The Happiness Road

Amid the rugged cat-ear limestone mountains of the Dong Van Karst Plateau, the Happiness Road winds like a ribbon along cliffs, linking Ha Giang 2 Ward with the northern highland communes of Tuyen Quang Province.

Construction of the Happiness Road began in 1959 and was completed in 1965. Stretching nearly 185 kilometers, the road clings to treacherous rocky slopes and crosses dozens of high passes and deep ravines, including the Ma Pi Leng Pass - one of Viet Nam’s “four great mountain passes.”

To carve out this road, tens of thousands of youth volunteers from provinces and cities across the country endured six years of relentless hardship, using only picks, shovels, crowbars and hammers to break through solid rock and open the way.

More than half a century later, the Happiness Road has taken on a new look. Hairpin bends that once barely allowed a narrow footpath have become a famed tourist route, carrying visitors to the majestic Nho Que River, the Tu San Gorge, and the stone plateau recognized by UNESCO as a Global Geopark. Against the once-barren gray rock, villages are steadily revitalizing and local living standards have gradually improved.

Today, as wheels roll over the Ma Pi Leng Pass amid the vastness of sky and earth, the Happiness Road not only leads travelers into a spectacular geological landscape but also guides them back to a heroic chapter of history. It is a road of faith and aspiration, an enduring symbol of unity and the spirit of service to the people on the gray-stone frontier of the nation.

Hai Dang