Happiness Road
It sounds great, doesn’t it? It’s like you take a happy little wander along Happiness Road and then where will you end up? Happy Town, right? Nope, sorry. You’ll end up in Meo Vac which isn’t as bad as all that but isn’t quite Heaven.
As you drive along it, you will likely feel very happy as it is an absolute joy to drive. However, spare a thought for the poor souls who broke their backs building it, especially those that, unfortunately, lost their lives.
It would be without doubt that better communication links brought prosperity and a slow rise in living conditions to the highlanders. Interestingly, it wasn’t really until 2010 when the Ministry of Tourism really began to promote the Province that conditions really began to improve at any pace.
The road connects many now famous sights, such as: Lung Khuy Cave, Cuc Bac Cafe and Meo Vac where you will find the Khau Vai Love Market.
Before the road was built, there was obviously a route but it took many days on foot or by cart to get from Meo Vac to Ha Giang. The road improved this immensely. Happiness road certainly has enabled the highlanders to improve their lives at a much faster rate than if it wasn’t there. It’s also gorgeous, and is a big feature on our Ha Giang Loop motorcycle tours, such as our 6 Day Ha Giang Loop and 7 Day Ha Giang Loop tours.
Route Map
Happiness Rd runs some 185km from Ha Giang City in the West of Ha Giang to Meo Vac in the Northeast.
Why was it built?
This strip of road (185Km) connects then Ha Giang Town (now city) to the remote districts of Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van and Meo Vac. It is said that the road was built with the aim of helping the highlanders gain access to the plains. However, the cynic in me suggests that it was all about getting the rich mineral deposits from the highlands for the benefit of the lowlanders.
It would be without doubt that better communication links brought prosperity and a slow rise in living conditions to the highlanders. Interestingly, it wasn’t really until 2010 when the Ministry of Tourism really began to promote the Province that conditions really began to improve at any pace.
Before the road was built, there was obviously a route but it took many days on foot or by cart to get from Meo Vac to Ha Giang. The road improved this immensely. Happiness road certainly has enabled the highlanders to improve their lives at a much faster rate than if it wasn’t there.
Human Resources
The road was built between 1959 and 1965 by over 1,000 local ethnic workers in from 16 ethnic groups in Ha Giang Province. These highland workers had assistance from 1,300 volounteers from 6 mountain provinces (Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Lang Son, Thai Nguyen, Tuyen Quang, Ha Giang) and 2 delta provinces (Nam Dinh, Hai Duong).
Over the 7 years that it took, an estimated 2 million working days were poured into the construction and a recorded 14 lives were lost. There is a memorial cemetery in Yen Minh to commemorate those that died in the construction of the road.
The difficulty
In these times, there wasn’t any modern construction equipment. Even nowadays, you will see gangs of workers on the road using very antiquated tools. It was even worse back then, if you can imagine. Tools available were hoes, shovels crowbars, hammers and wheelbarrows and the only force, other than very dangerous mini mines, was manpower.
THe conditions
These workers had to suffer extreme heat in the sweltering Summer and icy cold in the Winter. On top of this, they frequently ran out of salt, fresh vegetables and clean water. The icing on the cake was that the work they were required to carry out was often extremely dangerous and there was no safety equipment.
The workers would joke that their path to ‘Happiness’ would be straight down into the Tu San Gorge and only when they were lying at the bottom would they achieve it.
The Journey
From its beginning in Ha Giang, Happiness road starts out with around 20Km of flat easy terrain. Then, it ascends and descends high mountain passes and winds along narrow mountain slopes. It creeps through thick pine forests in Yen Minh and up onto exposed karst Plateau through Dong Van before plunging down the Nho Que Valley into Meo Vac.
New Dangers
The old hazards have now been removed somewhat but there are new ones to contend with. Increased motorization and traffic on the road mean that you nee to pay close attention to other road users.
There is the occasionally landslide and the elements are as temperamental as ever. Watch out for mist, fog and heavy rain which will reduce visibility and most importantly: stopping distance.
When to Visit ?
Happiness Road is a wonderful road to drive no matter what season you visit. The Summer is hot and makes the waterfalls and streams inviting. The Winter is cold but dry and clear so offer excellent views. The Spring and Autumn can be changeable but generally offer the best of both worlds.
Sights such as: Heaven’s Gate, Bac Sum or Mau Due Pass are great to drive at any time. However, there are certain highlights at certain times of the year.
Sights such as: Heaven’s Gate, Bac Sum or Mau Due Pass are great to drive at any time. However, there are certain highlights at certain times of the year.
January – March: This is the season of Peach and Plum Blossom, and you may be able to see the horse fighting, dragon cage, and longevity festival of the Tay people. March is also when you can witness the bloom of the rice flowers.April: The love market of the Hmong ethnic people in Khau Vai takes place. This normally quiet place becomes a frenzy of young ethnic people bustling about in search of fun and maybe love.
May – June: This is considered to be the Water Season, when the paddy is filled with water and the sunlight shimmers on its surface. A particularly wonderful time for landscape photographers.
August – September: The paddy will have turned golden by now and will make the terrace look like a safe house in Fort Knox.
October – November: This is Buckwheat Flower season and field upon field will be filled with this bloom and young vietnamese tourists taking selfies.
December: Usually a very cool time in the mountains when you will need an extra layer and a warming bowl of the local specialties ‘Thang Co’ and Corn Wine to keep warm.
Allow yourself between 3 to 6 days to really explore the area and you will have an excellent time that will take a long time to forget.
