Ha Giang (Loop Tour) – quick travel guide

Beautiful mountain region of northern Vietnam with the infamous Ha Giang Loop motorbike tour.

Imagine yourself riding around beautiful green mountains with picturesque rice fields and colorfully-clothed local mountain people, zipping through local towns and markets as the mountain kids run along the street to yell “hello” and try to high-five you. Yes…it sounds exactly like a Disney Movie.

For anyone who’s ever done the motorbike tour, many will say it sits among the most memorable travel adventures they’ve ever had in their lives. And I’d have to agree. It’s because the mountain motorbiking experience is REAL! You’re not just sitting from the outside and taking photos. It’s you living the hilly mountain world through your bike, seeing their world as they see it. Experiencing their beauty as they live it.

If you got 3 precious days to spare, I guarantee the Ha Giang Loop is one you’ll remember for the rest of your lives. I can’t think of anything like this in any other country I’ve been.

Options for visiting Ha Giang (mountain city):

• Self tour – Get to the main city (Ha Giang) and from there, you tour through the region at your own pace (with your own bike probably). Traveling and stopping at viewpoints during the day, then settling down at a homestay or hotel during the nights (wherever you end up). It’s the nicest way to go and be able to enjoy all the viewpoints as much or as little as you please, traveling at your pace (not someone else’s). But can be difficult to plan (in your head) if you’ve never been there before. This is what I would do next time. Giving myself a solid 3-5 days. Maybe more if needed.
• Organized bus tour – these are many companies used by native Vietnamese and other Asians (almost no Westerners use these), also good for families (also with older folks or young kids). They are taken by bus throughout the mountains and stopping at viewpoints during the day, then arranged to stay at different places at night. The tour buses don’t fit at many roadside viewpoints so I think they’re such a fun way to experience Ha Giang. They stop at all the most touristy and busiest locations. However, they are indeed very safe.
• Motorbike tour – the popular one everyone does is the Jasmine Hostel motorbike tour. You can book it through your hostel in Hanoi or directly with Jasmine Hostel. I booked it through my hostel in Hanoi and everything was arranged…transportation to and from Ha Giang, bikes, gear, food, housing. You can choose 3 day (2 nights) or 4 day (3 nights) option. The tour starts in Ha Giang (mountain city) and you ride 100-150km each day, make scenic stops and breaks for food or gas or bathroom. At night, you party at a restaurant/homestay somewhere before going to sleep. It’s a ton of fun to do it as part of a group. Good friendships made along this beautiful adventure. (Don’t worry, there are many options for if you don’t want to drive a motorcycle.)

Unless you’re an old person and avoiding any potential of danger, the realistic and most exciting way to do this is via motorbike (not some coach bus). But should you ride by yourself or with a group?

Riding by yourself VS with a tour group.

Realistically, I highly recommend a tour group for many reasons:

• They know the route, so you don’t risk getting lost and stranded somewhere (without gasoline, mobile reception, language translation, etc).
• It’s a group so you get to make friends and do it with other people, everyone looking out for each other.
• They can fix your bike quickly if it has any issues. I had a flat tire, and then later a nail in my tire, and also a situation where my bike was nearly out of gas. They easily remedied by switching out my bike and having one of the tour guides ride my compromised bike slowly down the hill for repair (so I could continue on the tour without any issues).
• They have all gear available. Bikes, helmets, gas, jackets, pads, gloves (even phonescreen-compatible ones), bike straps, etc. You don’t have to worry about renting or buying any of these.
• They have many rider options. You can ride solo on your bike. You can ride 2 ppl on one bike (I recommend this so you can take turns, one riding and other taking photos/videos. Also keeping each other company.) You can also choose “easyrider” option which is a tour guide rides for you while you sit in the back. You can also do the self-ride option but then later change your mind and ask for an easy-rider for the next day, and they bring one out for you (if avail).

Doing your own tour has these benefits:

• You can stop whenever you want. The tour group stops at only the major stops and very few minor ones. But along the way, you will see MANY MANY beautiful locations that the tour group won’t stop at. And you’ll wish you could, even for just a quick photo.
• You can really go at your own pace. The tour group tells you to go slow and at your comfortable rate but sometimes you feel pressured to keep up with the group, riding faster than you’d like.
• You can eat and stay wherever you’d like. Maybe you want to eat and stay at fancier places.
• You want to go earlier, faster or farther. The tour group moves very slowly. Waking up is 2 hours, eating breakfast or lunch is 2 hours, getting gas is an hour, pee breaks are 45 mins. This is the hassle of moving in a group. If you were alone, you could easily wake up at 8am and be on the road at 8:30am (instead of 11am like with the group). These extra hours means more precious daylight to ride and make more stops, even as you ride at a slower pace.
• Just know that you’ll need a semi-automatic bike (necessary for switching gears for going up or down hills).

How to book your motorbike tour:

Obviously, how you book it depends on how you’re doing it. If you’re doing the classic Jasmine Hostel motorbike tour, you can book through them directly or through your hostel. Nothing else to worry about. Your hostel will explain the logistics of everything. (And may even give you a free stay afterwards to ease the deal.)

If you’re booking things yourself. Then you can follow my common tour route below. It’s copied directly from the Jasmine Hostel Ha Giang Loop tour map. You just need to get transportation to Ha Giang and from there you’ll rent your bikes.

The common tour route:

I share this route so you can do the exact same route on your own, if you prefer. You don’t have to stay and eat at the exact same places, you can go do different ones. Kinda easy to know where to stop as you’ll see many other riders pulling over to take photos.

DAY 1:

• Ha Giang (city) – start here with full tank of gas. Eat breakfast. The official tour starts in Jasmine Hostel and it’s a big mess of people everyday doing this tour.
• Bac Sum Pass – stop and take photo of windy road. Around here (I forgot if before or past the Bac Sum Pass) is also a nice view of rice fields on the mountains.
• Heaven’s Gate Fairy Bosom – make a stop when you can see the mountains over the Tam Son town (pastel-colored buildings).
• Tam Son town – eat here. Our group ate at Nha Hang Lan Anh restaurant but of course, you can eat anywhere.
• Lung Khuy Cave – visit and go inside.
• Can Ty viewpoint – I don’t know the official name of the viewpoint but there’s one with lots of people looking out.
• Nam Dam – cultural village stop. (It’s on the tour map but I don’t remember this stop. Maybe we only drove through?)
• Lung Tam – looks like a textile-craftsman stop? (It’s on the tour map but I don’t remember this stop. Maybe we only drove through?)
• Lao Va Chai – just passing through.
• Yen Minh (city) – stop here for dinner and spend the night (preferably at a homestay with a restaurant). Our tour stayed at Bong Bang Homestay (it’s kind of a party scene with tons of foreigners drinking and loud music). Because our group was so big, some stayed at Na Ma Hotel, we all ate at Na Ma. We ate at Bong Bang Homestay, nice big restaurant and fireplaces, nice vibe. Might be a good idea to fill your tank if there’s no one at the station, but you might also be starving and dying for food.

DAY 2:

• Yen Minh – get gas and eat breakfast at your homestay. You could also get gas the night before too when there’s less people.
• Tham Ma Pass viewpoint – see the famous winding mountain road.
• Lao Sa Village – check out unique houses of H’Mong people and
• Lung Cu

DAY 3:

TIPS

• Rent a jacket if you’re going during cold season.
• Don’t wear nice clothes that you don’t want to get damaged. One little fall will tear your clothes.
• Choose gloves that are touchscreen compatible, so you don’t have to keep removing your gloves to open your phone. Don’t choose the big puffy ski gloves! The thin cloth city ones are fine!
• It’s true that the locals drive crazy. Bikes, cars, animals, kids, people, all kinds of things will cross your way. Be prepared to react!
• Honk a lot. It gets everyone’s attention and lets them know you’re a foreigner to be careful of you! Hahaha.

Restaurants, Cafes, Bars & Clubs:

How dangerous is the Ha Giang Loop motorbike tour?

Because let’s not fuck around. It’s dangerous. People get hurt. And sometimes, people die. But let’s cover what the risks are, and how to mitigate them.

• Not for beginner riders – if you have zero experience riding a bike, like not even a week’s prior experience in Vietnam…then I don’t recommend you riding your own bike on this. Better to go with the “easyrider” option so you can enjoy the thrill of a bike without the risks.
• Speeding – you’ll feel tempted to over-take other vehicles to keep up with your group. This happens no matter what you do because locals and other vehicles, cars, animals, etc, will keep cutting in front of you and pushing you further back from the rider in front of you. I heard of locals dying because they tried to overtake aggressively (sometimes in around turns where they can’t see ahead) and DIED running into an oncoming car on the other side.
• Braking – this is the other most common way to get injured. You’re riding just fine but the rider in front of you brakes or loses control or runs into something/someone, and now YOU have to suddenly brake. This sudden braking (especially when bad visibility or wet/dirt ground) can cause you to lose traction and fall. The easy solution is to keep a safe enough distance so you have time to brake in a controlled/relaxed manner. I understand it’s hard when you feel the need to keep up with the group.
• Visibility – a rider has died before because it was so cloudy that he didn’t see the road turning and he ran himself right off the cliff. Just check the weather before you book your tour. Aim for clear sunny skies instead of cloudy/rainy weather.
• Rain – wet floor means less traction, means dangerous! It also makes things less visible and your photos aren’t as nice. Avoid going during rainy weather!
• People/vehicles in the way – just honk a lot when you’re passing people or going around turns. This will make everyone else aware of you and get out of your way.
• Motorbike malfunction – please pay attention to your tires and brakes every stop. Make sure your tires aren’t flat or have a nail in them.

Unfiltered notes: