If you are too tired with deadlines and the pressure of everyday life, you need to find a place to relieve your energy and restore your spirit, a place where you can fully experience mountain trekking and camping. , “hunting” the cloudy sky, grilling BBQ but without spending too much time and health, Trekking Lao Than – Y Ty cloud hunting is the best choice for you.

Where is Lao Than Mountain? Lao Than is located in Phin Ho Village, Y Ty commune, Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province and 80km from Sapa. Lao Than reaches an altitude of 2,826m, ranked 14th among the highest mountains in Vietnam, so it is also known as “Roof of Y Ty”.

• Location: Lao Than Mountain
• Adrress: Phin Ho village, Y Ty commune, Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province, Vietnam
• Coordinates: 22.610420°, 103.686535°.
• Altitude: 2.862m
• Climbing time: 2 days 1 night
• Featured activities: Trekking, Climbing, Camping
• Best time to visit:: September to April

When should you go Trekking Lao Than?

The ideal time to go cloud hunting in Y Ty – Trekking Lao Than mountain is from the end of September to May every year, because this time there is often light rain so it is easy for clouds to gather, the possibility of successful cloud hunting is very high (I Go in early January. Before going, you should see the weather forecast for the next 10 days in Lao Than to have the safest and most wonderful climbing plan and itinerary.

• September-October: there are shiny golden terraced fields and burning grass forests.
• November to January next year: hunt clouds and watch the beautiful sunrise
• February-April:: the best time to hunt clouds and weeds

How to go to Lao Than?

In the South of Vietnam, depart from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi and from Hanoi, depart at My Dinh bus station or Giap Bat bus station.

+Sleeping bus: You can choose quality and reputable Hanoi – Lao Cai bus companies such as: Ha Son bus company, Sao Viet bus company, Green Bus, Sapa Express bus with ticket prices of 220,000VND – 350,000VND, There is also a double cabin for 550,000 VND for 2 people. To optimize time and take advantage of rest, you should choose the night bus around 11pm so that at dawn you can reach Sapa. Then rent a car to continue to Y Ty, or if you choose to buy a tour from a travel company, there will be a shuttle bus from Sapa to the foot of Lao Than mountain.

+Train: you can book train tickets ranging from 500,000VND – 600,000VND (varies by train space) from Hanoi station to Lao Cai station, you should choose the bus at 10pm and arrive in Lao Cai city at 5am. :30 am.

+Motorbike: when you arrive in Lao Cai city or Sapa town, you can rent a motorbike to go to Y Ty, the 80km route is quite difficult because the roads in some places are under construction, others have not yet been completed. , so it’s quite difficult if you’re not used to running mountain passes and forests in the Northwest. + Car: you can drive your car straight to Y Ty from Hanoi, but it will be quite difficult because the road is long and a bit difficult to go. Note that you should ride a car with high clearance, and the driver has driving experience. on the Northwest passes. If traveling by motorbike or car, when arriving at Y Ty center, follow provincial road DT158 to Phin Ho village, then move to A Ho’s house at the foot of Lao Than mountain to park the car.

Should hire a personal porter or buy a tour from a travel company?

Although Lao Than mountain is considered not too difficult for beginners to conquer mountains in the Northwest, the trekking path is mainly low grass hills but you will encounter certain difficulties during the climbing process. So hiring a porter with you is necessary, especially if it’s your first time going, buying a tour from a travel company will be safer. The tour will include vehicles from Sapa/or Hanoi to take you to the destination. At the foot of the mountain, then eat, drink, sleep, and have a guide in charge, you will be much more “comfortable”. Of course, buying a tour will be more expensive than hiring a local porter. Some good tour operators to refer to include Viettrekking, The Traveler, To Ong…

For those who have never gone trekking to Lao Than or even those who have experience trekking, hiring a porter is extremely necessary. Normally, porters will be local people living here. They will be very good and knowledgeable about the roads, helping you limit getting lost and dangerous on the road. In particular, in Lao Than there will be many different turns!

Local reputable porter: Mr. A Hờ with no. phone: 0855.751.173 (Hishouse is right at the foot of the mountain and camp on the mountain also belongs to A Ho and his wife), A Hồ-phone no. is 0912.380.485. For every 3 people, you should hire 1 porter; Price: 500,000 – 600,000 VND/porter/day.

What do you need to prepare to climb Lao Than mountain?

• Travel backpack: You should use a backpack with a large capacity, with many compartments to be able to carry many necessary items, guaranteed to be 100% waterproof, dust-free, durable, and avoid painful your shoulder when wearing it long time..
• Trekking boots: An indispensable item on any mountain climbing journey. You should choose shoes with rubber soles, waterproof, good grip, smoothness and suitable for many different terrains.
• Trekking poles: If you forget to bring hiking poles, you can get wooden sticks to use during Trekking. If possible, don’t ignore this tool, it has many uses when trekking.

• Camping tent: Climbing Lao Than mountain usually takes at least 2 days 1 night or 3 days 2 nights, so use a camping tent to avoid the dew and rain of the weather. In case you only hire a porter and do not buy a tour from a travel company
• Sleeping bag: The higher you go, the lower the temperature will be, so prepare a sleeping bag to keep your body warm and get better sleep..
• F&B: You should bring enough drinking water, food to organize a drink party and fast food (chocolate, cakes, instant sausages,… to supplement when exhausted).
• Clothings: Personal clothing enough to wear for two days, you should choose specialized hiking pants for convenience, raincoat, hat, scarf to protect from the sun, small bag to wrap clothes and other items to prevent the backpack from absorbing. Water does not affect the contents inside. You can also bring a thin windbreaker in case it gets cold. At night on Lao Than mountain, the temperature is very low, so prepare some warm clothes in advance to prevent the cold when sitting outside. Especially in December-February, it is very cold, so bring thermal patches & thermal clothing.

• Medicines: prepare pain relievers, fever reducers, heatstroke, flu, diarrhea, bandages, etc. and insecticide spray.
• Personal flashlight, paper towels, wet towels, sunscreen, hand sanitizer, sanitary napkins (shoe liners, shoulder pads, dehumidifiers)

***The most important thing is to practice physical strength before conquering the mountain in the top 15 highest mountains in Vietnam. Practicing and increasing your physical strength, endurance and willpower will help you have a smooth trip and completely conquer Lao Than mountain.

Lao Than mountain trekking schedule for 2 days 1 night:

The 2 days 1 night schedule departing from Sapa town is just enough to explore and experience all the beauty of the “roof of Y Ty”. Normally, if you buy a tour from a travel company, the tour company will have a car to pick you up in Sapa town. After you arrive in Sapa at 5am, you will have breakfast and get on the bus to go to Y Ty. After arriving at Lao Than, specifically A Ho’s house, you will be given a light snack before starting to climb the mountain. Here you will leave your heavy luggage behind and be given a small bag to carry your clothes and belongings. Necessary for 1 night and 1 day in the mountain, remember to be as light as possible because carrying too much stuff will affect your climbing process.

In this article, I will share my team’s personal schedule of experiences and traveling by motorbike, because after climbing Lao Than mountain, we stayed in Y Ty to explore more.

• Day 1: Sapa town – Y Ty commune – Lao Than mountain

+ 6:00 a.m. on New Year’s Day: Just getting off the Sapa bus station after a night of snoring and swaying on the bus, the 2-degree cold of the foggy town hit the children in the South right in the face, making them all wide awake. Having booked a climbing tour from The Traveler, we moved back to the gathering place to deposit our things and have breakfast.

– 8am: take a taxi to Mr. Co Bike (search address on Google). Anyone who buys a tour from TheTraveler will have a shuttle bus to Lao Than. Because our team stayed in Y Ty after climbing the mountain, we rented a motorbike to go from Sapa to Y Ty. => The temperature gradually decreased along the way, sometimes down to 0 degrees Celsius, both hands and feet were frozen, visibility was not there, the surroundings were foggy. Actually, when I got home, I wondered how we could go through the passes without seeing anything in front of us. If you do not have experience going to the mountain pass and can withstand the bitterly cold weather, please do not try it, it is very dangerous.

+ 10:30 am: arrive at Y Ty Clouds homestay of Mr. Xuy – about 2km from Y Ty market to leave our group’s luggage here. From the homestay to the foot of Lao Than mountain is another 8km, the 8km pass is very “exciting”, like a race against time and space to meet up with The Traveler’s group to climb the mountain.

+11:30 a.m.: Gathered at A Ho’s house (a local guy who is also the porter I mentioned above), and filled my hunger with some sticky rice cakes and boiled wild chicken of the H’mong people.

+12:00: The weather has now increased to about 5.6 degrees Celsius but is still very cold. Note to everyone that there will be small bags distributed by the tour company for everyone to carry water and necessary personal items, while this or that backpack will have a porter they can carry for you. And the higher you go, the hotter it gets, so don’t dress too thick because sooner or later you’ll take it off. The impressive saying during my trekking session was “everyone, we’re almost there” from Guide. At first I was so young and naive that I believed him, then 7×7=9 times that word was repeated so I wised up and didn’t believe him anymore. On the way up the mountain, the scenery is mesmerizing, so feel free to take pictures.

First, you will go through a path of “bare” dry trees in the middle of empty hills, where the rays of the afternoon sun shine in, creating extremely beautiful, wild pictures that also bring the magic of nature. However, I went in the winter so this section was covered in cold fog.

The road from the foot of the mountain starts to go up mainly as a trail with low grass hills on both sides. Because there are no trees to shade the area, when the sun comes up it will be very hot and can burn the skin. Moving up gradually, we will pass through dense, thorny bushes. At this point, you need to pay attention to avoid being scratched by sturdy tree branches, causing pain and sometimes bleeding.

The slopes in Lao Than are quite gentle, so at first you won’t lose much effort. The higher you go, the steeper the slope, the smaller the path and the more gravel and dry tree branches

On the Lao Than trekking route, the next stop will be a “fishing” cliff and a huge rock cliff with a unique shape, where you and your group can rest mid-way to have a snack, drink water, gain strength and specialties. especially creating “surreal photos”, capturing wonderful moments when sitting on a cliff, immersing yourself in the middle of nature, clouds and sky.

The higher you go, the thinner the air and the denser the clouds, drifting aimlessly in endless space. And you will discover different vegetation at each altitude.

5:00 pm: Our team arrived at the camp – where we will sleep and have dinner – just in time to watch the sunset and hunt for clouds. There’s no water for bathing here, and there’s not enough electricity to charge your phone. In general, you have to be mentally prepared to live with the mountains and forests.

The H’Mong porter has prepared a BBQ dinner with wild chicken and local pigs for everyone to enjoy and chill before the official dinner. The food was brought up from the foot of the mountain by them, everything was fresh, and to be honest, I was starving right now so I’m sure anything I ate would be delicious.

After munching on delicious grilled dishes, it’s time for the sun to say goodbye. This is the most beautiful moment of the day. Don’t hesitate to pick up your phone or camera to “harvest” beautiful photos.

Nightfall is the most terrible time, it is both dark and cold, in a small camp covered with only a few boards and insulated covers, containing dozens of people (all kinds of body odors) who snore. , people sleeping soundly, not to mention a few people drinking warm wine and sitting “drunk, clamoring”, all of these sounds “blend” together to create an indescribable sound. The cold and bitterness of the winter night on the top of the mountain is a terrible thing that no blanket or thermal patch can help you fight, not to mention you will easily get a fever due to heat shock. Wow, this experience can only be “enjoyed” by yourself.

Everyone can skip this part of the experience and don’t need to read: Around 2:00 a.m. it was -4 degrees Celsius and I needed to go to the bathroom (embarrassed). Groping around at night, walking alone from the camp to the toilet – to be honest, it’s made of 4 wooden planks, it’s not tight, everywhere the wind creeps in and blows in, making me wake up from sleep, oh my god. I’m probably the only one who experiences this feeling. However, after returning to the camp location, I was able to see a sky full of stars and the moon shining brightly on a wild mountainous area.

Day 2: A Ho’s camp – Lao Than peak – A Ho porter’s house – Y Ty

– 4:00 a.m.: everyone is woken up by Guide/Porter, cleans themselves, eats a bowl of porridge for breakfast, and climbs up Lao Than peak at night. When walking at night, just follow the person in front of you and climb. But when it’s morning, when I climb down, oh my god, I don’t understand how I can climb up at night.

– “Everything comes with a price”, overcoming the cold, dirt, and difficult bumpy roads, the feeling of reaching the top is “tingling”. The section from the camp to the top is the most challenging road with steep slopes and small and narrow paths, making you relatively exhausted. However, all fatigue seems to be dispelled when you reach the top of Lao Than mountain – “the roof of Y Ty” with endless, white, floating clouds. You will feel like you are standing at the intersection of heaven and earth, refreshed when you overcome your limits to admire the beautiful scenery like a fairyland. Especially at the moment of brilliant dawn at the top of Lao Than mountain, the first sunlight of the day peeking out from behind small rocks and white clouds will definitely “fascinate” you.

-7am: Before everyone goes down the mountain, have breakfast with a bowl of instant noodles and a hot cup of instant coffee. At this time, the wind was very cold, but everyone tried to eat to fill their stomachs to have the strength to go down the mountain.

-8am: regretfully saying goodbye to the camp, the swings, the clouds, the wind and the mountains, the dragons and snakes ascending the clouds and descending the mountains. The weather at this time is about 6 degrees Celsius. The journey down the mountain is much gentler, but due to a lot of dew overnight, there are some places that are quite slippery.

-12:00: Go to Mr. Ho’s house and have a full meal with bamboo-tube rice, wild chicken and also get to eat fruit and local apples for dessert.

Saying goodbye to our Traveler tour friends, we returned to our homestay.
If you have a lot of time and want to stay and explore Y Ty, please refer to Kame’s Y Ty article!

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