Explore Pu Xai Lai Leng

(Baonghean) - Pu Xai Lai Leng peak in the Truong Son mountain range is like a "roof", a majestic wall protecting a region in the extreme southwest of Nghe An. Pu Xai Lai Leng has mysteries that attract tourists to explore...

For Thanh Cuong - a famous "backpacker" in Nghe An, Pu Xai Lai Leng mountain (Na Ngoi commune, Ky Son district, Nghe An) is a desire to conquer. Having climbed all the way to Phan Xi Pang and Ma Pi Leng, Cuong failed to find a way to the top of this 11th highest mountain in Vietnam, the 3rd highest in the Truong Son range. When invited to explore Pu Xai Lai Leng, Cuong was especially excited and enthusiastic: "It's really frustrating for Nghe An people not to be able to reach their own roof" ....

A group of tourists successfully conquered Pu Xai Lai Leng peak.

Pu Xai Lai Leng is a mountain in the Northern Truong Son range, with a peak of 2,720m, located on the border between Vietnam and Laos. If the Truong Son range is the "backbone" of the Indochina peninsula, then Pu Xai Lai Leng is an "ancient vertebra".

The journey to Pu Xai Lai Leng crosses steep slopes and deep ravines.

To get to Pu Xai Lai Leng, from Vinh City - the center of Nghe An province, we followed National Highway 7, traveling nearly 270 km to the West to reach Na Ngoi. From National Highway 7 connecting Khe Kien intersection, Luu Kien commune, Tuong Duong district, traffic started to deteriorate, becoming a challenge with high passes, landslides, bumpy, muddy roads. On sunny days, the road was dusty, motorbikes and cars bucked like prancing horses; on rainy days, cars could not enter, motorbikes had to crawl all day to travel 40 km to the center of the commune. In the rainy season, motorbike taxi drivers in Hoa Binh town, Tuong Duong district accepted to take passengers to Na Ngoi for 1.5 million VND for more than 60 km. Previously, the plan to conquer Pu Xai Lai Leng of Thanh Cuong and his group of friends was "broken" because they did not fully estimate the difficulty of traffic on rainy days; Arriving at Nam Can commune, the "backpackers" had to angrily turn back.

Pass through low bush forests with surprising scenery.

We have arrived! Pu Xai Lai Leng appears as majestic as a great wall. On the top of the mountain is boundary marker 422, on the other side of the mountain is Muong Moc district of Xieng Khouang province, neighboring Laos; at the foot of Pu Xai Lai Leng in Vietnam are 19 villages of Na Ngoi commune with more than 5,000 people, Mong people account for over 80%, Thai ethnic people are only the "minority" left here. Pu Xai Lai Leng is translated as "wandering everywhere, you will see it", referring to the towering height of the mountain.

For the Mong people, Pu Xai Lai Leng is a sacred and mysterious mountain; the heavens reside on it. There are many legends about Pu Xai Lai Leng, but they all explain the origin of the Nam Khien River and the mountain that protects the people.

The road to conquer Pu Xai Lai Leng.

Pu Xai Lai Leng is also the base of the border guards. To explore the high mountains, everyone who comes here must register at Na Ngoi Border Guard Station according to regulations. The officers and soldiers of the border guard here are all willing to help. In this border area with the most unpleasant microclimate, at noon it is scorching hot, in the afternoon there is thunderstorms and lightning, at night it is freezing cold, the skin of the soldiers seems to have turned a lot darker, only their smiles are still friendly. From the Border Guard Station looking to the Southwest, Pu Xai Lai Leng peak is in the clouds, vague and obscure.

Lieutenant Colonel Ho Thanh Quang - Political Commissar of the Border Guard Station said: Thanks to the border patrol road, the work of patrolling the border markers on the top of Pu Xai Lai Leng is now much more convenient. Previously, every time patrolling the mountain road, everyone in the patrol team had their nails blown off and scars from falling, not to mention hunger, cold, leeches, etc. At this altitude, the water is only 80 degrees at most, and rice cannot be cooked. Now, the border patrol road is much more convenient, you can travel by motorbike 36 km to reach marker 422 in just one session instead of 2 days round trip like before.

Right at the foot of Pu Xai Lai Leng is the Nam Khien River, which visitors can explore by rubber boat.

Discovering Pu Xai Lai Leng is not simply climbing a high mountain but learning about the cultural life of the indigenous people. Right at the foot of Pu Xai Lai Leng mountain, there are 17/19 Mong villages. Among those 17 villages, Buoc Mu is a typical ancient village with over a hundred years of history. This place has both common characteristics and unique features. Those are the sa mu roofs with the mysterious color of time, under each roof is a separate world full of mysteries of many generations...

It is known that Pu Xai Lai Leng peak has only been visited and successfully conquered by one tourist group. That group was a volunteer group led by Mr. Nguyen Hong Viet, Editor-in-Chief of Ban Duong Newspaper, who came here on Independence Day 2011.

Passing through the trails and bare hills, Pu Xai Lai Leng welcomed us with an old forest, with tall, dense trees, looking up we could only see a glimmer of sunlight. The forest was damp, mossy, with many strange flowers and herbs. The flora of Pu Xai Lai Leng is both tropical and temperate, evergreen and deciduous. According to the investigation results of scientists from Nghe An province, in the Pu Xai Lai Leng area, 726 plant species have been identified, including 270 precious medicinal species that need to be preserved, exploited and developed. The most famous and precious is Pu Xai Lai Leng ginseng (rated as precious as Ngoc Linh ginseng).

Through the forest, over the high mountains, we reached the 422nd milestone, which is also the peak of Pu Xai Lai Leng, thousands of miles of mountains and rivers in sight. Perhaps this is the best place in Nghe An to watch shooting stars and welcome the sunrise on days with good weather. "One inch of the map, ten thousand inches of homeland", going up to Pu Xai Lai Leng is like feeling more clearly the pride of the country, of our ancestors - the Truong Son soldiers who cut through mountains and forests to establish legendary feats... Everyone in our group wished to find Pu Xai Lai Leng ginseng, still wanted to have a morning flag-raising ceremony at the "westernmost" peak of Nghe An. "This trip is considered a field trip. Next time I will take my group up to have sacred emotions...", Thanh Cuong shared.

Ancient trees in the primeval forest in Pu Xai Lai Leng.

At the top of Pu Xai Lai Leng - a place where up to now, neither Lao nor Vietnamese have had the strength to fully explore the mysterious mountain range, we can feel the new vitality more clearly. Under the primeval forest, a wild, remote, isolated land has been "awakened".

The pioneers of Na Ngoi Border Post, National Defense Economic Group 4, and Youth Volunteer Corps 10 have helped the people here escape poverty and become more prosperous. Na Ngoi has become a food and clean vegetable area of ​​Ky Son in particular and Nghe An in general. In Pu Xai Lai Leng, not only ginseng is precious; there are also many other specialties such as Shan Tuyet tea, squash, ginger, dong vermicelli, famous black chicken and black pig. Pu Xai Lai Leng is waiting for visitors from all over the world...

Thanh Son