Bach Moc Luong Tu Peak

In 2013, a group of Vietnamese climbers set foot for the first time on the fourth highest peak in the country.

The mountain itself was not new. It was simply that no Vietnamese climber had reached it before.

The mountain is Bạch Mộc Lương Tử. Its official name is Ky Quan San, carved on the marker that was set up on the summit in 2019. The old marker had the name wrong, and it was corrected only that year. In local Chinese, Ky Quan San means "Rooster Comb Mountain". Seen from far away, the summit rises up, one shape stacked on another, like the comb of a rooster. People also call the mountain Bạch Mộc Nương Tử. Whatever name is used, it is still one mountain.

The summit stands about 3,046 meters above sea level. Three peaks in Vietnam are higher. Fansipan comes first, and Pu Si Lung second. Pu Ta Leng comes third. The summit sits exactly on the natural line between two provinces, with Lai Châu on the left and Lào Cai on the right. A climber on top stands on the boundary between two lands.

Some say this is the most beautiful of the country's high peaks. The reason is simple. It has no cable car. It has no concrete road. It has no shop on the summit.

To reach the top, climbers must walk. The route begins at Sin Suối Hồ village in Lai Châu Province. From there it runs about 12 kilometers over mountain trails, and it takes three days and two nights.

On the first day, the group walks through old-growth forest. Broadleaf forest covers the lower slopes, mixed forest the middle of the mountain, and then dwarf forest the heights. The forest on the Sin Suối Hồ side has been little disturbed, and fewer people climb here than on the routes from Lào Cai. So the trees are still thick and varied. After about 9 kilometers, the group reaches a camp with wide ground and water, and spends the night there.

On the second day, the group sets out between four and five in the morning, in time for the sunrise on the summit. The last 3 kilometers, from camp to the top, are the steepest, and they take three to four hours. Then the final steps bring the group onto the summit. If the weather is kind, a sea of cloud lies on all four sides.

At about 3,046 meters, a climber looking east can see Fansipan, the highest peak in Vietnam, far in the distance. Lai Châu and Lào Cai lie on either side. Below, layers of white cloud hide the valleys and the rivers. The climbers stand higher than any cloud drifting beneath them.

The marker "Ky Quan San" is carved plainly on the summit. There is nothing more on it. Nothing more is needed.

In 2013, Vietnamese climbers stood here for the first time. Since then the summit has stayed as silent as it was. Nothing has been built here, and there is no sound of people beyond the wind and the footsteps of those who dare to go far enough to find it. Standing on the line between two provinces, with cloud below and Fansipan far away, a climber is surrounded by a stillness that is rare in this country now.