The Ha Giang loop by motorbike
Ha Giang
Four days on the mountain roads of Vietnam’s far north, with an easy rider or on your own.
The Ha Giang loop is 350 kilometres of switchbacks along the Chinese border, through limestone karst and past terraced villages of Hmong and Dao people. It has become the highlight of most backpackers’ time in Vietnam, and it deserves to.
You can ride it yourself if you are confident on a semi-automatic bike on steep, wet roads with trucks coming the other way. Most people don’t, and hire an “easy rider”: a local driver who does the riding while you ride pillion and look at the view. It costs more but it is far safer.
Doing it well
Take four days rather than three. Stay in homestays (dinner comes with rice wine “happy water” whether you like it or not), and don’t miss the Ma Pi Leng pass on day two, above the Nho Que river.