Triệu Thúy Kiều

Thúy Kiều (Grace) is a travel blogger and content contributor for Loop Trails Tours Ha Giang. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Sustainable Tourism from Vietnam National University, Hanoi, and has a strong passion for exploring and promoting responsible travel experiences in Vietnam’s northern highlands.

August 20, 2026
3:09 pm

Khau Coc Cha Pass: Riding the 15 Tier Road in Cao Bang

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop Tours

The first time you see Khau Coc Cha Pass properly is not from a saddle. It is from a hillside above it, after a walk that leaves you slightly out of breath, when the road below suddenly stops looking like a road and starts looking like something dropped on the mountain and left to unravel.

Photographs of it circulate constantly on Vietnamese social media, usually with a caption about conquering something. The photographs are not exaggerated. What they leave out is that the pass is short, that riding it is far less frightening than looking at it, and that the best part of the day is the walk to the viewpoint rather than the ride itself.

This guide covers what the pass is, where it sits, how to ride or drive it sensibly, how to reach the viewpoint, and how to build a trip that includes it without wasting two days getting there. We run guests over this road regularly on the route between Ha Giang and Cao Bang, so everything below is what we would tell you at the briefing.

What Khau Coc Cha actually is

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop 2 Days 1 Night

Khau Coc Cha is a short, steep pass in Xuan Truong, in the Bao Lac area of Cao Bang province, in the far northwest corner of the province close to the border with China. It runs roughly 2.5 kilometres, which is nothing, and packs an absurd amount of altitude change into that distance.

For years it has been the main road link between the Xuan Truong valley and Bao Lac town, which explains its shape. This was never built as a tourist attraction. It was built because people on one side of the mountain needed to get to the market, the clinic and the school on the other side.

You will see it signposted on National Highway 4A. Road numbering across the northern provinces has been reorganised more than once, so trust the signposts and your offline map rather than a road number you read in an old forum post.

14 bends or 15 tiers, and why the name keeps changing

This is the single most confusing thing about the pass online, so here is the short version.

The road has 14 hairpin bends, the tight kind Vietnamese riders call sleeve bends. Those 14 bends divide the climb into 15 tiers, which is why Vietnamese travellers almost always call it the 15 storey pass, or deo 15 tang. Both numbers are correct. They are counting different things.

The names multiply from there:

Khau Coc Cha is the local Tay name. Khau means pass, and Coc Cha is the name of a Tay hamlet up at the top.
Me Pia, sometimes written Me Pja or Mo Pia, is the name you will see on older maps, blogs and some road signs.
The 15 storey pass or the 14 hairpin pass is what most tour listings use in English.

They all refer to the same 2.5 kilometres of road. If a guesthouse owner in Bao Lac corrects your pronunciation, take the correction and move on. Everyone up there understands what you are pointing at.

From goat track to asphalt

Before the road existed, this mountain was crossed by a horse and foot trail reported to be around 40 centimetres wide in places, which is the width of a large suitcase. People carried goods over it, walked children to school over it, and in bad weather simply did not cross.

The pass as you ride it now was built between roughly 2009 and 2011, widened to about five metres and surfaced with asphalt, with the hairpins opened out to make them passable for vehicles. Older residents in Bao Lac will tell you that before that, rain meant sleeping on the wrong side of the mountain and going home the next day.

Knowing this changes how the road feels. Those 14 bends are not a design flourish. They are the only way to get a truck up a cliff.

Where the pass is and how it fits your route

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop 3 Days 2 Nights

Khau Coc Cha is not somewhere you pass by accident. It sits in a corner of the northeast that most itineraries skip, which is exactly why it is still quiet. There are three sensible ways to reach it.

Coming from Ha Giang and Meo Vac

This is how most of our guests arrive, and it is the version we recommend. Once you have finished the Ha Giang Loop and reached Meo Vac, the road east toward Bao Lac takes you into Cao Bang province, and Khau Coc Cha lands neatly in the middle of that day.

It turns what most travellers treat as a boring transfer between two regions into one of the better riding days of the trip. Exact routing between Meo Vac and Bao Lac varies with roadworks and seasonal repairs, so confirm the current best option locally on the morning rather than committing to a line you drew on a map at home.

Coming from Cao Bang city and Ban Gioc

From the eastern side of the province, where Ban Gioc Waterfall and Nguom Ngao Cave are, the pass sits around 90 kilometres away in the northwest, following the Gam River valley. Mountain kilometres are slow kilometres, so treat this as a proper travel day rather than a morning excursion, and do not plan an evening activity at the far end.

This direction suits travellers doing a Cao Bang loop who want the pass as the wild card in the middle of a trip built around waterfalls and caves.

Getting there without your own vehicle

Public transport in this corner of the province is limited and not built around visitors. There are local buses and shared vans between Cao Bang and Bao Lac, and connections onward to Xuan Truong are irregular. Independent travellers usually end up negotiating a private car or a xe om for the last stretch, which works, but costs more than people expect and eats a lot of the day.

If you do not have your own transport, joining a tour or hiring a car with a driver is honestly the simpler answer here. This is the one part of the northeast where doing it yourself is not obviously cheaper.

One naming note: Vietnam reorganised its provinces and abolished the district level in 2025. Cao Bang kept its name, but you may now see the location written as Xuan Truong, Cao Bang rather than Bao Lac district. The road, the town and the pass are unchanged.

Working out how to slot this into your trip? Our Ha Giang and Cao Bang combined tours cross this pass on the transfer day, and our Cao Bang tours reach it from the eastern side. Send us your dates and we will tell you which direction makes more sense for the days you have.

The viewpoint walk that makes the photograph

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop 4 Days 3 Nights

Riding the pass is fun. Seeing it is the reason to come, and you cannot see it from the road. From behind the handlebars you experience 14 corners in sequence and have no idea what you just rode. The view is from the hillside opposite.

Here is how it works. On the stretch between the Xuan Truong valley and the top of the descent toward Bao Lac, there is a small family run drinks and snacks stall with a wide yard. Everyone parks there, motorbikes and cars alike, and the owners are used to travellers asking about the walk. Buy a drink. It is the fairest way to thank the family who cleared and marked this path in the first place, back when it was their goat track.

From near the stall, a walking trail of roughly two kilometres climbs to the panorama point. The local authority upgraded the path in 2024, so it is a clearer and safer route than the scramble that earlier visitors describe, but manage your expectations:

It is genuinely uphill, and the last section is steeper and rockier than the first.
After rain it is slippery. Rock and mud on a slope do not care how good your trainers look.
There is no shade for long stretches. Take water, even in cool weather.
Give yourself far more time than you think. Rushing it is how people turn an ankle in a place with no ambulance.

At the top there is a viewing spot with a simple built up ledge, and this is where the road finally makes sense: the full stack of bends folded down the mountainside, the valley behind, and usually a couple of Vietnamese photographers waiting for a truck to appear on one of the middle bends for scale.

Wear proper shoes for this. Not sandals, not new white sneakers, ideally something with ankle support and a real sole. It is the single most common thing people get wrong here.

Riding the pass: what it is really like

Learn more: Ha Giang Cao Bang 5 Days 4 Nights

The internet calls Khau Coc Cha one of the most dangerous roads in Vietnam. That framing sells clicks. The truthful version: it is a well surfaced, reasonably wide modern road with a steep gradient and a lot of tight corners, and it is entirely manageable if you ride within your ability and do not treat it as a race track.

What actually makes it demanding is not the corners. It is the gradient, and what a long steep descent does to brakes and to concentration.

Going down toward Bao Lac

The descent is where care matters most.

Use engine braking. Drop to a low gear at the top and let the engine hold you back instead of riding the brake lever all the way down. Continuous braking on a long descent heats brakes and makes them fade exactly when you need them.
Take the hairpins wide on entry and tight on exit, and look through the corner to where you want to end up, not at the edge you are worried about.
Assume every blind bend has something in it: a truck taking the whole width, a dog, a cow, a kid on a bicycle. Locals often sound the horn before a blind corner, which is not aggression. Do the same.
Do not stop in the middle of a corner for a photo. If you want a picture, ride through the bend and pull in somewhere with sight lines.

Coming up from Bao Lac

Climbing is easier and less nerve testing than descending, though it is harder on the machine. Keep the revs sensible, stay in a gear that pulls without labouring, and give any vehicle ahead of you room rather than trying to pass on a bend.

If you are two people on one bike with luggage, expect the climb to feel slow. That is normal.

Before you ride it at all

Check your brakes properly at the start of the day, front and rear. Check tyre condition. If you rented the bike and something feels vague or spongy, do not tell yourself it will be fine on a descent like this one. Swap the bike or get it fixed. Any decent rental operation, ours included, would rather fix it in the morning than get a phone call in the afternoon.

Which option is best for you: easy rider, self drive or jeep

Learn more: Cao Bang Loop 3 Days best kept secret

Three honest profiles. Pick the one that describes you on an average day, not on your best day.

Easy rider, riding pillion behind a local driver. The right answer for most visitors. You get the full experience of the road, you can actually look at the valley on the way down, and someone who rides this pass regularly is handling the gradient. Also the best choice if you want photographs from the bike, because you have hands free and no responsibility.

Self drive. Good fun if you ride a manual or semi automatic bike regularly at home and are comfortable with steep descents, loose gravel at the edges and mountain traffic. This pass is not the place to learn hill starts or to discover how engine braking works. Be honest with yourself: experience on a flat island on an automatic scooter does not transfer to this.

Jeep. The pass is fully drivable in a 4×4, and this is the option for couples, families, non riders, anyone visiting in the wet months, and anyone who wants the viewpoint walk without a long ride beforehand. You lose the wind in your face and you gain a roof, a seat and somewhere dry to leave your bag while you walk up to the viewpoint.

Mixed groups work fine. We regularly run a day where two people ride, one rides pillion and the rest follow in a jeep, all stopping at the same places.

Best time of year, best time of day

Learn more: Ha Giang Cao Bang 6 Days 5 Nights

September to November is the strongest window. Air is clearer, the light is sharper, the road is dry and the valley is at its greenest after the rains. This is also when the panorama shot works best, because haze is what usually ruins it.

March to May is the second choice: warm, mostly dry early in the period, with storms building toward the end.

June to August is green, dramatic and wet. The road itself handles rain well, but the viewpoint trail becomes slippery and cloud regularly sits on the ridge, so you can climb for an hour and see nothing. If you travel in these months, keep the day flexible and consider the jeep option.

December to February brings cold, fog and beautiful clear spells in between. Bring real layers. Riders underestimate how cold a long descent is at altitude in winter.

As for time of day: go in the morning. Light on the road face is better, haze builds through the afternoon, and you want the walk done before the heat. Weather in these mountains changes fast and locally, so check the forecast the night before and ask at your guesthouse in the morning.

What else is worth your time around Bao Lac

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop Easy Rider

The mistake is treating Khau Coc Cha as a single photo stop and leaving. The area around it rewards a slower approach.

Bao Lac town. A small riverside town on the Gam, warm compared with the plateau, with a market and a handful of decent places to eat. It is the natural overnight base for this part of the route.
Lo Lo villages. There are Lo Lo communities in the hills around Bao Lac, and some run homestays. Textiles here are distinctive and genuinely handmade, and the villages are quiet in a way that Ha Giang’s more visited valleys no longer are.
The Gam River valley. The road along the river between Bao Lac and Bao Lam is beautiful and almost empty, and it is the natural continuation if you are heading west toward Ha Giang.
Market days. Rural markets in this region run on rotating schedules rather than fixed weekly patterns everywhere, so ask locally rather than planning your route around a market day you read about online. When you land on one, it is the best morning of the trip.
Onward east. Heading toward Cao Bang city, the road passes through Nguyen Binh, with the pine forest and old French villas at Phia Oac and Phia Den worth a detour if you have the day.

Where to sleep and eat nearby

Learn more: Best time to visit Cao Bang

Accommodation is simple in this corner of the province and that is part of the appeal.

Bao Lac town has small hotels and guesthouses, the most options in the immediate area, plus the best chance of a hot shower with reliable pressure.
Homestays in the surrounding villages give you dinner with the family, which is the better experience if you do not mind a mattress on a wooden floor and an early wake up from roosters.
Xuan Truong side has fewer beds. If you are planning to sleep near the pass rather than in town, arrange it in advance rather than turning up and hoping.

Food is Vietnamese home cooking: grilled meat, river fish, wild greens, sticky rice, noodle soup for breakfast. Vegetarians will manage but should say so clearly and early, and it helps to have the phrase written down in Vietnamese. Corn liquor appears at dinner in villages whether you asked for it or not. Enjoy it after the riding is done, not before.

What to pack for this particular day

Learn more: Ha Giang Cao Bang Packing List

Beyond your normal trip packing, this specific day asks for:

Shoes with grip. For the viewpoint walk. Repeated because it matters most.
Water, more than you think. There is a stall at the bottom of the trail and nothing on the way up.
A rain layer. Mountain weather turns fast, and a wet descent on a cold day is miserable without one.
Sun protection. The trail is exposed and altitude sun is stronger than it feels.
A power bank. You will take more photos here than anywhere else on the route.
Cash in small notes. For drinks, parking, snacks and any local fee.
A camera setting you understand. The classic shot is high contrast, with bright sky and a dark valley. If you shoot on a phone, tap to expose for the road, not the sky.

Leave the drone question until you have read the next section.

Paperwork, borders and rules to check before you go

Learn more: Ha Giang Border Area Permit 2026

Two things travellers regularly get wrong up here.

Border areas. Bao Lac sits in a border district facing China, and Vietnam regulates foreign access to border zones across the whole northern frontier. Ha Giang’s border area permit requirement has been enforced noticeably more strictly since 2026, and requirements elsewhere along the border can change with little notice. Ask your operator or guesthouse what applies to your exact route on your exact dates, and carry your passport rather than a photo of it. Rules change: check the latest updates before you travel rather than trusting any blog, including this one.

Drones. Vietnam regulates drone flight, and border regions are sensitive by definition. Do not assume that because you saw drone footage of this pass online, flying here is unrestricted or that permission was obtained. Check the current rules and ask locally before you launch anything. Getting this wrong turns a good day into a long conversation with people who are not interested in your content schedule.

Mistakes people make at Khau Coc Cha

Learn more: Ha Giang Motorbike Rental

Arriving with no time. People build a schedule that has them reaching the pass late in the afternoon with a long ride still ahead, then skip the viewpoint walk, which is the whole point.
Wearing the wrong shoes. Said three times in this article for a reason.
Riding it tired. This road comes at the end of a long transfer day for most travellers. Fatigue, not gradient, is what causes problems on descents.
Stopping badly. Parking on a bend for a photo, or standing in the road to get the shot. Every bend here is blind to someone.
Assuming the panorama is roadside. It is a two kilometre uphill walk. Travellers who did not know that arrive in flip flops and leave disappointed.
Trying to do it as a day trip from Cao Bang city. Possible in theory, exhausting in practice, and you will spend the whole day in transit for one hour of pass.
Underestimating the weather. Fog can hide the entire road. Build a flexible morning so you can wait an hour if the cloud looks like lifting.

On operators and prices, keep it simple rather than paranoid. Agree what is included before you pay, get the itinerary in writing, photograph any rental vehicle before you take it including existing damage, and be cautious about prices far below everyone else’s, because something has been removed to reach that number and it is usually maintenance or driver experience.

Two ways to build a trip around the pass

Learn more: Ban Gioc Waterfall Guide

Option one: the Ha Giang and Cao Bang combination. Ride the Ha Giang Loop, cross east through Bao Lac with Khau Coc Cha as the highlight of the transfer day, then finish with Ban Gioc Waterfall, Nguom Ngao Cave and the quieter Cao Bang landscapes. This is the most efficient way to include the pass, because it is on the way rather than a detour. It typically needs five or six days from Ha Giang city.

Option two: a Cao Bang focused loop. Base the trip in Cao Bang province: waterfall and cave in the east, the pass and Bao Lac in the west, Phia Oac and Nguyen Binh in the middle. Fewer travellers, more forest and river, and a slower pace. Good for anyone who has already done Ha Giang and wants something different.

Either way, do not try to squeeze this pass into a trip that is already full. Travellers who add it to a packed schedule end up seeing it through a windscreen at speed, which is a strange thing to travel this far for.

Ride it with Loop Trails

Learn more: Ha Giang Loop by Wrangler Rubicon Jeep

You can absolutely do this independently. If you ride confidently, have your own transport and a few flexible days, the information above is everything we would tell a friend before they set off.

Where we come in:

Crossing from Ha Giang to Cao Bang with the pass built in: see our Ha Giang and Cao Bang combined tours.
Cao Bang on its own, at a slower pace: see our Cao Bang tours.
Just finished the Loop and want to keep going east: our Ha Giang Loop tours can extend into the Cao Bang route rather than turning back to Ha Giang city.
Confident rider who wants a good bike and a proper route briefing: see motorbike rental in Ha Giang.

Tell us your dates, your riding experience and who is travelling with you, and we will tell you honestly which version fits, including when the answer is that your schedule is too tight to do this properly. Message us on WhatsApp at [insert WhatsApp number] or through the contact page.

Once your dates are confirmed, book early. Most guests book one to three months ahead, and jeep availability in particular runs out well before motorbike availability does.

faq

Where exactly is Khau Coc Cha Pass?

It is in Xuan Truong, in the Bao Lac area of Cao Bang province, in the far northwest of the province near the Chinese border. It links the Xuan Truong valley with Bao Lac town and sits roughly 90 kilometres from Cao Bang city. Since the 2025 administrative reform you may see the address written without the district name.

Does it have 14 bends or 15?

Both numbers are right. The road has 14 hairpin bends, and those bends divide the climb into 15 tiers, which is why Vietnamese travellers call it the 15 storey pass. English listings use either count depending on what they are describing.

Is Khau Coc Cha the same as Me Pia Pass?

Yes. Khau Coc Cha is the local Tay name, Me Pia or Me Pja is the older and widely used alternative, and the 15 storey pass is the common Vietnamese nickname. All three refer to the same stretch of road.

Is the pass dangerous to ride?

It is steep with many tight corners, but the surface is modern and the road is reasonably wide. The real risks are overheated brakes on the descent, blind corners with oncoming trucks, and tired riders. Ride within your ability, use engine braking, and it is very manageable.

Can I drive it in a car or jeep?

Yes. The pass was widened and paved specifically so vehicles could use it, and 4x4s cross it regularly. Larger vehicles need care on the hairpins, and this is the standard choice for non riders, families and anyone travelling in the rainy season.

How do I get the famous panorama photo?

Not from the road. Park at the family run stall near the top and walk the trail of roughly two kilometres to the hillside viewpoint opposite the pass. The path was upgraded in 2024, but it is uphill, rocky in places and slippery after rain, so wear shoes with grip and take water.

How long should I allow at the pass?

Allow a couple of hours if you want to walk to the viewpoint, take photographs and have a drink at the stall. If you only ride through, it takes minutes, which is exactly why so many travellers leave feeling they missed something.

What is the best time of year to visit?

September to November gives the clearest air and the best visibility for photographs. March to May is the next best. Summer is wet with a slippery trail and low cloud, and winter brings cold and fog with some beautiful clear windows.

Can I visit Khau Coc Cha as a day trip from Cao Bang city?

Technically yes, realistically no. The distance and the mountain roads mean you would spend almost the entire day travelling for a short visit. It works far better as part of a route that continues west toward Bao Lac and Ha Giang, or as an overnight stop.

Do I need a permit for this area?

Bao Lac is a border district, and Vietnam regulates foreign access to border zones along the northern frontier. Requirements vary by area and have been enforced more tightly since 2026, so confirm what applies to your exact route and dates with your operator before you travel.

Can I fly a drone over the pass?

Vietnam regulates drone use and border regions are sensitive, so do not assume that footage you have seen online was filmed with permission. Check the current rules and ask locally before flying.

Is it worth going out of my way for?

If you like mountain roads, yes, and especially if you combine it with the Ha Giang Loop so it sits on your route rather than being a detour. If your trip is already packed and you would only see it briefly from a moving vehicle, save it for a trip with more room in it.