A day with the Hmong people conquering Pha Luong peak.

From Moc Chau, I traveled to Pha Luong village, in Chieng Son commune, Moc Chau, Son La province one afternoon. Ideally, I could have arrived in the morning and started climbing the mountain immediately, but due to my health condition, I decided to spend a night at A Chong's house before my journey.

The road from Moc Chau to Pha Luong village is not difficult at all. From Moc Chau town, I followed the road to the Long Sap border gate. At the turnoff to Chieng Son commune, I followed the road to Pha Luong village.

Pha Luong is a small Hmong village where the villagers mainly cultivate rice and cassava. Upon arriving in Pha Luong, I immediately saw the village children playing together in a wide open space. Women sat huddled by the roadside, embroidering and caring for their young children.

In the evening, I stayed at the home of A Chống, the guide for the Pha Luông trek. A Chống is a Hmong man with three years of experience guiding the Pha Luông trek. However, my visit coincided with the Lunar New Year, so there were very few tourists, and the family had nothing to eat. The dinner table was rather melancholic, consisting only of pickled vegetables. Seeing me arrive, he bought an extra fish to add some flavor to the meal.

The evening in Pha Luong village was absolutely beautiful. At 8 PM, A Chong's family had already gone to bed, so I went out into the yard alone to admire the view. I looked up at the sky and saw a "forest of flowers" "blooming." The forest of flowers I was talking about were the brightest stars in the sky, the Milky Way, breathtakingly beautiful.

As a new day began, I stepped out of my Hmong wooden house. Outside, the sun was casting its first rays of the day. Below, the houses of the Hmong people emitted wisps of smoke from their chimneys. Light mist clung to the dry branches of the trees, transforming this place into a heavenly paradise.

After breakfast with pickled cucumbers, A Chống started driving me to the border guard post. The red dirt road was under construction, making travel extremely difficult. There were steep slopes, with mountains on one side and a deep ravine on the other. I suddenly remembered the poem "Tay Tien" by the poet Quang Dũng:

The slope is winding and steep, a very steep incline.

Pigs sucking on clouds, guns sniffing the sky.

A thousand feet up, a thousand feet down

Whose house is that in Pha Luong, where the rain falls far out at sea?

After a 7km motorbike ride, we finally arrived at the Pha Luong border guard station. I went inside to request a confirmation of crossing the border. The fee for this document was 20,000 VND.

The journey to conquer Pha Luong peak officially began from the Pha Luong border guard post. I followed A Chong to climb to the summit. The path from this point to the summit wasn't too difficult. We followed the houses of the Hmong people, passing through many terraced rice fields. The vast, expansive space made me feel like a tiny traveler.

As we climbed higher, the ancient trees began to appear. The forest here is old-growth, so the trees are densely packed everywhere. I followed the guide to the summit. Along the way, I saw many makeshift huts built by the Hmong people to sell drinks and food. The most common items were cakes, candies, and boiled eggs.

The closer we got to the summit, the stronger the wind became. We struggled to navigate the steep slopes to get a glimpse of the country's borders.

After a 7km trek to the summit of Pha Luong, I finally arrived. The weather up there was extremely harsh. The sun was scorching and the wind was incredibly strong. I thought that if my backpack wasn't heavy enough, I might have been blown into Laos.

From the summit of Pha Luong, over 2,000 meters high, I could see the vast mountain ranges of Vietnam and Laos stretching out before me. There's a spot where you can take the most stunning photos for social media: the giant rock outcrop. From this outcrop, you can clearly see the natural border between Vietnam and Laos.

Standing atop Pha Luong peak, I gazed out over the entire country. Conquering Pha Luong peak was truly one of the most exciting journeys I've undertaken during my year-long exploration of the nation.

Some notes

• Currently, there are many guides for the Pha Luong trek. I chose A Chong because he has 3 years of experience trekking this route. He is a very enthusiastic and friendly guide. A Chong's phone number: 0962 086 499.
• The guided tour fee to Pha Luong is 500,000 VND per group of less than 10 people. For a single person, the fee will range from 300,000 to 500,000 VND.
• It's possible to conquer Pha Luong in a day and return. If you feel you're not strong enough for mountain climbing, you can stay overnight at a trekker's house or a border guard station (prices range from 100,000-200,000 VND).
• For a trek to Pha Luong, you need to prepare: water, snacks, good-grip shoes, and trekking poles.
• Currently, many groups of trekkers are going on self-guided treks to Pha Luong peak. The route to Pha Luong is not difficult, so if you are confident, you can also conquer the peak on your own without a guide.

Huynh Kien