O Quy Ho is considered the legendary road of the Northwest.
Whoever once arrived the Northwest was deeply impressed by the passes here. In four great passes including Ma Pi Leng (Ha Giang province), Khau Pha (Yen Bai province), Pha Din (Dien Bien province) and O Quy Ho (Lao Cai province), O Quy Ho pass is considered “the King of Northwest passes”.
O Quy Ho pass or Hoang Lien Son pass is one of the longest passes which is the most dangerous and imposing in the North of Vietnam. Located by the 4D Highway and crossing the Hoang Lien Son mountain range, O Quy Ho connects the two provinces Lao Cai and Lai Chau, and the top of the pass is the border of these two provinces.
Longer than Pha Din pass and Khau Pha pass, the length of this pass is 50km. The height, the danger and the length of O Quy Ho causes people coming here both admiration and scare. That is the reason why the pass is named “the King of Northwest passes”. On the average height of over 2000m, winding around the sky-high cliffs and abyss, the name of the pass was named after the sound of a fairy bird, which was the end of an unhappy love story.
Sunset at Heaven Gate in Sapa
Starting exploring the pass through the direction to Lao Cai – Lai Chau, at first step on the “Heaven Gate” tourists will be surprised by the miracle sight of the masses of white clouds drifting over the green front of the mountain in sunshine.
It astonished everyone because of the unimaginably wonderful scenery. The mountain range spreads over and link the masses of clouds together which seems to open the door to the heaven to welcome guests.
The spectacular views from the high mountain make people thrown into ecstasy, the green mountains ranged from deep valley rise sharply to the top of the mountain and mix with the masses of clouds then create an imposing scene of the green Northwest mountain.
To travel to Lai Chau from Hanoi, many people chose to take a train to Lao Cai then take a bus to go through O Quy Ho pass, because only at that height they can contemplate the magnificent panorama of O Quy Ho.
O Quy Ho pass is always a fascinating theme for travelers to talk about when visiting Sapa. Recently, the international electronic informatics network Global grasshopper – the familiar address of travelers has voted O Quy Ho top 10 most beautiful sights of Vietnam.
O Quy Ho Pass