Riding The Ha Giang Loop

When I decided we were going to visit Vietnam, I was aware that I wasn’t going to be very popular with the Weirdo I go on adventures with. I knew he was going to balk at the idea of the food choices so I hatched a plan to win him around by indulging one of his passions – motorcycles.

The Ha Giang Loop is a very popular trip to the mountains to the north of Hanoi. I came across it whilst researching trips from Hanoi. Once I had discovered that he could ride his own motorcycle whilst I could take the ‘easy rider’ option of riding pillion (to someone with whom I didn’t share a common language!) I booked with Hong Hao via Chestnut Travel in Hanoi. Fabulous customer service means this company is highly recommended.

Vietnam is vast. The journey North to the Ha Giang Loop (Pronounced Ha-Zang) takes about seven hours by sleeper bus. Don’t expect to get much sleep on the bus. You leave Hanoi and arrive at around 2-4 am. Sneaking into bed for a few hours at the Hong Hao Headquarters. Breakfast at 8 am meeting fellow travellers. Allocated to our small groups, this is the diary of the ‘red’ team. Departure time was 9 am.

We are from the UK. (Self-drivers need a UK Motorcycle Licence/CBT for their travel insurance to be active). You will need an International Driving Permit. Three types are available in the UK, and you can get these from Selected Pay Points stores. For Vietnam, you will need a 1968 Permit which costs £5.50 and lasts three years. Don’t skimp on this. There are Police checks on the road to the loop. A 1968 licence isn’t available in Spain and our companion had to pay a one-off V.Dong1.5m fine.

On the first day, you travel 155km into, and through, breathtaking scenery. The power of nature in the limestone geography is everywhere.

Divided into smaller teams of around ten riders we had just two self-drive bikers. The rest of us were ‘easy riders’ absorbing the changing vistas from town to plateau to mountain climbs surrounded by conical limestone stacks. At altitude and seemingly never-ending. The winding roads in Quan Ba, at the Tham Ma Pass snaked in a cursive Zig Zag up the mountain. The route the indigenous Mong People had used with their horses in the past.

Numerous stops to rest, drink coffee and ‘drink in’ the views were provided. The sun shone, and the road was glorious. We ended the first day in Don Van and boy was it cold!

An extensive spread of food was provided and swerving the Karaoke and seeking warmth we had retreated by nine. The lack of sleep on the journey up from Hanoi had caught up with me and I slept soundly.

Sunny weather greeted us in the morning. The previous day’s trip had been completed by a trip to a historic mountain village, to an ancient house. One previous careful owner. The King of the Mong people. Today’s highlight was to be a riverboat trip.

After breakfast in the village, we headed out in convoy. Heading north towards China. Where Vietnam was building a road into China could be easily seen.
Seemingly unending ribbons of road between the limestone ranges continued to alternate between Peaks and Dolines. Broken turns make the trip feel a little like riding a rollercoaster.

60% of the land surface here is rock. The people here have a life built around rock culture. They build traditional houses with yin-yang tiled roofs. This area is a Unesco Global Geopark. Established in 2010 it was the first Geopark in Vietnam. Characterised by deep canyons, cliffs and sharp summits. Here you can feel the 500 million years of the Earth’s history, amongst the biodiversity in this unique area.

We weren’t told that navigating the Ma Pi Leng pass was the most dangerous road section. Our reward, a riverboat trip. One of, the deepest gorges in South East Asia. Here we were in the territory of the Lo Lo people. The scale of the Geography is almost unfathomable. A million miles from the world we knew. A world linked by connectivity.

The road surface had been omitted in a number of stretches. My guide laughed away some of the most severe bumps. It was a relief when we turned into the town. We were to spend the night at a lower altitude. The evening and the accommodation were warmer.

Great company, great conversation. The ‘happy water’ flowed and sleep deprivation was on show the last morning.

A trip to a waterfall was the first port of call on the last day. The boys are brave but the girls are more demure. No jumping into freezing water.
When your home is in Wales the waterfall could be a little underwhelming. But there was a great party vibe at the pool. You could easily while away the time watching others brave the freezing waters.

As we started the long drive back to Hong Hao Headquarters, the road surface again disappeared. Lengths of today’s journey involved feeling your spine trying to work its way out of your body via your cranium. No damage done though.

A second waterfall at the edge of the road made for a perfect backdrop for a final group photo with the bikes and the guides.

By 4.30 we were back at the start in Ha Giang city. Reclaiming our bags we were handed a ‘Finishers’ T-shirt.

I last received a Finishers T-shirt in 2019. At the end of the London Marathon. A Bucket list item. I felt victorious. I hadn’t given up or died.
A previous motorbike accident had left me nervous about this trip. My finishers T-shirt felt like it was awarded for the same reason as the first one.
I was going to need some time to review the journey I had been on. The rugged beauty, in an amazing part of a fabulous country. A country that two months ago had also just been on the ‘bucket list’.

Again unable to sleep on the sleeper bus. I was thankful that we had a room at the ‘Holiday Suites Hotel and Spa’. A minute walk from the bus drop-off. We checked in and went to bed, knowing that we would be up again in a few hours to meet the bus to Cat Ba Island.