Ha Giang Loop and Hanoi, Vietnam

Ha Giang Province

We made our way from the cafe in Hanoi to the pick up point where we would grab the bus that would take us north to Ha Giang. The Ha Giang Loop is a scenic drive through the mountains, rice fields, and small villages in the very northern part of Vietnam, close to the Chinese border. The loop has become really famous and a popular destination for travelers, especially in the last decade or so, and we had so many people tell us it was one of the best things they've ever done traveling. We knew going in to our trip that it was something we wanted to do, but at first we weren't sure how we would be able to do it since neither of us had much experience driving motorbikes, and definitely didn't want to learn how to do it on twisting mountain roads in rural Vietnam. Luckily, a lot of people feel the same way, and there are many tour operators now that offer an "easy-rider" option for the Ha Giang Loop where you can be a passenger on the back of the bike with a local driver. We talked to a lot of fellow travelers and did some research to find which tour operator we wanted to go with, since there are a lot of options. Some of them have a reputation for being more of a "party" with large groups and a younger crowd, which we weren't really looking for. We ended up picking a company called BiBi that had a reputation for having smaller group sizes and a slightly older (i.e., not 20 year old) crowd. One of the benefits of going with a tour like this was that they coordinated transportation to Ha Giang from Hanoi and back and all of our food/accommodation during the tour. All we had to do was catch this bus and then we could (literally) sit back and enjoy the ride for the next four days.

At our bus pick-up spot we were initially rushed into a crowded van and everyone was worried that this was how we were getting to Ha Gang which was about 6 hours away. Thankfully after 40 minutes, the van pulled over and we switched to a very nice bus with reclining leather chairs and headed to Ha Giang. We still didn't know who would be on our tour because there were people from various tour companies on the bus. We had chips and peanut butter sandwiches with fruit as dinner on the bus and were dropped off right in front of our hostel in Ha Giang around 9pm. We were given our beds in a dorm room, repacked our day packs for the next few days (we'd be leaving the big bags behind), and then headed to bed since we had an early wake up in the morning to start the tour.

In the morning, we got our things in order, paid for our tour, and had breakfast while we waited to get assigned into our tour groups. There was a poor guy in our dorm room who was in and out of the bathroom all night throwing up that we assumed was from food poisoning, so we felt bad for him but were really glad we had stuck with our peanut butter sandwiches the night before! After breakfast we got paired up with two other couples, Sam and Remy from Chicago, and Julie and Facundo from Argentina. This would be our "core" group who we would be driving with, but there were also two other groups that were part of our larger team who we would see occasionally on the road and in the evenings at our guesthouses.

Once in our group, we met the drivers we would be with for the next four days. Melissa was paired with Lee who was the leader of our group since he could speak good English and Carson was paired with Minh. Minh couldn't speak much English, but he was super friendly and hilarious and he and Carson immediately hit it off. We put on our safety gear, strapped our backpacks to the back of the bikes, and headed off. We made our way out of town and then started working our way up through the mountains where we made our first stop at a little road side viewpoint to take in the surrounding mountains and get our first group photo. Our drivers started a game of da cau and we all joined in trying to get the hang of Vietnam's sport. It consists of a feather shuttlecock you kick back and forth in a circle similar to juggling a soccer ball. It was really fun, but way harder than our drivers made it look! After a while, we hopped back on the bikes and kept driving before stopping again to do a short hike up to a waterfall feeding a beautiful clear blue pool; if it wasn't cold outside it probably would have been a great place to take a dip. We continued driving, taking in the incredible scenery and getting used to being on the bikes for longer periods of time. Eventually we stopped at a small cafe/bar which was more of a shack on the side of the road with drinks with beautiful views of rice terraces in the distance. It was a little hazy this day due to some burning but we still had good views of the surrounding mountains. We drove downhill toward the river in the valley and stopped for our first lunch at a small local restaurant along the river. All of us tourists ate as a group with a family style meal, and the drivers ate separate (probably to get a break from all of us lol). The food was really good and plentiful and way better than we anticipated! We continued on our way and went through our first of many Hmong villages where we villagers working and wearing some of the most vibrant and beautiful clothes (especially the women who were doing all of their work in traditional skirts!). We kept driving and had a few fun experiences on bumpier gravel sections of road and even driving over a super narrow "bridge" (basically a sidewalk) across a small river. We finally stopped again at a final view point close to sunset where we grabbed photos of the incredible valley and met a really friendly cat who jumped onto our laps. After about 7 hours of riding we made it to our guesthouse for the night. The guesthouse was really nice and serene amid the mountains, and even had a really friendly momma cat with very young kittens. Another of the BiBi groups were staying there too so we got to know them and with then a lot of us went on a walk and explored the small village we were staying in. Carson found a woman selling the vibrant scarfs that the locals were wearing and he bought one. We all had another buffet style dinner with the other group and all the drivers. We also got our first taste of the "happy water" that is really popular in this part of Vietnam. It's a local rice or corn wine that's sort of similar to sake. As we were eating, some of the drivers would come over, fill our shot glasses, and start the local "cheers" which involves working the crowd and yelling different variations of "Mộtt, hai, ba, zô" (1,2, 3, go!) at the top of your lunch while other people repeat after you. We all got the hang of the chant and had fun taking turns leading the cheers. Unlike in the U.S., the Vietnamese repeat the cheers basically as often as they want, so we kept on repeating it! After dinner and copious amounts of happy water, the drivers set up a karaoke machine and we all took turns singing our hearts out at karaoke. We went to bed that night so happy (not just from the happy water) with the first day of our tour, and for getting matched with our awesome group of fellow travelers and drivers.

We woke up early the next day and had pancakes & tea/coffee for breakfast. We got back on the bikes but didn't make it very far because the small sleepy village we had walked through the previous night had transformed for its local Saturday market. There were stalls lining the road and people, animals, cars, and motorbikes crowding the street. We hopped off the bikes and walked through the busy market while our drivers continued to try and make their way through the crowds. We saw colorful clothing from different villages, live pigs and goats in cages, dead chickens hanging from a motorcycle, unique food, and little kids doing karaoke. It was a madhouse, and it took us forever to make our way through it, but eventually we reached the end and met back up with our drivers. After about a short 20 minute ride out of town, we stopped at our first viewpoint. Melissa ordered a coffee and sat enjoying that while overlooking the mountains and rice terraces. There was also a small shop run by a Hmong woman who was making clothing from hemp on a loom. Carson talked to her woman with the help of a driver translating about how we had taken a weaving class in Laos. He ended up buying Melissa a beautiful purple scarf that the woman had made. We got back on the bikes and worked our way up higher through more pretty rice terraces. We then turned onto a small "road" that would be considered sidewalk in the states and continued riding through the mountains. Lee told us that one advantage of doing the Ha Giang Loop with smaller groups is that you are able to go on these smaller roads and more remote areas that the large groups don't do. By this point, we were pretty comfortable on the bikes, and our drivers were excellent, but it was still wild to be on such narrow windy roads next to some pretty steep drop-offs! Along this stretch, the small villages were very remote and we were amazed when we saw how people had adapted to live in these areas. Our team leader Lee stopped when he saw local children to hand out candy. We found out that three of the drivers in our group were from small Hmong villages and loved seeing these local kids to make their day.

Right before lunch, we stopped to visit a cave where we also have the option to swim. We decided to change into our bathing suits, and then hopped onto a floating bamboo raft. The driver of the raft led us into a large cave where we docked and some of the people in our group swam and others climbed up the cave rocks. Ultimately we decided the water was too cold for us to swim (we weren't as brave as the Canadians), so we just chilled on the bamboo raft and rocks and enjoyed looking around the cave. After the cave we continued driving and some of the best views of the vastness of the rice terraces in this area that are built into the mountainsides. We were visiting in January which is past the harvest of the fields, so they were more brown than green, but still so beautiful. We stopped again for another delicious buffet lunch and were loving the portions that we were getting (a literal bucket of rice!). We were also loving our small group of six and were having a great time getting to know Remy, Sam, Julie, and Faco (and bonding over how sore our butts and thighs were from sitting on these bikes and gripping the seats). After lunch, the bikes hit some steep downhill sections where we hit about 45 mph down a curving mountain road (it was so fun!!). We then worked our way back up the mountains and stopped at an overlook that looked back at the S curving road we had just gone down. This viewpoint had another little cafe with a pool table and we watched our drivers play incredible games of pool while we enjoyed the views. We then continued along to the busiest stop we had visited yet. There were tons of other bike groups at this overlook that looked down at a massive river canyon facing right towards China. It was very hazy this day, but we were still able to see the beautiful blue river at the base of the canyon. We continued on and stopped next shortly down the road to visit a monument built to honor the local people that had made the road, almost entirely by hand. It was incredible to learn that the roads we were on were made with very basic hand tools. We continued driving as the sun started to set and made it to our next guesthouse just outside of Dong Van. This guesthouse looked more like a hotel, and we had a massive window in our room looking our over the mountains. There were also a pair of adorable puppies at the hotel which was just icing on the cake. We were the only BiBi group at this hotel this evening, so it was a little more quiet and intimate. For dinner we had a hot pot, and our drivers showed us how to properly cook our food. No surprise that during dinner we continued to have shots of happy water and loud cheers to go along with it. By this point, we had gotten to know all of our drivers pretty well, and it was really fun to hang out with them off-bike since it gets pretty loud on the bikes and is difficult to try and have a conversation. Carson and Minh especially bonded a lot, and Minh always made sure Carson had plenty of happy water. After dinner, the hotel owner set up karaoke on the back patio and he joined us in singing the night away again. This time we let the drivers do most of the singing, and we were introduced to some really fun Vietnamese ballads. Some of our drivers also were big fans of smoking tobacco out of a huge standing wooden bong, and it became a running joke that every time we stopped at viewpoints along the road, the bong was brought out.

On the third day, we woke to fairly clear skies which was a nice surprise after the hazier day before. We had eggs and bread for breakfast and hit the road. After about 30 minutes, we pulled over at a look out and because Lee had noticed his and Mel's bike making a weird noise. Turns out Lee had a nail in his back tire! The drivers looked it over and realized it wasn't going to be an issue. They removed the nail and did a simple patch and we were on our way again. We continued to make our way further north towards the Chinese border. Along the way we had to navigate around a herd of water buffalo on the road with a farmer directing them. We stopped to climb up the Lung Cu flag tower. We climbed up a lot of stairs to reach the mountain peak and see the massive flag at the top up close. It was seriously massive, the flag covers an area of 54 square meters to symbolize the 54 ethnic groups living in the territory. Seeing it up close and appreciating the vast views of the mountains, terraces, and a huge nearby Buddhist temple from the top of the flag tower was worth the steep climb to the top. We made our way back to our bikes and drove through a small nearby village. We turned off onto a small gravel road in the village and took the road all the way to the end where it finally dead-ended into a walking trail on the mountainside. We got off the bikes and scrambled up a short but steep dirt path and were faced with a tall, electric barb wire fence - the Chinese border! There wasn't anyone here since it was a remote part of the border, but we could see a guard post up on a hill a ways away. It was pretty cool to be so close to China and realize how far north we'd come in just a couple of days. On the walk back to our bikes we saw two local Hmong woman in traditional colorful dress escorting their goats out to the mountains to be fed.

Back on the bikes, we road for about an hour through some of the most beautiful mountain scenery we had seen yet and then stopped at what turned out to be one of our favorite viewpoints. Like usual, there was another small cafe and shop, and this one was run by a young mother and her adorable little girl who had to be maybe just over a year old. The little girl was so interested in us and kept trying to give away snacks for free that her mom was trying to sell. There were beautiful surrounding views of the mountain and rice terraces, and the viewpoint was mostly empty aside from our group. We'd learned by now that there is never a bad place for karaoke in Vietnam, and one of our drivers found a microphone and started crooning out ballads. After our rest, we continued driving and stopped for our usual family-style lunch. After lunch we stopped at one of the most famous viewpoints on the Ha Giang Loop- Tham Ma Pass. This is a beautiful point overlooking a lush green and very curvy section of the loop. This was a very busy tourist spot, which was very different from most of the small roadside cafes we had been mostly stopping it. At this one, there were a lot of locals selling various items and local young schoolgirls wearing colorful outfits and selling handmade flower headbands. Despite it being a busy spot, the view was incredible, and it was fun watching the local kids.

After leaving this spot, we drove down the Tham Ma Pass that we had just been admiring! After a while, we turned onto a very small road and stopped on the side of the road to take in another beautiful viewpoint on the nice clear afternoon we were having and get some pictures with our driver. We got back on the bikes and continued heading toward a small village. We parked and entered the home of a local woman and her mother who have won awards for their weaving and paintings. The daughter spoke great English, and she gave us a tour of her work areas and explained how they create all of their handcrafts. It was amazing to learn about the processed and even see her mom, who was probably in her 70s or 80s working on the loom and standing on a roller and moving back and forth to press the fabric. Carson tried to press fabric on the roller too, which took a lot of coordination and concentration. He definitely did not look as smooth as the older woman doing the task! At the end of the tour, the woman gave all of us individual handmade bracelets, which Mel is still wearing to this day. After this lovely stop, we rode through the stunning sunset to our final homestay. This time, both the other groups from BiBi were there were, including our friends from the first night's homestay. Our dinner was massive and delicious, and this time the guesthouse owner was leading the chants for our happy water toasts. After dinner, the owner rolled out a tv on the patio to watch the Vietnam vs Thailand soccer match for the Asia Cup final. Vietnam ended up winning in a thrilling match and all the drivers, the guesthouse owners, and their kids were screaming with excitement. Of course, karaoke was also going on during and after the match as well, and the owner's daughter was running around dancing with all of us.

The next morning, we had pancakes for breakfast before hitting the road back toward Ha Giang to close out our final day of the Loop. Today turned out to be the haziest, but it wasn't too big of a deal since there were less mountains views. In the morning, we stopped at one of the small roadside shacks and took some cool pictures that made us look like we were hanging off a cliff. At the same stop one of the drivers grabbed the karaoke microphone at the shack and sang a techno song while everyone danced around him. It was the perfect karaoke-filled last morning. We continued on the bikes and stopped to visit Lung Khuy Cave. We hiked up to the cave entrance and spent some time exploring the cave's massive caverns and crawling through some of its really small and narrow passages. After Lung Khuy, we kept driving, stopped to fill up on one final massive lunch, and then stopped at the Heaven' s Gate viewpoint. At this stop, there was a woman selling massive roasted rats on sticks which was not appealing to us but some of the drivers said the rats tasted good. A man with a massive decked out Harley Davidson bike also showed up, and our drivers had fun admiring his wheels. The rest of the afternoon went by fast as we made our way closer and closer to to the town of Ha Giang. We made one final stop at a cafe right on the river where we relaxed in hammocks and listened to the sounds of the rushing water. We made it back to the hostel mid-afternoon and said our heartfelt goodbyes to our fellow travelers and the drivers we had spent so much time with. We grabbed some snacks from a shop next door before our night bus pulled up to the hostel and we hopped on. This night bus was really fancy and we each had a full lay down bed. We were both able to sleep some and before we knew it we had arrived in Hanoi around 11pm. We took a Grab to our hotel to check-in, but we were low on cash so Carson ran out to an ATM so we could check into our room. Once we were checked in, we threw down our bags and went right to sleep.

Our Crew

Playing a game of Da Cau

Nice break at a waterfall

Rice terrace views from the cafe

The bumpy roads passing through small villages

The small village we passed through from above

The narrow roads zig zagging through the mountains

Enjoying the stunning views

Melissa made a new friend!

Riding into the sunset toward our homestay

First night dinner with our group

Karaoke was a staple of our evenings

Pigs on a motorbike to get sold at market

The morning market was packed, look out for the motorbikes!

Next day off into the mountains on super small dirt roads

Moody mountains

Handing out candy to local Hmong children

Heading back down the mountains

Taking a bamboo raft into a large cave

Cat Gang

Minh and Carson

The drivers were crazy good at pool

One of the craziest roads we went up and down

Tu San Canyon (looking toward China)

Monument dedicated to the local people who built the roads

Hot Pot Dinner

Ending the night with a fire and karaoke

Views from our morning while we waiting for Lee to repair his bike

Chùa Lũng Cú Buddhist Temple

Lung Cu Flag

The Chinese Border

Hmong woman herding sheep in the mountains

Crazy the amount of things locals packed on bikes

For comparison our packing was much smaller

The haze had disappeared for most of the day

Carson rocking his new Hmong scarf

Little girl at the shop just wanted to keep giving away snacks for free

Traditional rat on a stick (we did not eat this...)

Look out for the water buffalo traffic on the blind turns

Why have a truck when you can use a motorbike for farming

The Iconic Tham Ma Pass

Amateur hour

Professional

Enjoying the beautiful skies of Day 3

Heading to our final homestay

Melissa and Lee

Beautiful sunset to end Day 3

"Một, hai, ba, dzô!"

Cheering Vietnam on to win the Asia Cup over Thailand

Celebrating the soccer win with the homestay family with karaoke

Lung Khuy Cave

One of the most memorable photos and karaoke stops

Heaven's Gate

Last day we had some time to relax

Final group selfie

Sleeper bus we took to Hanoi

Hanoi: The next day in Hanoi, we just wanted to chill and recover from the incredible last few days (as great as it was, Melissa had come down with a cold halfway through the Loop, so she was still kind of under the weather). We worked on trip planning for our next stops in southern Thailand and upcoming plans for South America. For lunch we kept it simple and went back to our favorite sidewalk restaurants for some Bun Cha (feeling much more confident about how the ordering process works this time!). While we were out we went to a cafe to do more trip planning. When we got back to the hotel we relaxed the rest of the night and Carson ran out to grab some to-go Banh Mi for an easier dinner.

On our final full day in Hanoi/Vietnam, we continued where we left off with trip planning in the morning, but took a break in the afternoon to explore different parts of the city. We stopped at a cafe for a lunch of spring rolls and noodles, and then walked to the Ho Chi Minh mausoleum. This was in a massive open area surrounded by grass, and along the same street as the mausoleum were all sorts of government buildings and different country's embassies. As we walked, we also saw the Presidential Palace and Congressional buildings. After our walk, Melissa called a Grab to bring her to a coffee workshop and Carson went to find a haircut. Melissa was the only one in the class, so she got a one on one lesson about the different types of coffee beans, particularly how Vietnamese coffee primarily uses Robusta beans instead of Arabica (hence the strength of the coffee!). Her teacher also taught her how to make egg coffee and coconut coffee. It was a really cool class, even though she was wired by the end of it after having two different coffees. Carson found different entertainment by getting a haircut on the side of the street for $3; the man who cut his hair kept all of his tools in his motorbike nearby, and he clearly knew what he was doing. Some of the passerby thought it was funny enough seeing this white tourist getting his haircut, that they took photos of him.

We met back up that evening and had a final dinner (to be honest, it was a cheeseburger. But we had eaten a LOT of Vietnamese food by this point) and then headed to a show. Hanoi is famous for its water puppet shows and we purchased tickets the day prior to ensure we would be able to watch. The show had woman singing, narration, and live music. The puppets were in the water and had many different types like dragons, animals, and humans to tell their story. The show was fully in Vietnamese, but despite this we could follow along and grasp the story they were trying to tell. We really enjoyed the show and would definitely go again because of how entertaining and unique of an experience it was. After the show we went to a nearby rooftop bar to meet up with two of our friends that we had met in Luang Prabang- Jaden and Noah. We caught up over a couple of Hanoi beers before saying our goodbyes and heading back to the hotel to pack. Packing was an adventure since we were taking our first flight since acquiring all of our tailored clothes from Hoi An. We somehow fit it all in our bags, including Carson's three piece suit, but it wasn't pretty.

In the morning, we had a quick breakfast before taking a Grab to the airport to head back to Thailand where we would explore Bangkok and southern Thailand for the next few weeks.

The Ha Giang Loop was one of the best things we did on our trip. It was a perfect mix of beautiful, exciting, cultural, and just FUN. Spending all day riding around on the back of the bike, getting to know our group and drivers, taking in the incredible mountain scenery, visiting local villages, and of course sinking karaoke and drinking lots of happy water....it was just awesome. We were so sad to say goodbye, and would do it again in a heartbeat.

We ended up spending about a month in Vietnam, and to be honest, it was one of our more challenging countries. It had really high highs (Ninh Binh, Cat Ba, Ha Giang), but it had some lows too, partly just because we were about 6 months into the trip and were hitting a little bit of a "slump." Our moods were kind of off, and we weren't getting as excited about things as easily and were kind of tired of moving around. We had some of our first rainy and dreary weather, had some stomach issues (nothing serious, but enough to be annoying and put us more on guard about food), and spent some of the major holidays away from home. Despite all of this, we got through it and found a lot of things we loved about the country. We also ended on a high in northern Vietnam, which really made it all worth it.