Thrilling Ha Giang Loop Group Tour via Quan Ba, Dong Van and Du Gia – 4 Days

Itinerary:

Summary

On this tour we explore one of the most fascinating motorcycle loops one can imagine – the Northern Ha Giang Loop.

On this tour there is the possibility to include some shorter ½ trekking if that is of interest. For those interested in photography, this tour progresses at a space where there is more time for these opportunities both during the day of driving and with time when arriving for the afternoon final stop.

The tour will make sure to cover the common highlights of the loop such as Heaven’s Gate, Stone Plateau, the Fairy Hills, Dong Van, the Ma Pi Leng mountain pass and the backroads of the spectacular inner Ha Giang mountains. The tour would also give opportunity to cherry-pick exploration of further sights without stress such as visits of the Lung Khuy Cave, Lung Tam female weaving cooperative

Possibility to self-drive or to ride pillion (behind guide/driver). If self-driving, we recommend sound prior motorcycling experience.

Accommodation will normally be a mix of ethnic minority homestay and hotel (choice of doing all nights in homestay)

Roundtrip bus transfer from Hanoi to Hagiang

Pickup:

We will pick you up at 19:30 pm at the hotel in Hanoi Old Quarter the day before

Board the Night Bus:

Head to the bus on the scheduled day, and board the night bus to Ha Giang. Night buses often come equipped with sleeper seats, allowing you to rest during the journey.

Arrival in Ha Giang:

The journey from Hanoi to Ha Giang takes around 7-8 hours. You’ll arrive in Ha Giang early in the morning. Take a short break before starting the tour. We will provide free dorms, shower, and breakfast 

Itinerary

The tour may be done clockwise or anti-clockwise around the loop and will depend on driving skills, seasons and market-days. For the tour to include Dong Van or Meo Vac weekly Sunday market it needs to start on a Thursday or Friday morning.

Day 1: Ha Giang motorbike tour to Quan Ba – Du Gia, approx. 120 km drive

After some breakfast, we go out on ‘Road of Happiness’ and start driving north out of Ha Giang City. We climb up the Quan Ba mountain pass and enter the Dong Van Geopark and reach the Heaven’s Gate and pass the Fairy Hills. In or around the small town of Tam Son we find our lunch. Thereafter we venture deep into Ha Giang mountains and reach the picturesque village of Du Gia. Here we will stay with an ethnic minority family at their homestay. We will have dinner and breakfast with the family. (Day includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 2: Du Gia Motorbike tour to Meo Vac – Ma Pi Leng – Dong Van, approx. 110 km drive

We say thanks to the family of the homestay and head north, passing some of the most magnificent mountain passes you will ever have seen, pass the town of Meo Vac (where we take lunch) and move slowly up the majestic Ma Pi Leng mountain pass before reaching Dong Van, the most northern town in Vietnam. If one is up to it we can climb up to the ruins of the French fort and get a stunning view of the towns and its surroundings. Exploring the Old Quarter of Dong Van might be what others may enjoy after a long day on the bike. Stay in hotel or homestay as agreed for the tour. Maybe a Hot Pot for dinner?! (Day includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 3: Dong Van motorbike tour to Lung Cu – Sa Phin – Yen Minh – Nam Dam, approx. 120 km drive

If we are waking up on a Sunday in Dong Van the weekly big local market meets you before or after a breakfast. More ethnic minority groups than you can count have travelled on Saturday or extremely early on Sunday to reach here.

Really colourful and people from near and far to do their weekly shopping and gossiping. Thereafter, we go to the North pole. Anyway, that is what the most northern point of Vietnam is jokingly called – Lung Cu. We can climb the Lung Cu Flagpole and view China from the top, then we turn south and when we reach Sa Phin we visit the one- hundred-year-old palace of Vuong Chinh Duc – the King of H’mong people. We go down the Highland of Stone and reach Yen Minh where we take lunch and then climb a mountain pass covered in pine forest and sweeping rice terraces along our drive. Down to the Song La river valley until the road takes us towards the village of Nam Dam where we check in with a lovely Dao ethnic minority family in their home and enjoy dinner and breakfast with them. (Day includes Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner)

Day 4: Nam Dam Motorbike tour to Ha Giang city via Lung Khuy – Tam Son, approx. 70 km drive

We enjoy village life after breakfast, walk around the village and might go up to the local waterfall. Then we go and explore the Lung Khuy cave. We take lunch in Tam Son after which we will explore a stunningly beautiful side-loop that connect us back to Road of Happiness and back to Ha Giang City where the tour ends. (Day includes Breakfast, Lunch)

After having a shower and a dinner (your own account),  you will board the night bus where you take a sleep on and arrive in Hanoi early morning the next day.

Hereunder are the pricing options to match with your personal plans

1. Option 1: if you are budget travelers looking for group tours to save your travel budget, you can join our groups of different tourists with no more than 10 people at the price of US$ 330/person

* NOTES:
+ On this group tour, you’ll be just pillion passengers sitting behind our guides/drivers.
+ You must be joining with other different riders under the supervision of our guide 

2. Option 2: If you guys don’t want to join with other different riders, you can be in private groups with your own friends and sitting behind our drivers, the cost will be as follows:

* NOTE:
+ On this private tour, you’ll be just pillion passengers sitting behind our guides/drivers.
+ You won’t have to join with any outsider yet but only you and your friends with our guide

3. Option 3: In case, you guys are much confident in your riding skills & prefer riding motorbikes on your own on private groups, the cost for each riding geared scooters of 110cc or automatic ones of 125cc will be as follows:

* NOTES:
+ If you prefer riding motorbikes on your own, you must have International Driver’s Permits to ride legally otherwise you must be responsible for all troubles with our traffic police on the roads if they stop to check your paperworks.
+ The surcharge manual Yamaha Exciter 150cc / Honda Winner 150cc, Honda XR 150cc is US$ 18/bike/day