Fansipan (Sa Pa – Lao Cai), will feel the magnificence of the mountains when standing on the top, more especially the feeling of overcoming oneself, conquering the top with bravery, the will to feel proud of yourself. But now that Fansipan peak has a cable car, the conquest was so easy that adventure tourists no longer feel interesting and no longer excited about this route.

However, another address for trekking enthusiasts is known by many people, which is Lai Chau province. A piece of land with a long history and natural value is also extremely beautiful and majestic. Lai Chau is also one of the provinces with 6 peaks for adventure tourists who want to trek the most.

In which, the peak of Pu Si Lung mountain has an altitude of 3083m – the second highest mountain in the top 10 highest mountains in Vietnam. This is the highest mountain on the border of the country. Pu Si Lung is located close to border marker 42 in Pa Ve Su commune – Muong Te.

With a tropical monsoon climate, this route is often hot. Combined with the west wind and the fon effect, when all the rain is poured on the windward side, the other side will be dry and hot. Like the song about Truong Son Dong, Truong Son Tay also talks about the climate on both sides of the terrain. Soil and climate here, when it comes to the dry season, there are many burning plants, many dry trees, many reeds or wild vitality. The terrain is high, so there are still forests. The temperature here is quite harsh and the natural beauty is unspoiled, bringing the typical colors of the Northwest mountains and forests.

I joined the team less than a day before the departure time due to the suggestion of my cousin, our group consisted of 19 people from Hanoi and with 7 native poters. The 3D2D experience tour starts by car from Lai Chau city to Nam Si Luong Hydroelectricity in Pa Ve Su commune, Muong Te district.

On the first day we were present at Pa Ve Su commune, we went to the border guard station to declare the fee to leave the original personal papers, the whole group took a photo together to check-in, then continued on to the hydropower plant.

The road from the border post to the Hydropower station was not easy for our group, the small road was a cliff on one side, a cliff on the other, the road was full of rocks and the car carrying us had a flat tire. We were unable to continue traveling by car but increased our motorbikes to the hydroelectric power station, where we started climbing to the top of Pu Si Lung. 11:30 have lunch at the foot of the climbing point of the hydroelectric power station, at 12 o’clock we start to depart.

The foot of the climbing point is a slippery rocky slope that is quite difficult to walk, there are times when I have to give up on the road and make way for the poter to go first. After that, the whole group passed, just me and the main poter.

I kept climbing for a while and stopped breathing, the backpack kept pulling me down. At 16:00 I was at the La Hu ethnic couple’s shack, the whole group stopped for a snack, rested a bit and then continued on the road.

On this road of day 1, I walked with a lot of emotions, even fear that I can’t forget in this life. This is a road with some parts of the abyss, there are parts of the stream murmuring so poetic, but then when going downhill, the trees are thick, and the shadow of the mountains is hidden, making the road dark and light. The light made me no longer see the way clearly, but had to search step by step. Then, after that dark part passed, the sky was clear again.

I was happy and walking lightly when I could see the way when I suddenly heard a soft noise to the left, near my feet, a premonition that I needed to stand still and see what it was. At that moment, a bright yellow color, white eyes were raising their heads, in that moment my heart was broken in fear. A snake right next to my feet made me stiff, standing still and unable to move.

At that moment, a poter came up and told me to walk as usual, then he quickly passed me and stepped over the snake. I was scared, but seeing that he was far away from me, I had no choice but to muster up the courage to run over. After I passed, Mr. poter explained to me, I go my own way, it goes his way, so don’t be afraid.

The end of my journey on day 1 and the whole group is at 5:50 am by Nam Si Luong stream. We set up a tent and cook, rested overnight, recuperated, then the next day at 2:30 a.m. we got up to cook instant noodles for breakfast and continued our journey.

Trekking is a type of adventure travel and experience, so it requires health, endurance, even willpower and bravery. If for those who have never done sports, exercise or training before going trekking, it will be easy to give up when only climbing the first few hundred meters.

Before we set off, we were instructed to pack our bags and prepare our minds so no one gave up. However, there are also parts of the road where I drowned compared to the rest of the group.

We each had to prepare a backpack which included climbing clothes, gloves, flashlight, raincoat, waterproof and slip-resistant shoes, slippers, allergy medicine, stomach medicine, medical bandages , drinking water… As for the poter, about 20kg of luggage will be worn on the shoulder including tent, pot, food and sleeping bag.

It is known that many experts have assessed that Pu Si Lung is the most difficult mountain to conquer (9/10) because the journey up the mountain is too long with 45km both going back and forth and is considered as the terrain is dangerous and difficult. most of the mountains in the northwest.

The second day for me and the group, it was still dangerous roads, still following a narrow path with one side of the cliff and the other side covered with reeds, I had to strain my eyes to see the road, even the abyss. not in the right direction and I always have to lean to the left, there are parts of the road that are still indented because of the subsidence of the ground.

Or there are times when it is to follow the stream flowing down from the top of the mountain, the path is full of rocks. There were parts of the road where I had to strain my eyes for too long, so my eyes were tired and I couldn’t see the road clearly anymore. One porter said he was sleepy, and yawning made me feel sleepy since then. While walking, I still fell asleep, there were many steps while walking and sleeping. Seeing the light at the return place is still too far away.

Tired and sleepy at the same time, I felt exhausted at the same time, and began to drag every step of the way. Fear of slipping down the cliff. At that time I told myself I can’t die, can’t die in Pu Si Lung, my family is still at home waiting for me to come back. Pu Si Lung can only be a place to keep memories, not a place to die. In particular, I didn’t want my cousin to have a flash of regret when she asked me out at the last minute.

One horror for these treks is going to the toilet and then looking up to find no one. If unfortunately, just being a little slow or engrossed in something, it is very easy to be left very far behind, there are even parts of me going so slow that I get lost, left alone and alone. I had to howl to see where everyone was. There were even times when I cried alone because of what I went through, the feeling of loneliness made me weak.

It was so arduous, there were times when it was so frustrating, but there were also times when our path was so beautiful and I thought I would never be able to see it again, or be able to see it in the countryside. another route.

We have gone through the roads through the primeval old forest with old red maple leaves, the trunk is a carpet of grass or moss next to the young shoots of red leaves of the maple making this part of the old forest become a mystery. like in fairy tales there are witches and good and bad witches. Or the colorful forest flowers cover each road, covered with the sunlight of the sunset between the green of the forest and the white of the clouds, making the scene become majestic and poetic. I have never seen such a beautiful Vietnam.

On the third day, the journey back was the same as when we went up. However, I seem to have trained a bit so that I don’t drag myself like the first and second day. I got down to the starting point, the foot of the hydroelectricity was 12 o’clock, and immediately without fear, I stretched out my legs and arms and closed my eyes and relaxed, waiting for everyone in the group to come down.

Someone once said, the most profitable life is the trip and for me this trip, even though it was hard, gave me many emotions and many memories that I will never forget. In the coming days, I will prepare to continue the trip, experience many emotions and cherish the memories in each of those trips.