Trekking to explore the ancient stone roads of Pavie

With a history spanning over a hundred years, the legendary Pavie ancient stone road, nestled deep within the vast forest and winding through the majestic Nhiu Co San mountain range, connects Sang Ma Sao commune (Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province) with Sin Suoi Ho commune (Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province)... attracting adventurous and courageous tourists.

The summit of Nhíu Cồ San (Buffalo Horn) mountain - where the ancient Pavie stone road is located along the way.

When it was first built, the Pavie stone road had a total length of about 80 km, serving as a vital transportation artery for people and horses traveling between Lao Cai and Lai Chau and vice versa. This stone road was commissioned by the French Governor Auguste Jean-Marie Pavie (hence the name Pavie) in 1920 and took seven years to construct. It consisted of numerous large slabs, boulders, and pebbles stacked together, with many sections up to 3 meters wide, winding through primeval forests and cardamom plantations… across the high mountain ranges of the Northwest region.

The group of tourists trekking Pavie and the locals of Sin Suoi Ho village said goodbye at the beginning of the Pavie rocky trekking route.

The Pavie stone road is beautiful and not too steep, even featuring an airfield on the vast plain near Nhiu Co San village for gathering and transporting goods. Although it was surveyed and supervised by the Governor of Pavie, the Hmong residents living there assert that their ancestors had previously conquered the peak of Nhiu Co San using this route and had explored the land extending to Lai Chau. The French simply borrowed the Hmong's route to create the Pavie road. And it was the Hmong who were forced into labor to quarry stones from the peak of Nhiu Co San to pave the road through the mountains...

Stream in the deep forest

Currently, the Hmong people in Nhiu Co San village (Sang Ma Sao commune, Bat Xat district , Lao Cai province) and the Hmong people in Sang Ma Pho village (Sin Suoi Ho commune, Phong Tho district, Lai Chau province) have close family ties and frequently visit each other... If traveling along national and provincial roads from Sang Ma Pho to Sang Ma Sao, the distance is about 150 km, but if using the ancient Pavie stone road, the distance is shortened to just over 20 km through the forest.

Our H'Mông tour guide, Giàng A Ku, at Gió Pass (also known as Chết Rét Pass), the border between Lào Cai and Lai Châu provinces, said that behind it is a wind-blown grave where everyone passing by piles dry grass to pray for peace.

We chose to start our trekking (a challenging trek requiring physical fitness) along the ancient stone path from Sang Ma Pho village because the average slope of the entire route is gentle and descending. This section of the Pavie ancient stone path is located in the Bat Xat Nature Reserve, is about 11 km long, deep in the forest, almost completely untouched, and rarely visited. There are sections of the path covered in lush green moss, vast and deserted forests, and parasitic plants clinging to ancient trees…

The scenery of the ancient Pavie cobblestone streets is picturesque.

The route also passed by several babbling streams, patches of cardamom plants with budding pink blossoms, young shoots on the forest canopy, lush green wild vegetables, the melodious chirping of birds in the misty skies, sunlight filtering through layers of trees... along with eerie stories about Bai Sau, the Frozen Pass, the Hunger Pass… all of which captivated our journey with the mystery of these fairytale landscapes… causing shouts and hearty laughter to echo to the heavens…

This is the place associated with the legend of the Starvation Pass, where everyone who passed through left behind some food or water in the hope of being well-fed.

However, while trekking the ancient Pavie stone path was comfortable, the more than 10 km journey by motorbike, driven by local youths, from Sin Suoi Ho village (where we spent the night) to Sang Ma Pho village (where the trekking began); and another 10 km from the trekking end point through Nhiu Co San village to the center of Sang Ma Sao commune (where road construction is underway), was a real test of courage. This was because the road had high mountains on one side and deep ravines on the other, with the wheels bouncing over rocks on a road that was less than half a meter wide in some places…

Sunset at the end of the trekking route.

But in return, after a day of trekking and reaching the destination at the center of Muong Hum commune (Bat Xat district, Lao Cai province), everyone in the trekking group felt joyful and proud of the experiences on a path where the past and present, though quiet, hold precious historical and humanistic values; and promise to bring even more socio -economic benefits in the near future...

Source: https://baolamdong.vn/du-lich/202504/trekking-kham-pha-duong-da-co-pavie-09f3472/