72-hour journey to conquer Nam Kang Ho Tao

More than 2 days of continuous travel through the forest, nearly 60 km round trip with a dangerous route, "going up waterfalls, going down rapids" is enough to exhaust the strength of even the strongest person in the group. But the feeling of excitement to touch the metal tower at an altitude of 2,881m is always the driving force urging the footsteps to go up the mountain.

Nam Kang Ho Tao Peak in Hoang Lien National Park has been officially exploited for about 7 years, becoming one of the most difficult peaks to conquer in the Northwest, but also not to be missed by many adventure lovers. The long, steep climb compensates with many poetic waterfalls and streams in the middle of the vast old forest, with majestic natural scenery.

The climb was predicted to be long and difficult, so we agreed to depart at 4am at the Hanoi Opera House, heading straight to Lai Chau, with the goal of leaving early to reach the shelter before 10pm.

Watch your step.

The frame is "dangerous" but actually quite safe.

At 12 noon, we arrived at Muong Than, one of the four largest fields in the Northwest region. Folklore has it that the four fields are: first Thanh – second Lo – third Than – fourth Tac (Muong Thanh – Dien Bien, Muong Lo – Yen Bai, Muong Than – Lai Chau, Muong Tac – Son La). After a quick meal along the way to gain energy to climb the mountain, we took a motorbike taxi to the climbing point – Thao A village, Ho Mit commune, Than Uyen district, Lai Chau province. More than a dozen porters were ready to support the group to start.

At exactly 2 pm, the members dressed neatly, finished the check-in procedures and set off through the Mong people's gardens. The starting section went along the cornfields and then to the stream bank, but also had to start climbing ropes, a "specialty" in every trek. Because the goal was to reach the hut before 10 pm, the whole group agreed to limit stops to take photos and continued to climb continuously to reach the biggest challenge of the first day - overcoming the "3-hour slope". To overcome this slope, the group had to follow the dry stream upstream to the ravine. The dangerous path was even more difficult when climbing upstream, so it took 3 hours to reach an altitude of 2,200m, feeling like all the energy had been used up in Muong Than. Unfortunately, after going up, we had to climb down along the ravine, from an altitude of 2,200m down to 1,900m. The clock showed 7:00 p.m. It was pitch dark, the flashlight flickered in the old forest and the cool stream. If you didn't keep your balance with every step, you could fall into the freezing cold water.

We decided to stop and refuel to complete the remaining leg before reaching the hut. After dinner at 10pm in the middle of the jungle prepared by the porters, with enough protein and green vegetables, and a little spicy from the fermented rice wine, everyone in the group quickly fell asleep to recover for the next leg.

The next morning, all personal procedures were completed quickly, so that at 7 o'clock we could set off to conquer the Nam Kang Ho Tao peak, which backpackers often jokingly call "straighten my legs" or "lie on my stretcher". The early morning scene was truly poetic with golden sunlight shining through the forest canopy, birds chirping and more importantly, everyone could breathe deeply the oxygen of nature. This climbing route does not have as many brilliant flowers as the rhododendrons in Putaleng, but there are deep streams, high passes, ancient trees surrounded by smooth green lichen, and green cardamom patches. Each step is a different interesting thing. The experience is more exciting when there is technology support. Using UAV drones, we brought back from the old forest extremely beautiful frames and scenes of the vast nature and majestic mountains of the Northwest.

12:30, finally arrived at the destination. The pyramidal tower clearly marked the height of 2,881m Nam Cang Ho Tao appeared before our eyes. Although it is not the highest peak compared to some other peaks in the Northwest, this is truly one of the top 1 "potato" treks in Vietnam in terms of length and danger. Excitedly forgetting hunger and fatigue, everyone happily took the opportunity to check in with the sacred peak. When we were "full" of photos, we continued to cross streams, trek through forests, swing on ropes, cling to rocks down the mountain and returned to the hut at 18:00. The resting hut on Nam Cang Ho Tao has much better "conveniences" than other climbing routes, there is a hot bath service for 50,000 VND/time, the "bonus" is the feeling of cool mountain wind blowing through the door and especially the sturgeon hotpot party spreading the scent of the mountains. Day 2 ended with a 6 hour climb, over 4 hour descent, and still a long way to go.

The last day was also a long journey, waking up early, having breakfast and departing at 6am. Going down the mountain was much simpler than going up, so we leisurely enjoyed the old forest racing with colorful young leaves. At exactly 12pm, the whole group reached the foot of the mountain, stopped for lunch and turned to Pak Ta bridge, immersing ourselves in the 40 degree Celsius hot mineral water, making our tendons and bones elastic, our bodies relaxed to make the way back to Hanoi closer.

We arrived home when the day had changed, ending a nearly 72-hour journey to satisfy our passion and ready for a new exciting work week, because the echoes of Nam Kang Ho Tao will still be in the sharing with our climbing-loving teammates.

Come with us through the forests, streams ...

Hut in the woods.

And dinner.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/hanh-trinh-72-gio-chinh-phuc-nam-kang-ho-tao-post870325.html