Stormy Vietnam Northeast Motorcycle Tour to Mau Son, Ban Gioc, Dong Van, Ba Be Lake

After the breakfast in the hotel, you will clear the bill and do check out and prepare gears for your riding challenge. You will ride of the bustling city to Thai Nguyen Province. Arriving Thai Nguyen, you will visit one of the amazing hill tribal minority museums where you can get the first sight and vision of 54 different ethnic minorities of Vietnam. You definitively know how to recognize which they are on cycling road in coming days. Your first cycling day will start pedaling in Thai Nguyen to Bac Son Town. It is located in the northern mountainous province of Lang Son, exposed in a vast valley surrounded by stretching mountains creating poetic scenery. You will stay overnight at a hotel or homestay in Bac Son.

Today we’ll follow the ride to Lang Son where borders to China. Along the road, we can view the beautiful sceneries of rice fields, villages, gardens with the daily life of the locals. Upon approaching Lang Son city, we’ll take a rest by a cup of coffee before our guide will take you a round to explore some historical relics, central market & Huu Nghi Border Gate with China.

After having lunch, we’ll keep on riding upto Mau Son on the beautiful newly sealed spiral road. Mau Son is 30 km away from Lang Son, 1.541m above sea level. Quite cool in the evening! Night in the guest-house of Mau Son Resort.

 Summary:

Distance:  190 km

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Hotel

After having breakfast at hotel, we’ll say goodbye to Lang Son to ride straight to Quang Uyen belonging to Cao Bang province via Dong Khe & That Khe. In general, the road is a bit bumpy and dusty. En route, you’ll have chances to experience the stunning landscapes of rice terraces, peaceful villages & communicate with the locals and taste lots of local foods. It takes us 6 hours to reach the beautiful village of Quang Uyen, in the middle of a mountain cirque. This is the territory of Nung An people. Spend the night in our friend’s house.

Summary:

Distance:  180 km

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: homestay

After enjoying a simple but friendly breakfast at a local family, we’ll say goodbye to villagers and keep riding to Ban Gioc waterfall, one of Vietnam’s best-known waterfalls. It’s a very scenic spot, marking the border with China, but sees very few visitors. The name Ban Gioc is derived from the Montagnard languages spoken in the area, and is sometimes spelt Ban Doc.

The waterfall is the largest, although not the highest, in the country. The vertical drop is 53m, but it has an impressive 300m span; one end of the falls is in China, the other is in Vietnam. The falls have three levels, creating a sort of giant staircase, and there’s enough water any time, most years, to make the trip worthwhile.

Lunch in local restaurant before we get a very nice ride to get over Ma Phuc pass to reach Cao Bang via Quang Uyen.

Overnight in Cao Bang.

Summary:

Distance:  140 km

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: hotel

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 promise to be a great day for off-road Vietnam motorbike touring. We will stop in Bao Lac town for lunch and then continue the beautiful motorcycle tour 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 5.00PM. 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 Motorbike tour to Ha Giang, Dong Van is always the best choice of the motorcyclists.

We take time to climb over the Ma Pi Leng Pass where we can enjoy beautiful mountain ranges and the Nho Que river – just an amazing place to be! We keep hitting the zigzag roads to Dong Van, visiting these remote areas, we will witness how hard the locals struggle with their environment for survival and development. We will stay in town to get the chances to visit the ancient streets with old houses of the H’mong made of clay bricks and tile roofs, built centuries ago.

We also visit Lung Cu Flag Pole Lũng Cú Flag Tower (Vietnamese: Cột cờ Lũng Cú) is a monument in northern Vietnam. It is located in Lũng Cú commune of Dong Van district in Ha Giang province. The monument consists of a 30-metre tall (98 ft) tower on the summit of Lũng Cú Peak (over 1,400 metres (4,600 ft) above sea level). The tower is topped with a large Vietnamese flag. The monument was built to mark the northernmost point in Vietnam, although the farthest north point on the Chinese-Vietnamese border is actually located over 3.3 km (2.1 mi) farther north.

Overnight in Dong Van

The “Heaven Gate” in Quan Ba. A leisurely drive from Dong Van, back to Yen Minh & Quan Ba, this day will make your itinerary a good pace, not in a rush. We will visit the infamous Vuong Palace, a H’mong family of high rank during French colonial rule – this palace attracts keen interest from architecturally minded visitors due to its mixed style of European and Chinese architecture. We then hit the road back to Quan Ba and downhill to Ha Giang.

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.

Today, we’ll enjoy a very amazing ride from Viet Quang to Ba Be lake which offers breathtaking views of the surrounding countryside and we also have to get over some steep curvy passes where you can see hillsides carpeted with apiaries, Vietnam’s most famous honey-producing areas. Lunch en route.

Upon approaching the wharf of Ba Be lake, we’ll take a motor ride though Ba Be National Park to Pac Ngo village where we’ll enjoy the night with the ethnic Tay people

Summary:

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Accommodation: Homestay

Hanoi Motorbike Tour to Ban Gioc Waterfall, Ba Be lake via Lang Son, Cao Bang

Ba Be National park

After breakfast we go past Ba Be forest, you can discover spectacular rivers, deep valleys, natural caves and undulating mountains. On the way, we pay a visit Pac Ngoi village where the local people still keeps the traditional stilt house then enter Hua Ma cave famous with thousand of stalactites and columns. Then drive back to Ha Noi. Have lunch in a local restaurant on the way. We arrive in Ha Noi at about 4:30 PM.

Summary:

Distance:  230 km

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Accommodation: None

End of the tour