Tham Ma slope

The first time you see Tham Ma from the top, you understand why everyone stops. The road drops away below you in a series of tight switchbacks, carving back and forth down the hillside like someone drew it with a pencil, changed their mind, and drew it again. In the background, the grey karst mountains of the plateau stretch to the horizon. It is one of those views that looks almost engineered to be photographed.

Tham Ma sits on the main road from Yen Minh towards Dong Van, and nearly every Loop itinerary passes over it. The viewpoint at the top is a small pull-off on the right side of the road (heading north), with space for a few cars and bikes. From here you look down and back at the road you have just climbed — or are about to descend.

It is a real road, not a tourist attraction. Trucks, buses and local traffic use it every day, and the bends are tight enough that large vehicles take them slowly and sometimes swing wide. If you stop for photos, pull well off the road. Don't stand in the middle of a bend, and don't walk down the road itself for a different angle — drivers coming around the corner cannot see you.

The light matters here. In the morning, heading north, the sun is behind you and the road is lit evenly — good for photography. By afternoon the slopes fall into shadow. In the rainy season, cloud can sit in the valley and hide the lower bends entirely, which is atmospheric but means you may not see the full road.

You may see children at the viewpoint offering to pose with flower baskets for money. Please don't pay for photos of children — it pulls them out of school and onto the roadside. See our [Visitor Pledge](/visitor-pledge/) for more on this.

The slope is sometimes confused with Chin Khoanh ("nine coils"), which is a different set of bends on the road from Pho Cao to Sung La. Both are worth seeing, but they are in different places. Tham Ma is on the main north–south road; Chin Khoanh is on a side route to the east.