Intrepid tourists may for decades to come continue to drive up the picturesque but hazardous and winding Hai Van Pass highway in central Vietnam that overlooks the South China sea.
But truckers and other motorists seeking to be rid of a major ordeal on a key route linking the north and south of Vietnam will soon have the option of a quick dash in under ten minutes through a spanking new tunnel.
The 6.3km infrastructure project, set to open to the public in June after a series of delays, cuts 15km of nervous driving on some steep slopes and hairpin bends along the majestic mountain, an accident blackspot which sees three or four traffic accidents each month, many serious.
But more importantly, the feat of engineering represents a giant technological leap for this rapidly developing communist nation, as well as promising economic benefits to Vietnam's central region.
"I am very happy, very proud," says Nguyen Ngoc Canh, the diminutive project manager of the tunnel, chuckling contentedly as he strides under the shadow of the 1,172m tall Hai Van Massif.
"This is a very new technology project for Vietnam," Canh told reporters. Parts of the highway on the Hai Van Pass -- literally "Pass of the Ocean Cloud" as the mountain plunges into the South China Sea -- rise to heights of about 475m above sea level. The tunnel is also part of key improvements to a major road link to Laos, Thailand and Myanmar.
The inside of the tunnel, which has been built with Japanese loans and technology, can hold its own against similar structures in such developed places as Hong Kong and Singapore in terms of equipment and safety facilities.
"It is the longest highway tunnel in Southeast Asia," says Canh.
Although dwarfed by land and undersea tunnels in Japan, the Hai Van tunnel is an important landmark for Vietnam.
"This will bring about major economic and social changes to the region," says Masayuki Karasawa, chief representative of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) in Hanoi, which financed the project.
The tunnel, which has been in construction since 2000, "will solve a bottleneck [and allow] for smooth traffic, cut travel time and costs significantly, and facilitate to take goods and services through the corridor to the gateway to the sea at Danang Port," says Karasawa.
As the most important port city in central Vietnam, Danang is striving to become an industrial hub.
Situated about 750km south of Hanoi and 950km north of the southern business capital Ho Chi Minh City, it is linked to all important Vietnamese cities by rail.
But Danang has failed so far to become a real third hub of development in Vietnam, after Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City.
However, given the emphasis by Vietnam's leadership on developing the central regions and with the road link-up to Thailand through Laos, Danang and nearby areas are on the verge of rapid growth, suggests William Costin, of the Asian Development Bank (ADB).
"I have absolutely no doubt that with these improvements [to the link] and the Hai Van tunnel there will be considerable opportunities and benefits to Danang and the surrounding areas in central Vietnam," says Costin, head of infrastructure, urban development and social sectors in ADB's Hanoi mission.
The tunnel, situated on Highway No. 1, which goes all the way from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City, nearly 1,800km away, cost US$200 million and JBIC covered the amount.
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