8-Day Vietnam Big Bike ADV Tour to Ha Giang & Sapa via Ngoc Chien and Ta Xua

This great Vietnam Big Bike Tours to the north of Vietnam starts at around 8 a.m. We try our best to avoid busy city roads in the morning until Cho Chu town (in Thai Nguyen province), where we have lunch. After lunch, we will surely have an enjoyable motorcycle ride to Ba Be because the roads have less traffic and give you a lot of grand mountain views. At about 4 p.m. We arrive at Pac Ngoi, a beautiful village of Tay people located peacefully at Ba Be Lake’s side. Diner and stay with Tay’s family.

Ba Bể Lake is the largest natural lake in Vietnam. It is located in Nam Mẫu commune, Bắc Kạn district, Bắc Kạn Province, in the northeastern region of the country. Having been formed approximately 200 million years ago, the lake is surrounded by limestone cliffs, which in turn are covered by primary forests.

The lake comprises three zones named Pé Lầm, Pé Lù, and Pé Lèng. Three rivers, named Năng, Tả Han, and Nam Cường, are the main inflows of the lake. The Năng river enters the lake through a large waterfall called Đầu Đẳng. In the lake there are also three islands, named Án Mã, Khẩu Cúm, and Po Gia Mải (literally “Widow’s Island”). Ba Bể Lake is a featured geographical science and a biodiversity reservoir. It is a part of the Ba Be National Park and home of a range of animals and plants.

Saying good-bye to the family, we’ll ride motorbike on the back roads through some rustic villages and the jungle. Then we motorbike across some streams. This promises to be a great day for off-road Vietnam ADV. We will stop in Bao Lac town for lunch and then continue the beautiful motorcycle tour in Northern Vietnam to Meo Vac by taking a scenic route climbs over many passes where we can enjoy beautiful mountain ranges and the Nho Que River. Arrive at Meo Vac by 5:00 p.m. Dinner in town, Hotel stay.

Meo Vac Town is located in the heart of the Dong Van Rock Plateau, which was recognized as part of the Global Geo-Park Network in 2009, the Dong Van old quarter is home to age-old and unique architecture near Ha Giang Province’s border with China. Therefore, the Vietnam Big Bike Tours to Ha Giang, Dong Van, is always the best choice for motorcyclists.

Today’s ride promises to be the highlight of this motorcycle trip in north Vietnam as we will visit one of the most remote land in Vietnam Big Bike Tours where we can see many ethnic groups with their unique cultures and imposing mountains such as : Ma Pi Leng Pass – one of the 4 longest and most beautiful passes in North Vietnam, the Rock Plateau, the Vuong palace in Dong Van, The “Heaven Gate” in Quan Ba.

This is for sure the best motorbike ride in Vietnam with many interesting and amazing things in every meter of the road. Arrive Ha Giang in the late afternoon. Dinner and stay with the other Tay’s family or stay in hotel in Ha Giang city.

Ha Giang, 300 km away from Hanoi, located at the highest latitude in Vietnam. It is surrounded by Cao Bang, Tuyen Quang, Lao Cai, and Yen Bai. It shares a border with China in the north. Many ethnic minorities, including the Dao, H’mong, Tay, and Nung, live in Ha Giang province Vietnam.

Today we head straight towards the north-western mountain, where the main Fanxipan Mountain range dominates the road until Sapa. The road is very smooth with a good view of green mountain, rice fields between lovely villages of the hill tribes.

After a short break in Lao Cai to see Chinese border, we will have very beautiful motorbike ride up to Sapa. This motorbike ride is up and up till 1.600 meters above sea level. It offers a great view of mountain with terrace fields and it must be one of the best Vietnam ADV.

Arrive in Sapa at around 5:30 pm, overnight at hotel in Sapa.

You are free to explore Sapa until 1.30PM, check out hotel and we continue the route to Than Uyen, we will make a splendid climb up from Sapa to the top of the highest road pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass). Crossing into Lai Chau Province at over 2000m above sea level. This is a short motorbike ride but could be the most enjoyable motorbike tour from Sa pa. The ride offers you amazing view of the Hoang Lien mountain ranges for miles and miles.

Passing by Mu Cang Chai – the land of terraced rice fields, you will arrive in Ngoc Chien. The beautiful and peaceful Ngọc Chiến is the home of the three main ethnic groups: Thai, Hmong, and La Ha who are very keen on preserving their customs and traditional clothes.

A short walk between small villages helps me meet and talk with friendly and innocent local people. It’s great to see barefoot chubby children following their mothers to the mountains to cultivate crops. Here, many shy children try to hide their faces behind the fences so that visitors from different cities cannot see them.

Several picturesque villages are connected by bamboo suspension bridges crossing the singing streams. There are thousands of centuries-old Pơ mu wooden stilt houses of the Thai people hidden in the early morning mist. Peach and plum blossoms here bloom all year round. Lướt Village has become a popular spot for tourists thanks to its natural hot mineral springs.

Hot mineral springs flow through the village and are believed to make the skin of the local girls become a pinky-white, reduce stress and restore health.The whole village takes a bath in the early morning before going to work to give them energy for whole day, and again in the late afternoon after work.

The people here always bathe in the nude, and the springs here are hotter than in other places with temperatures of 45-60 degrees C.

Dinner and overnight in hotel.

We keep riding up and down into a forested and high mountain region populated by H’mong peoples, passing Da River, w will hike up a very high mountain pass before descending into a mountainous tea-growing region. Soon after we follow a long the valley floor covered in a sea of rice surrounded by Hmong and Thai’s villages all the way to Ta Xua peak. At the highest point of 2865 meters, the Ta Xua peak is the tenth highest peak in Vietnam. The three most important peaks form a line that looks like the back of a dinosaur. It is a real off the beaten track destination.

After having lunch at local restaurant else where en route of the national road No32 where we view nice terrace fields and high mountains, we’ll keep riding to Ta Xua to have a special chance to see cloud flying over or beneath your feet.

Arrive Ta Xua town at 5:00Pm. Overnight at homestay

Summary:

• Distance: 180 km

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

• Accommodation: Hotel

In this morning, we’ll keep exploring beauties of this amazing land with some dirt tracks to get deeper inside the villages. You will pass the Da River with Van Yen ferry admiring the serene landscape of mountains and river with hospitable locals greeting you all the way. Upon reaching Moc Chau, we’ll challenge ourselves with some dirt tracks to explore some stunning nearby villages or discover the hidden beauty of tea plantations, waterfall or orchards.

Arrive Mai Chau at 17:30 PM. The Mai Chau Valley is dominated by rice paddies and small villages and enclosed by mountains. Sitting outdoors looking at the mountains covering, breathing fresh air from nature, ones can just unwind in a serene and peaceful environment, or easily meet local people and be invited to drink Mai Ha wine with family or friends.

Overnight at hotel.

Summary:

• Distance: 120 km

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

• Accommodation: Hotel

In this morning, we’ll be at leisure a bit before riding back Hanoi and then we say goodbye to villagers and leave Mai Chau around 10 am. En route, we’ll stop by some very nice places around Ba Khan such as roadside waterfalls and riverside spots to enjoy the other beauty of Da River. We ride back Hanoi.

Finally, we will be back to the hotel before rush hours in order to end the 8 Day Vietnam Big Bike Tours in north Vietnam safely.

Summary:

• Distance: 180 km

• Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

• Accommodation: None