Buzz
On bright and clear days, while standing on Dragon Jaw Mountain and peering across Muong Hoa Valley, travelers may catch a glimpse of Fansipan Summit – the roof of Indochina appearing ethereal. In Sa Pa tours, Fansipan Summit always stands as a challenging spot for adventure seekers.
No one knows exactly why Fansipan Summit exerts such a strong allure. Is it the towering height? The untamed wilderness? Or the love for adventurous exploration? No one can provide a definitive answer. What is certain is that travelers never give up the ambition to conquer this mountain peak.
Getting Ready to Hit the Road
To conquer Fansipan in the past, tourists had only one option: taking an overnight train to Lao Cai city and then catching a car to Sa Pa. Since the opening of the Hanoi - Lao Cai expressway, cars can now directly ascend to Sa Pa.
Sa Pa in the early evening is chilly, with temperatures dropping to around 15 degrees. At an altitude of 1560m, following the principle that every 100m ascent results in a 1-degree temperature drop, Fansipan's 3143m peak would be an additional 1 degree colder simultaneously. As shadows lengthen, temperatures plummet. Sa Pa nights remain melancholic, quiet; veiled in freezing mist and upward-flowing flower dresses. Tourists often spend a night in Sa Pa, awaiting the sunrise to commence their journey to conquer the heights.
In the brisk Sa Pa morning, the cold pierces. The sky is a profound blue. Most Fansipan climbers hire local porters to carry supplies to the summit. These porters take on the responsibility of procuring noodles, dried goods, cleaned chickens, pre-cut beef, pork, rice, eggs, salt, and more from the market. They meticulously pack the hiker's belongings and sleeping bags into cloud-shaped backpacks. Each cloud backpack weighs several tens of kilograms, and the porters charge around 200,000 to 250,000 VND per day for their services.
Many wonder, on the mountain with heavy mist or rain, is it possible to stir-fry meat? Yet, by placing beef in a pan, adding cooking oil and strong liquor, and vigorously tossing, even in the rain, you can have stir-fried beef.
So why insist on bringing candles? It's to melt the wax and let it drip onto the tree branches, creating light for the cooking group when camping in damp forest sections. At high altitudes, people mainly consume instant noodles; cooking rice is impossible due to the low air pressure, causing water to boil for an extended time without the rice ever cooking.
Starting from Sa Pa, travelers drive up to Silver Waterfall and then reach Ton Station, both notable scenic spots in Sa Pa. Few traverse the rugged Hoang Lien Son Pass, comparable to Pha Din Pass in Dien Bien and Heaven's Gate in Ha Giang. This pass stands as the highest in the entire Indochina region.
Arriving at Ton Station, a rush of cold air invigorates blood circulation, sharpening the mind. Travelers feel a mix of excitement and apprehension as the official journey to conquer Fansipan begins.
Challenging Expedition
The Hoang Lien Son Range is the realm of towering peaks, shrouded in perpetual mist, like Tả Yàng Phình and Pu Song Sung. However, Fansipan reigns supreme. Fansipan is a land of harsh natural phenomena, of lofty mountains, misty clouds, and deep valleys. With an elevation exceeding 3000m, how treacherous can the weather be? During the cold season, snow blankets the summit, deterring all but the bravest from ascending Fansipan.
The mountain ascent is still embraced by lush forests, with temperatures hovering around 10°C, yet in no time, sweat drenches the adventurers. A green sea of leaves unfolds beneath the intense blue sky. As the sun rises, it crawls over low hills, piercing through ancient tree canopies and early morning mist in the deep valley. However, travelers should not be overly joyous and haste. Remember to breathe through your nose, even if tired, as mouth breathing may lead to lung swelling.
Nowhere else provides a clearer sense of the horrifying natural changes that have occurred since ancient times like Fansipan. Every step on Fansipan's rocky terrain is a step on a piece of land millions of years old, robust and unyielding. Each leaf, each blade of grass seen, touched, or inadvertently trodden upon by travelers is a victor in an enduring struggle for survival.
The journey to conquer the mountain peak is quite perilous, transitioning from deep valleys to high passes, climbing up to high passes only to descend into deep valleys. Many segments have been equipped with ladders. Yet, at this point, the mountaineer's legs begin to tire. No one laughs anymore; every breath, every step is cherished. However, at this juncture, travelers must endure standing, as sitting for too long will cause knee stiffness. You might take two steps, then rest one step to conserve energy, as the road is still far.
The intense sunlight burns exposed areas like the neck, forehead, and cheeks, but just a brief pause to loosen your clothing, and the mountaineer may shiver from the cold. Journeying through the forest is fast, making everyone chew on dried food to stave off hunger.
Along the way, travelers might encounter the spectacle of rhododendron flowers blooming abundantly like a rainbow on the mountain slopes or witness a mountain struck by lightning to the extent that the rock face is torn apart, creating rifts both horizontally and vertically.
Around 4 in the afternoon, reaching an altitude of nearly 2900m, mountain climbers typically take a break, setting up tents. Each person is assigned tasks such as securing bamboo for sleeping mats to insulate from the cold rising from the mountain or fetching water, setting up the fire group, and preparing meals.
At night, the freezing sky shrouds the forest in eerie silence. The air becomes dense as the higher altitude thickens the already dense vegetation. As night falls, trees release CO2, making it challenging for some mountaineers to breathe. Amidst the pitch-black sky, the moon sparkles, illuminating the entire mountainous region. This scene seems to somewhat dispel the day's fatigue for those climbing the mountain.
At 6 in the morning, travelers awaken to continue conquering the remaining stretch of this Sa Pa wonder. The forest path alternates between bright and gloomy. The ground is prone to sinking due to the accumulation of decomposed leaves over generations, reaching depths of several meters. The early morning is the coldest time of the day. Small ponds may display faint traces of thin ice. Temperatures can drop to minus 4, minus 5 degrees Celsius.
Conquering the Summit
The rooftop of Indochina hides beyond an ascending rocky slope. At 9 in the morning, the group of tourists arrives, shouting in exhilaration and joy. A comfortable sensation spreads throughout their bodies. The sun is blazing, the wind strong and bitterly cold. Before them, a vast and majestic landscape stretches in all directions. From here, they can't see the Truong Son Range, but they still sense the expansive grandeur of the mountainous land.
Fansipan's summit, not even 100m² wide, exposes a bare rock mound at the center, marked with a 3143m milestone. According to locals, this 25kg stainless steel marker requires frequent replacement due to mountain rain and wind eroding its paint. Even at this highest point, on the sparse edges of the soil, rhododendron flowers and bamboo shoot towards the sky. The vitality and resilience of the vegetation here are truly robust and fierce.
In recent years, conquering Fansipan has been systematically organized and included in Sa Pa sightseeing tours. Each year, this location attracts thousands of passionate individuals willing to endure hardships and challenges to set foot on the roof of Indochina.
