Exploring Quan Ba heaven gate

Located at an altitude of 1,500 metres above sea level, Quan Ba heaven gate is the highest point on the winding that leads from Ha Giang to Quan Ba. The site can be found approximately 43km away from Ha Giang city.

This point is normally covered with clouds & mist when the weather is not good and you feel much cooler here.To extend your excursion further to explore Dong Van Rocky Pleataux, you must overcome this point of the pass – also the starting point of ” legendary Road of Happiness” built in the 1960s.From the road, climb one hundred steps more to reach Quang Ba Heaven Gate for an impressive captivation of Dong Van Global Geo-Park,immense valleys of rice terraces,Tam Son town and many dotted surrounding local villages on clear days.

Once at the heaven gate, visitors are able to savour extraordinary panoramic views of the entire Tam Son valley below in addition to the surrounding majestic mountains.

Aside from the beautiful and peaceful town of Tam Son which is located within the valley, visitors are able to enjoy breathtaking scenery of colourful paddy fields and subsidiary crops.

Why Quan Ba Heaven Gate Is Unique?

Owning an ideal height to be able to fully view the beauty of Ha Giang from above through the clouds is 1500m above sea level. It is especially proud to say that this is the first and official gateway to the global geological road of the rocky plateau. It is still the very typical beauty of the lush green highlands in Ha Giang when the more interesting point is that you can see the sky is very close to the adjacent point, true to its inherent name.

Twin Mountains (Fairy breast mountains)

The Twin Mountains of Quan Ba are, as the name suggest, (almost) identical mountains next to each other. It is also called the Fairy Breast Mountains, after an ancient tail of the local Hmong minority, that could whistle so beautiful that a fairy came from the sky and fell in love with him. The Jade Emperor was mad when finding out she was gone and took her back. But because she already got a child with the Hmong man that needed nursery, she left her pair of breast so her son could drink the milk. The pair of breast grow round to feed the child and later turned into two mountains.

There is a viewpoint from the Heaven Gate pass when you are driving down from the top to Tam Son town around halfway. You can park the motorbike or car at the parking lot and take the stairs up for a beautiful view over the Twin Mountains, the town and the mountains of Ha Giang.

How to get there

Quan Ba is over 300 km from Hanoi. It is best to first travel to Ha Giang City from Hanoi by bus. From here you can start your Ha Giang loop tour, either on the back of a motorbike or by private car with driver. You can also choose the drive a motorbike yourself, but be aware that driving through the mountains of Ha Giang can be dangerous and without a Vietnamese drivers licence it is not legal to drive and for this you are often not fully insured.

From Ha Giang City it is just 60 km to Quan Ba and from Quan Ba to Dong Van is around 80 km.

Top Things To Do In Quan Ba

Villages

Quan Ba is more than the Heaven Gate and the Twin Mountains, there are also a lot of villages to explore. When you are coming from Ha Giang City via the QL4C then there are a few roads after Tam Son Town on your right that takes you down to the river. Along the river you can explore some villages and at the same time enjoy the view of the houses, with river and mountains on the background. When you cross the river you can also find a road that takes you higher up, from which you have an even better view of the area.

One of the villages you can visit in this area is Lung Tam village. It is a Hmong village that are doing traditional weaving and dying of the fabrics. It is proving jobs for over 120 people in the village and there are not many places in Vietnam where you can see this old tradition.

Local markets

Visiting one of the minority markets in Ha Giang is one of the highlights of the province. Quan Ba has around 8 markets you can visit, but are often held one time a week. The biggest market is in Tam Son town, the capital of Quan Ba district and his held every Saturday morning. The market often starts already at 5 AM and start to weaken from 10 AM, so make sure you are there early. The market is very colorful due to bright clothes of the minorities that come here to trade. You will see farm equipment, house hold goods, clothes, cloths, jewelry and even phones being sold at the market.

Other markets in Quan Ba you can visit are Cao Ta Tung Market, Tung Vai market, Tung Tam Market, Bat Dai Son market, Quyet Tien Market, Cho Lang market and Nghia Thuan Market. Make sure to check on which day they are being held as they are often not daily.

Lung Khuy cave

If you already went to the caves in Phong Nha, or planning to go there, the cave itself can be skipped as it is not hugely impressive. Though the road to the cave and along the mountain is quite scenic, with stunning views of mountains and villages. The cave is close to Tam Son Town, around 7 km on a side road of the QL4C and indicated with a big sign in the beginning of the road. Their are two places where you can park the motorbike, the first place is in the village. Here you pay a small parking fee and have to walk around 1,5 km to the cave entrance. But if you actually drive further along the small mountain road, you end up at a small parking area closer to the cave and free parking.

There is still a small entrance fee at the cave before you walk up the stairs to opening. You can walk around 300 meter inside the cave and there are nicely built wooden paths including lighting, so it is easy to walk around. You can find some large stalactites and stalagmites, different rock formations and small underground ponds.

When Is The Best Time To Visit Quan Ba Heaven Gate?

From April to May is the transplanting rice season and the middle of September is the beginning of the ripe rice season of Hoang Su Phi terraced fields, so this will be an ideal time to travel to Quan Ba heaven gate. Besides, the early spring days also attract tourists with unique festivals of the locals here.

However, you should not travel around June – August of the lunar calendar because this is a period of heavy rain, storms and roads will be very dangerous. At an altitude of over 1500m, the weather at Quan Ba sky gate will also be a bit chilly. Therefore, when visiting this place, do not forget to bring a warm coat to stay healthy.