Hi Hiver!
It's me again, HY here.
How are you today? Everything is ok?
As I have shared about my hobbies, I have an interest in landmarks, and especially landmarks marking the geographic location of the East, West, South, North in Viet Nam country.
In the previous post, I introduced you to the North Pole-Lung Cu point, located in Ha Giang province, where I conquered it in 2018.
And today I will take you to the next destination of the journey to discover Northwest Vietnam, which is the westernmost landmark of Vietnam, the westernmost point of A Pa Chai.
The westernmost tip of A Pa Chai in Viet Nam is milestone number 0, where this is the junction of the border between Vietnam - China - Laos, in Sin Thau commune - Muong Nhe district - Dien Bien province. Vietnam also has a place that is also a fork between Vietnam - Laos - Cambodia, called the "Indochina Fork", which is also an interesting place that I also had the opportunity to conquer.
My companion and I started from Ha Noi city and chose the route passing through Hoa Binh - Son La - Dien Bien, then to A Pa Chai village to conquer this landmark, with the road about more than 700km, and it takes 2.5 days to reach the destination of this trip going through this road, we will conquer Pha Din Pass, the last pass in conquest journey the "four great peaks" of the Northwest region of Viet Nam.
The first day we stopped in Son La city to rest, then continued the journey of the second day and stopped in the center of Muong Nhe district. This road is quite long and arduous, but in return, we witness beautiful scenes that are hard to find anywhere like here. Going through the passes with the "specialty" of this place is the winding, winding road, creating extremely attractive highlights. The most special is the Da Trang pass and Pha Din pass with long slopes and quite high slopes, zigzag bends that when you hold the steering wheel firmly, the feeling of cornering is very interesting and refreshing.
With the highlights of the passes here, it is a high mountain range on one side, an abyss on the other side, but this road is built very big and wide so you don't need to worry too much when controlled by a motorbike.
When going through Pha Din pass, you will enjoy the cool, slightly chilly air, different from the sweltering air in the city, there are rest stops here so you can stop and rest Enjoy the majestic mountain scenery from the position of this pass. With a length of about 32km, conquering this pass is also an extremely interesting and different experience compared to other passes. The top of this pass is more than 1000m above sea level, so the air is very fresh in the early morning, and gradually in the afternoon, the clouds swoop down close to the top of the mountain, as if to cover all the hills.
On the 3rd day, we started our journey to conquer milestone number 0, West Pole A Pa Chai. Because the time we came here had just experienced heavy rain, the road was partially buried for mountain landslides. So the road to A Pa Chai was blocked and had to wait for the crane to scoop up all the dirt and stones buried on the road. We waited for about 30 minutes, then the road was open to traffic.
To get to this milestone number 0, we had to go through border post 317 - A Pa Chai border post. Because this is in the border area, you cannot enter this area freely, but you need to enter the border guard station to present your personal documents. Then the rumor will send a soldier here to lead us to milestone number 0. The road is winding and very difficult to walk, there are sections built of concrete, but there are parts of the road that go by dirt roads, past streams, through forests. This stretch of road is only about 10km, but after you drive the motorbike along the winding, winding road, a magnificent scene opens up right in front of your eyes.
The higher you go up, the temperature drops, maybe you will a few showers because it is quite close to the clouds, so this is not possible. Combined with the cold at the top, creating a feeling of freezing cold, but at the same time at the foot of the mountain is sunny and warm, far different from up here. Coming to the small and steep road to prepare to reach the top, you will be shocked by the small road. If you are not sure of the steering wheel, you can leave your car and walk to the top of the mountain. And trekking by climbing is also an equally interesting thing because you can freely enjoy the surrounding scenery.
After blocking the arduous road, the last part of the road was built into stone steps, so the way up was relatively easy. When we arrived at this place, our emotions were overwhelming, even though it was cold, but they are happy in their hearts, being able to touch the sacred landmark with their own hands on the sovereign boundary of the country, the feeling is even more meaningful.
Milestone number 0 is a triangular landmark marking the border junction of three countries Vietnam - Laos - China, each side is marked with a corresponding language. Here, there is a small road leading to China, and the Chinese also often trek this landmark like us. Standing from the top of the mountain, you can see the majestic mountains of the 3 countries in the most wonderful way with the clouds floating below the valley, the sunlight breaking through the clouds, creating 2 different types of weather. In the mountains, it is rainy and cold, and at the foot of the mountain, it is sunny. We took the time to take pictures, enjoy the scenery and return to the A Pa Chai border post around 11:00 AM.
Farewell to the border guards with interesting stories about this border place, goodbye to the majestic mountains and forests of A Pa Chai, we continue our journey to discover this Northwest region.
Conquering the Western Pole of A Pa Chai is a journey with many interesting experiences for backpackers like us, it seems to mark an important milestone in everyone's youth, leaving the most memorable memories together, with these wild, majestic mountain roads that are very poetic and mysterious. If you have the opportunity, try once to explore with us in the Northwest of Vietnam, you will admire the beautiful scenery along the way, and it will be the most memorable experience in your life.
Thanks for reading my post. Hope it brings you the most relaxing moments.
See you in the next posts!