Before the Chu Va 12, Lai Chau route was discovered by Mr. Tin, a local at the foot of the mountain, I knew about this area through a photo taken by a photographer from Chu Va village with a steep mountain that makes anyone who looks up stop. A steep mountain with a sharp tip, a bare top of rocks makes climbers who like challenges excited. When my brother from the South to the North invited me to climb, I immediately agreed, even though I had not yet found information about this route.
That cardamom, on the way up Chu Va mountain 12.
This trip took the group two days and one night to two peaks: Chu Va 12 at 2751 m and Can Chua Thia Sang at 2403 m with a starting point at an altitude of about 1100 m and a total journey length of more than 16 km, enough to know how terrible the steepness of the road is. After the trip, the feet that had been to many mountain peaks in the Northwest had to exclaim:
“The other routes to conquer high peaks can be considered hiking, but this route is considered climbing. My legs and arms hurt too,” a 50-year-old woman in the group exclaimed.
“If the height of one of the peaks is among the 15 highest mountains and the distance is longer, then it will be in the most difficult route,” Mr. Nguyen Huy, the team leader who has climbed many mountains, nodded after a satisfying trip.
Precarious cliffs on the way up to the top of Can Chua.
Usually people only know about Chu Va 12 peak, it can be done in a day or stay overnight. Later, they found a way to go through Can Chua Thia Sang peak, creating a two-peak route with many interesting experiences for those who love adventure. Currently, not many people go to both peaks at the same time, if they do, they usually go for three days and two nights. This time, Mr. Nguyen Huy found a group of people with good health and who like to experience, so they planned to go for two days and one night to add more challenge.
At Chu Va 12, perhaps the point of personal attention is the steep slopes that make the legs tired, not too long but if you stop halfway up the slope, it is difficult to stand firmly, trying to take another step feels like your heart is about to jump out of your chest. We walked along the rocky stream on a foggy day, the raindrops kept flying in the wind, making the gray-green rocks look like they were poured soap on them, just a wrong step can make you fall lightly. Walking along the rocky crevices on both sides are towering rocky mountains, like a giant stone wall that seems to reach the blue sky.
Coming to Chu Va 12, you will see the sunset on the top of Hoang Lien Son.
At the top, the view is suitable for watching both sunset and sunrise. The group went after a night of heavy rain, the fog hung over our heads, it seemed like we would overcome all difficulties to reach the top, the mountain would break through the fog to take us above the sea of clouds. But the fog only had a little warm glimmer of the afternoon sun. If it was a clear day without clouds, we could see over the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, seeing the towering Fansipan peak.
The most challenging and experiential trip was from Chu Va 12 to Can Chua Thia Sang, going up and down along the spine. Anyone who comes to Ta Xua spine hopes to see the sea of clouds, but here, they only hope for a clear day to see the winding spine, to see the mountain ranges with vertical cliffs. Standing here looking over the wall, thinking back on both sides of the road they were on, just one misstep and they would be “logged out” immediately.
The road up to Can Chua peak is on a ridge with cliffs on both sides.
Looking up from Chu Va village, you can see a sharp mountain, Can Chua Thia San, and Chu Va 12 behind it. When you stand on the top of Can Chua at 2403m high, you can imagine what the way back will be like. But... it's even more terrifying than you think, half the time to go down the mountain, you use your hands more than your feet. The white rope and the slender bamboo are definitely what save people when going down the mountain. Swinging on the rope, holding tightly onto the bamboo branches, holding the roots sticking out of the ground, your feet seem useless on this path, when the rock is vertical with no place to put your feet, you just turn your face to the rock, your feet are almost parallel to the ground like walking on the rock.
Cardamom forest at Can Chua mountain on a foggy day.
The 2 days 1 night trip to conquer Chu Va 12 and Can Chua Thia Sang is truly an adventure, when the newly opened road is not too big, on one side is a deep cliff with a stone wall. Those who love to conquer challenges will be excited, their legs will be stiff because of the steep slope, not knowing where to put their feet and their hands will be tired when holding from rocks to bamboo trunks and tree roots.
To climb Chu Va 12 and Can Chua Thia Sang you can:
- Take the night bus from Hanoi to Lai Chau at around 9pm from My Dinh bus station, arrive at Chu Va bridge at around 4am at the foot of O Quy Ho pass. The starting point for climbing is there and the guide is nearby.
- That day, Leader contacted Mr. Tua (who has a Tua auto repair shop 500m past Chu Va bridge) and also one of the builders in Chu Va. You can ask him to buy and prepare food for meals.
- Because the starting point and the exit point are the same, when you return, you still take the bus at 9pm from Lai Chau to pick you up at Chu Va bridge.
