SPLENDID NORTH VIETNAM OFFROAD MOTORCYCLE TOUR

Start our motorbike tour by leaving Hanoi on dyke roads to avoid the heavy traffic around 9 am, we ride our motorbikes west to Mai Chau, an area of beautiful landscape and home to the Thai ethnic minority. We will motorcycle on Highway 6 passing extensive farming lands comprising a sea of paddy fields split by tree-lined roads punctuated by limestone karst scenery.

Continuing our motorbike tour on the almost empty Road 37 we entermountains heavily populated with Black Thai people, who work on large terraced rice fields. The winding road passes through many Thai villages and fields and provides a great opportunity to watch country life passing by. We continue through rolling hills before rising up to the sugar cane growing areas on the cooler Son La plateau.

Late lunch in Son La City, the capital of Son La Province, before we visit The Old French Prison & Museum. It was once the site of a French penal colony where anticolonial revolutionaries were incarcerated. It was destroyed by the infamous “off-loading” of unused ammunition by US warplanes that were returning to their bases after bombing raids, but it has been partially restored.

Heading out northwest from Son La, the road crosses a series of mountain passes and areas of busy Black Thai activity. Children walk to school, kids tend buffaloes, women plant rice seedlings and men pull the buffalo. Then we come to the beginning of the very long and steep Pha Din pass where at the top we have vast views of the surrounding mountains, then down the other side on very steep sealed road.
Lunch in Tuan Giao.

Turn to the almost empty winding Road 279 leading to Pa Uon bridge. The first span of the Pa Uon bridge spanning the Da river got connected on Highway 279 in Chieng On commune, Quynh Nhai district, Son La province. The bridge invested by the Ministry of Transport lies within the food-avoiding highways and provincial roads project after the Son La Hydro-electric Power project had been deployed, contributing to forming the nearest road between Son La and Lai Chau provinces.

The construction of the bridge started on May 28, 2007. It opened to traffic on April 30 and put into use in July 2010. Continuing on the empty winding road until we get Than Uyen Town, Lai Chau Province.
Overnight in Than Uyen.

 Summary:
Distance: 180 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel

Depending on the group’s mood, we can either take it easy in Sa Pa town, or make excursions back to the top of the highest pass in Vietnam, or down deep into the amazing Sapa valley to do home-stay in peacefull village
All options are dominated by the crest of the enormous Fansipan mountain range that looms over 2,000 metres above us. The entire region is populated by Hmong, Giay, Tay and Red Dao people.
Stay in Sapa or home-stay in village.

Summary:
Distance: 80 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel or Home-stay

Motorcycle down from Sapa to Lao Cai City and then have a coffee-stopon the bank of Nam Thi river, which is Vietnam – China border. Enjoy your coffee while taking the view to China. Head to Road 70 before turn to Bac Ha on Road 153. Long touted as the weekend alternative to Sapa, this small highland town doesn’t have the same dramatic location of its more il-lustrious neighbour, but it is calmer when Saturday comes.

It fills up to choking point on Sunday morning, when visitors flood in to meet the Flower H’mong at theSapa Motorbike Tour to Bac Ha Market – morning market. Compared with Sapa, tourism is still in its infancy here and during the week the town has a deserted feel. Bac Ha is a good base to explore the surrounding highlands. Around 900m above sea level, it is noticeably warmer than  Sapa.

One of Bac Ha’s main industries is she manufacture of alcoholic home brews (rice wine, cassava wine and corn liquor). The corn hooch produced by the Flower H’mong is so potent it can ignite! Bac Ha is the only place in Vietnam where you’ll find this particular moonshine; there’s an entire area devoted to it at the Sunday market.
Overnight in Bac Ha.

Summary:
Distance: 120 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay

After getting the permit for motorbike tour in border areas atHa Giang’s Immigration Police, we ride on small challenging mountain roads (but incredibly beautiful) on the land of colorful mountain hill-tribes.

Ride on a zig-zag track until reaching Vuong Family’s Residence, 14 kms before Dong Van.
Vuong Family was considered the King of the Hmong People in Dong Van, Ha Giang. Their residence was built in the scenic valley of Sa Phin with Chinese architecture. The whole house was built out of wood and rock only. The rocks for the buildings were imported from China. Vuong Family Residence is a masterpiece of man work in the valley of heavenly beauty of Sa Phin.

This is a remote area and we can meet the hard-working local people here. It is inspiring to see how they survive as they manage live in the rocks.When we reach Dong Van Town we will have some extra time to wonder the ancient streets lined with H’mong homes of clay bricks and tiles roofs built centuries ago.

Summary:
Distance: 160 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel

After breakfast, we motorcycle up the Ma Pi Leng Pass. Here is yet another amazing place, with cloudy mountain ranges and the poetic Nho Que river winding off in the distance.

It is really difficult to find the exact words to describe Ma Pi Leng Pass, located between Dong Van and Meo Vac, near the northernmost tip of Vietnam, as a painting of astonishing beauty and magnificence that captures the eyes of all viewers and nature lovers.

The road is still under construction and tracks what make the ride relatively long in spite of few kilometres. The landscape is among the most beautiful of Vietnam, and the slow tempo is only more appreciable. We motorcycle across the wild regions of the mythical province of Ha Giang, Meo Vac is included. It shares the border with Dong Van District of Ha Giang Province and Bao Lam District of Cao Bang Province. Meo Vac has most of the terrain in the Rock Plateau of Dong Van and above 1000m above sea level.

Meo Vac has a harsh climate in the winter which is from November to April with dry and freezing cold weather. It is inhabited by different ethnic minorities including the H’mong, the King, Tay, Dzao…Most ethnic groups have maintained their culture untouched from the outside world.
In the afternoon, we stop for the night at Bao Lac, the ethnic crossroad of Northeast Vietnam. Many other ethnic groups on the two sides of the border meet at the market every Sunday.

Summary:
Distance: 80 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Hotel 

Half-day boat-ride on the lake to the other side, where we can explore Dau Dang waterfall on Nang river. As one of the 27 ASEAN heritage gardens, Ba Be has the potential to attract nature lovers with its 450ha natural fresh water lake, and 553 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

According to a survey from the Viet Nam Institute of Geo-sciences and Mineral Resources, over 11,000 years ago, an earthquake caused a collapse of the subterranean Nang River, creating a natural dam which led to the formation of Ba Be Lake. Lunch in a village near by Dau Dang waterfall before back to home-stay. Get on our bikes and take a half-day ride on countryside to Na Khan. This Nung’s village is in middle of nowhere. We have last experience on the trip to share the meals and house with locals.

Summary:
Distance: 80 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay