More than a century ago, during their domination, the French colonialists discovered Da Lat but after surveying they decided that it was impossible to build a road connecting Nha Trang and Da Lat due to dangerous terrains.
Khanh Le Pass from Nha Trang City to Da Lat City (Photo: Internet)
More than a century later what was considered impossible then became possible with the construction of a route connecting Nha Trang and Da Lat in 2004. With its official operation in 2007, the distance from Nha Trang to Da Lat was shorten by nearly 100kms.
The route from Da Lat City of Lam Dong Province to Nha Trang City of Khanh Hoa Province with its official name National Road 27C is often called the “route connecting flowers and sea.” The highlight of this 120km-long route is Khanh Le Pass, in the middle of the distance.
This 29km-long pass runs from the height of 200m to 1,600m above sea level, through treacherous terrains, boasting one of the most grandiose passes of Viet Nam. Traveling through Khanh Le Pass, visitors have chance to enjoy wonderful landscapes. The pass is like a ribbon of colored silk snaking through stiff mountains on one side and deep abysses on the other side. The scenery and the weather keep changing as visitors travel on. At the foot of the pass, it is dry and warm while it is cool on top. Part of Khanh Le Pass is located within the Hon Ba Nature Reserve of Khanh Hoa Province and the other is in the Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park of Lam Dong Province. Therefore, primeval forests can be seen all along the length of the pass. It is one of the habitats of rare and typical species of the Central Highlands’ and South Central Region’s ecology.
One of the deep impressions left on visitors traveling Khanh Le Pass is that along the two sides of the road lie dozens of springs running all days and nights. In the rainy season, a big waterfall called Thien Than (Fairy) Waterfall of hundreds of meters height is formed and runs through open rocks, making a spectacular scene. The vapor from the sea blocked by 1,700-2,000m-high mountains, such as Hon Giao, Tam Phong, and combined with local cool air forms thick fog, bringing a scene like in a martial arts or cosplay film.
Special cultural features of communities along the pass are worth mentioning. At the foot of the pass is the land of the people of the “Chapi (an instrument of the Raglai minority ethnic people) dream.” The land on top of the pass is where the K’ho minority ethnic people, one of the minority ethnic groups that formed the Gong cultural space of the Central Highlands, have been living there for thousands of years now.
Special and mysterious cultural features as well as the romantic and grandiose space along Khanh Le Pass are really inviting. Visitors to Khanh Hoa and Lam Dong provinces are advised to come and experience this wonderful, like-no-other pass and its strip of land!