Hai Van Pass is one of the most scenic hillside
roads in Vietnam. When braving the steep
winding roads of a paved mountain pass, you will have a chance to discover
peace, quiet and history along the way...
On the north – south nation highway, Hai Van Pass is an
impressive landscape. It is like a giant dragon, lying on Highway 1 on the
border between Thu Thien - Hue and Da Nang City.This is the highest
pass in Vietnam (500m above sea level). This rugged pass is the final section
of the Truong Son Range stretching to the sea. Hai Van means "Sea
Clouds", since the peak of the mountain is in the clouds while its foot is
close to the sea. In the past, Hai Van Pass was known as the Thuan
Hoa and Quang Nam frontier. In the early 14th century (11306), Che Man, a king
from Cham Pa, offered two mountainous administrative units of O and Ri as
engagement gifts to Princess Huyen Tran, daughter of King Tran Nhan Tong.
On
his way to see off the Princess in the Quang area in a Summer sunny noon, the
King and his entourage were on horse back for almost half a day but could not
reach the top of the pass. Facing upwards, the King saw a rampart of mountains
in dim clouds, and at the foot of the pass, an immense ocean, of waves. Though
sorry for his daughter's difficult journey, the king was comforted by the
closer ties between the two nations.
Whenever one goes through Hai Van Pass, two feelings are experienced:
amazement at passing through the clouds and fear when seeing the dangerous
bends of the road. After climbing through several hair-pin curves for close to
an hour, you reach the crest of the Hai Van Pass. Here, if the weather affords
it (which it often doesn't), there are views to both the North and the South.
The pass forms an obvious boundary between North and South Vietnam, and if
proof were needed, you need look no further than the fortifications built by
the French and then later used by the South Vietnamese and the Americans. You
will of course want to stop here if you make this trip, but be warned that you
will have to fight off a large band of souvenir and snack sellers who are among
the most aggressive I encountered during the whole trip.
With
sudden curves and blind corners, Hai Van Pass is likened to an arrogant but
beautiful girl challenging drivers' skills. Hai Van is considered to be the
largest frontier post in Vietnam. The name “De Nhat Hung Quan”, meaning the
most colossal frontier post, is engraved on an incense burner in Thai Temple.
On a
journey through the land, Hai Van is always an attractive landscape, full of
perilous obstacles and is the last spur of the Truong Son Range reaching to the
sea. On the top of the pass are the vestiges of long ago, a fortified gateway.
The gate facing to Thua Thien-Hue Province is inscribed with the three words
“Hai Van Quan” and the other gate looking down on Quang Nam province is
engraved “the most grandiose gateway in the world”. The entrance to Hai Van
Quan looks like the entrance to an old citadel with its stone structures. Time,
war, and neglect has taken its toll on Hai Van Quan, as it sits today in near
ruins. The old story is only a memory, old vestiges covered with green moss,
among vast spaces vast of plants and trees, tourists are filled with
the emotions of the past.
The most
impressive about the journey is the sense of isolation you feel as you move
further along. There is a strange delight about the desolate conditions, a
seemingly unbroken asphalt road that cuts through a mass of forest. Below you,
the green trees contrast with the breaking waves in the blue sea. And herein
lies the beauty of Hai Van. While many rave about the charm of the Bao Loc
mountain pass, the road is crowded with people and villages nestled along the
way. But just as civilisation characterises the allure of Bao Loc, Hai Van’s
beauty is closely connected to nature and its lack of population.
Lining
the peak of the mountain is the immense abyss dotted with the light and dark
green colours of the trees. The scene is capped off with fanciful clouds flying
across the sky. The area is a perfect place to have a cup of coffee and
contemplate the scene, looking over Hai Van as if from the heavens as the trees
blow with the wind.
Hai Van
is well know for its dangerous roads, and accident warning boards carefully
appear regularly along the side. It’s a surprising sight to see the animation
and modernity at the peak as foreign visitors buzzed about buying souvenirs.
Those who do not make it to the peak would have a hard time believing there was
such a busy trading and modern scene, as foreign women made their way up the
rough staircase at the Hai Van Quan ancient vestige to take photos.
Whatever
endowed by nature, time by time and by hands of man will be something of
humanitarian values. Coming to Hai Van is to come to the sanction of two land,
to satisfy the peak-conquering philosophy, to mix ourselves in to echo of
heroic songs of Vietnamese ancients when they went to find new lands to be
emotional to prolong past of the Center region where suffering a lot of losses
in the course of finding and protecting the nation.
Hai Van
Pass will satisfy your desire to conquer high peaks and remind you of the
glorious past of the Viet people. Moreover, from the pass, on nice days,
visitors can enjoy the whole vista of Da Nang, the Tien Sa seaport, Son Tra
Peninsula, Cu Lao Cham Island and long Sandy beaches.
The 21km
that stretch over the Hai Van mountain pass may sound like a challenging
journey, but after having done, it is certainly that you will find it is one worth
taking.
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