Two ethnic women with bamboo basket on their back walk up on the breathtaking road section to a market in the morning.

The 60-kilometer section from Dong Van to Meo Vac and Lung Phin winds up and down to the magnificent Ma Pi Leng Pass through mountains and valleys of rocks and villages of ethnic minority groups. Many adventurers select Ma Pi Leng as the most beautiful pass in Vietnam. The road runs on the sides of black limestone mountains, which are typical features of Dong Van Plateau.

Wall-like rocks of all shapes also beautify the pass, which is in the middle of Dong Van Town and Lung Phin. The Nho Que River adds the finishing touch to nature’s perfect and picturesque painting.

To fully appreciate the pass some adventurers chose to stroll or jog rather than see it from inside a car, exploring the scenery as they go and stopping for pictures at view points. Please note that it is not easy to find a safe corner on the pass to park a car, and there is much to see and admire on the road besides Ma Pi Leng.

Meo Vac at the end of the 20-kilometer pass has an original Sunday market. Groups of Mong, Dao and other ethnic peoples in their colorful costumes walk from every corner of the mountains down to the market to buy and sell life’s necessities as well as oxen, pigs, horses, chicken and other cattle and fowl that ethnic people raise at their houses and on the fields. Visitors will get excited over noisy bargains at the trading area for animals and the tinkling sounds of spoons, pots and bowls when food sellers prepare dishes for patrons and guests to eat at the market. The road from Meo Vac to Lung Phin through the imposing rocky mountains is an equally exciting journey. Ethnic children shout out greetings to passers-by on the way home from school and Mong women in their traditional costumes can be seen farming on the hillsides and mountainsides and carrying bamboo baskets loaded with vegetables home.

Nestled at the bottom of valleys and perched against the mountainside are the distinctive houses of the ethnic people. Typically the eyries made of wood are just high enough so that strong winds cannot blow them away, and they can live and shelter from the chilling weather and freezing winds in winter.

People are advised not to travel on this section of the road in winter as the cold weather is chilling and the stunning scenery is often covered in a thick fog. However, it is blankets of fog that make the mountains and deep valleys more enticing and a real challenge for adventurers to conquer.