VietNamNet Bridge – Hai Van, or the Pass of Ocean Mist, is a mountainous stretch of road in central Vietnam. 

On days when vapor from the sea rises into the forests and clings to the mountaintops, the pass lives up to its poetic name. But despite its romantic title, Hai Van Pass has always been something of a frontier: a boundary of kingdoms and climate, often fought over, sometimes tragic, but never losing its ability to inspire awe.

On the north – south nation highway, Hai Van Pass is an impressive landscape. It is like a giant dragon, lying on Highway 1 on the border between Thua Thien-Hue Province and Danang City.

This is the highest pass in Vietnam (500m above sea level). This rugged pass is the final section of the Truong Son Range stretching to the sea. Hai Van means "Sea Clouds", since the peak of the mountain is in the clouds while its foot is close to the sea.  

In the past, Hai Van Pass was known as Thuan Hoa and Quang Nam frontier. 

In the early 14th century (11306), Che Man, a king from Cham Pa, offered two mountainous administrative units of O and Ri as engagement gifts to Princess Huyen Tran, daughter of King Tran Nhan Tong. 

On his way to see off the Princess in the Quang area in a summer sunny noon, the King and his entourage were on horseback for almost half a day but could not reach the top of the pass. 

Facing upwards, the King saw a rampart of mountains in dim clouds, and at the foot of the pass, an immense ocean, of waves. Though sorry for his daughter's difficult journey, the king was comforted by closer ties between the two nations.

With sudden curves and blind corners, Hai Van Pass is likened to an arrogant but beautiful girl challenging drivers' skills. Hai Van is considered to be the largest frontier post in Vietnam. The name “De Nhat Hung Quan”, meaning the most colossal frontier post, is engraved on an incense burner in Thai Temple.

On a journey through the land, Hai Van is always an attractive landscape, full of perilous obstacles and is the last spur of the Truong Son Range reaching to the sea. 

On the top of the pass are the vestiges of long ago, a fortified gateway. The gate facing to Thua Thien-Hue Province is inscribed with the three words “Hai Van Quan” and the other gate looking down on Quang Nam province is engraved “the most grandiose gateway in the world”. 

The entrance to Hai Van Quan looks like the entrance to an old citadel with its stone structures. Time, war, and neglect has taken its toll on Hai Van Quan, as it sits today in near ruins. The old story is only a memory, old vestiges covered with green moss, among vast spaces vast of plants and trees. 

Photos of Hai Van Pass