“Legendary” mountain passes of Vietnamese backpackers

[Mary]

Being beautiful but dangerous, Pha Din mountain pass or O Quy Ho pass are legendary passes for Vietnamese backpackers.

Ma Pi Leng Pass (in Ha Giang)

This is a road curving round Ma Pi Leng mountain top that is 2,000 meters in height. The road is 20 kilometers in length. The pass connects Meo Vac commune and Dong Van commune. This mountain pass is famous for winding roads that are like snakes.

The road crossing Ma Pi Leng pass is called Hanh Phuc road. It was built from 1959 to 1965.

In 2009, Ma Pi Leng mountain was recognized as national landscape site.

O Quy Ho Pass

With the length of approximately 50 kilometers, O Quy Ho pass is the longest pass in the northwest mountains.

The pass lies in the highway 4D crossing Hoang Lien Son mountain range. The pass connectsLao Cai province and Lai Chau province. Its height is 2,000 meters.

O Quy Ho is also called Hoang lien pass. Formerly, the pass attached to an interesting story. The story was about a tiger killing people so nobody dared to travel in the pass.

Pha Din Pass

Pha Din Pass is 32 kilometers in length and 1,648 meters in height. The name of Pha Din has a root from Thai language. The pass is very beautiful and stunning.

Khau Pha Pass

This is the longest pass in the highway 32. It is 30 kilometers in length.

The pass is near the border of Van Chan district and Mu Cang Chai district. It goes through many famous destinations like La Pan Tan, Mu Cang Chai, Tu Le, Che Cu Na, Nam Co, etc at the height of 1,200-1,500 meters above sea level.

Besides terraced rice fields stretching endlessly, Khau Pha also has primitive old forests and many rare species of animals.