Going from Ha Noi to Dien Bien Phu, if not using airplane, people must travel on land and pass hundreds kilometers of sloping mountain pathways, especially the mountain pass Pha Din of 32-kilometre length. "Pha Din", a local word, means "heaven and earth", which indicates the meeting point of the sky and the ground here.

In the old times, due to the boundary dispute between Lai Chau Province and Son La Province, people decided to solve by a horse-race. From two sides of the mountain pass, at the same time, two horses galloped towards each other. The point they met would be the frontier between two areas. Lai Chau's horse ran faster, so the mountain pass' part of Lai Chau (which now belongs to Dien Bien Province) was longer than that of Son La.

With the height of more than 1,000 metres, the mountain pass has ups and downs and sinuous sections; one side is a high cliff, and the other is a deep valley. Passing this mountain pass is a very interesting journey to a grandiose mountainous area for tourists who like adventures.

	Photo: Mai Thanh Tien