Tram Ton Pass

The mountain wind fills every jacket, and a thin mist slides across the asphalt. Far across the valley, the peak of Fansipan rises like a huge wall of stone. This is Trạm Tôn, the Sky Gate, at the top of Ô Quy Hồ Pass. It is one of the highest points in the Northwest that a road can reach. The name Sky Gate is a popular and tourist name, not an official place name.

National Highway 4D crosses the Hoàng Liên Sơn range here. It links the Sa Pa area of Lào Cai Province with Lai Châu Province. On the far side lies the Tam Đường area of Lai Châu.

The Lào Cai newspaper cites a record document that calls Ô Quy Hồ the longest pass in Vietnam, at nearly 50 kilometers. It is also counted among the four great passes of the Northwest. Two of the others are Pha Đin and Mã Pí Lèng. The fourth is Khau Phạ.

The top of the pass stands more than 2,000 meters above sea level. Sources give slightly different exact figures, so "more than 2,000 meters" is a safe number to hold on to.

Trạm Tôn is more than a place to look at the view. It is a door. According to the Nature and Biodiversity Conservation Agency, Hoàng Liên National Park was founded in 2002. It covers 28,509 hectares across Lào Cai and Lai Châu, and in 2006 it was recognized as an ASEAN Heritage Park. The highest peak in the park is Fansipan, also written Phan Xi Păng, at 3,143 meters. Trạm Tôn is one of the forest gates into that world.

The Nhân Dân newspaper says the traditional trekking route to the top of Fansipan starts at Trạm Tôn. The park's management board opened it in 2006, and it runs about 16 kilometers. It was the popular way up on foot before the cable car, and many people still choose it to walk through primeval forest.

The Lào Cai newspaper describes this spot as the door to a paradise above the clouds. At dawn, the valley below is often sunk in a sea of cloud, with only the highest peaks showing. In the afternoon, the last sun lights the cloud orange and purple, and Fansipan, across the valley, slowly darkens against the sky.

The weather here changes fast. The sun can be bright, and a few minutes later fog can climb up and close the road completely. In winter, frost can form at the top of the pass, and in some years there is ice. The wind on the summit is always stronger than anywhere below.

Trạm Tôn is where earth and sky meet: a pass called the longest in Vietnam winding across the Hoàng Liên range, the mountain wind filling every jacket, cloud below, and Fansipan shining bright across the valley.