At 6am on October 13, a 12-person trekking group from Thua Hoa, a male tourist from Hanoi, climbed to the top of Ta Chi Nhu, Yen Bai province. At first glance through the flycam, the male tourist was surprised because the scenery on the top of the mountain... was different from the photos online.
"Ta Chi Nhu peak is full of people. Whoever is at a certain corner of the mountain can only see that corner, it's hard to see the whole picture," he said.
Thua Hoa's group started the day before. At 8:45 a.m. on October 12, Hoa's group started climbing from Tram Tau. He quickly realized that as soon as the entrance to Tram Tau opened, traffic jams occurred at the first 1-2 km of the climb. Therefore, when he reached the top, he somewhat guessed the crowded situation but he himself was shocked. The male tourist really did not expect the scene on the top of Ta Chi Nhu to be "too many cooks spoil the broth".
The male tourist shared: "All groups wake up very early to be on time to reach the top of the mountain to catch the sunrise. Our group is the same, waking up to prepare our luggage at 2:30, watching the stars and having breakfast until 3:45 to start to conquer Ta Chi Nhu peak. The climb is not difficult, the most important thing is to have enough endurance."
This was his first time climbing Ta Chi Nhu peak. He had planned this since August and quickly registered for September 28-29. However, after reading the news about Typhoon Yagi and landslides, as well as listening to real information from the news and local people, his group decided to postpone the trip and change it to October 12-13.
For the boy born in 1998, the scene that day was truly magical. As the group climbed to the top of the mountain, wherever they climbed, the fog covered the path. Thua Hoa blurted out, "Another cloud-hunting failure, so sad."
At 6am, the group reached the summit, it was still foggy. A while later, the sun began to rise.
He recalled: "The fog began to clear and the sea of clouds rolled in from afar. Indeed, the scene changed in a magical way. On one side, the fog gradually cleared, revealing the sun, while on the other side, clouds were flying in. At this time, everyone was struggling to find a suitable angle to take memorable photos."
"Even though Ta Chi Nhu peak was crowded at that time, it did not disappoint me because everyone tried to find a good angle to capture those beautiful images, focusing on enjoying the results of climbing all day.
Seeing it with my own eyes like this, the feeling is even greater because in addition to the scenery, I can also feel the surrounding space with many senses: the cold wind, the scent of the mountains and forests, the sound of laughter...", he said.
Hoa's biggest regret on this trip was that he missed the most beautiful chi pau flower season on Ta Chi Nhu peak. He plans to return to this place next year during the flower season.
After taking check-in photos and enjoying the atmosphere on the top of Ta Chi Nhu, his group climbed down towards Nam Nghiep, at 12:40 pm they arrived at the apple orchard, took a motorbike back to Son La with two activities: bathing in hot mineral springs and having dinner before getting on the bus back to Hanoi. He was satisfied because he had hunted his own sea of clouds on this trip and made many new friends.
Ta Chi Nhu, also known as Pu Luong (a mountain in the Pu Luong massif of Hoang Lien Son range), is located in Xa Ho village, Tram Tau district, Yen Bai province. At an altitude of 2,979 m, Ta Chi Nhu is ranked 7th in the top 10 highest mountains in Vietnam.
Late autumn is the best time of year to see the sea of clouds and mountains filled with colorful flowers in bloom.
