PORTFOLIO

There was one experience that Ash and I were both definite on doing when we first looked into travelling and that was the Ha Giang Loop. Seeing everyone online raving about it and seeing the views sold it to us. It went on to exceed our expectations and be one of the best things we’ve ever done. So I thought I’d give some information on the tour we did, what makes it so special and some tips to make it even more enjoyable.

Ha Giang

Ha Giang is a province in Northern Vietnam that is so far North it is where the Vietnam-China border is located. It is home to huge mountains, lush valleys and many ethnic communities who have created villages, farms and temples making this a spectacular place to visit. It is roughly 300 km from Hanoi and takes 6-10 hours to get there. Similar to the rest of Vietnam, Ha Gaing has two seasons, wet and dry. However, in Ha Giang temperatures can get to a low of -5 because of the elevation. Our guides told us it has snowed there before. The rainy season here comes with some unfortunate effects in the form of flooding and landslides. This year the flooding was particularly bad and many people got stranded, buildings destroyed and there were deaths. We nearly cancelled our trip because we didn’t want to be caught in the flooding and create more strain on the population in such remote areas. The Ha Giang area is becoming more popular because of the Ha Giang Loop and we had many discussions on our journey about the impact of us being there and whether or not it is a positive thing for the province.

Our Tour Provider

Although the stops are pretty much the same and the route is similar between all of the different tours they can be very different experiences. I’m sure you would have a good time with any group but I do think it’s important to decide before you book what type of experience you want and research each group. We knew that the main tour providers were not going to be our vibe so Ash did lots of research on Reddit to find other providers. When he came across people’s reviews of Road Kings we knew that was the one for us.

Road Kings is considered more expensive, however, when we booked you got a private room and bathroom, which was essential for us, and you got transport to and from Ha Giang in a nice sleeper bus, all included. There are now premium and budget options but we did what would now be classed as the premium package and it was so worth it. We also saw that the people who had done it before didn’t talk about partying all night after having too many happy waters (the alcohol of the Ha Giang Loop) and singing karaoke in the early morning which appealed to us. Don’t get me wrong, we still had happy water and sang karaoke but we wanted to appreciate every view and enjoy the ride as much as possible so we just took it easy. Another pro for Road Kings for us was the small group sizes. We were a group of 5 (max group size is 8) for the 4 days and at times we were joined by another group of 5 at the hostels and activities who were a 3-day group. We didn’t like the idea of a big group as we didn’t want to feel rushed or overwhelmed and we were blessed with a group who had the exact same mindset as us.

Another positive of Road Kings was how easy it was to communicate with the owners before and during the loop. They reassured us about any queries we had and one of the owners actually goes round to see groups on the loop to make sure everything is okay. The staff at the Road Kings Hostel were also lovely and had a laugh with us whilst we were there the day before and the night after the loop. There’s also a focus on taking the groups to less-visited stops and avoiding the traffic of the bigger groups.

The Loop

To make the most of the loop and to properly take in all the views I would highly recommend going with an easy rider. The easy rider option means you are on the back of a bike being driven by someone who knows the roads and is very experienced at driving a bike so you get to just sit and take it all in and not have to be looking at the road. Even if you have driven bikes or scooters before I can pretty much guarantee that for 99% of people, it wouldn’t have been on roads like you’ve been on before. There are so many hills, turns and landslides that make these roads difficult to ride on plus traffic in the form of cows, trucks and locals carrying all their farming tools and goods. Our friend from the group was initially thinking about driving himself but was so glad he changed his mind once we got going. My driver had been working on the loop for about 6 years so I felt very safe each group has a leader who explains where you are and helps organise the stops for us so you really do just get to enjoy it all.

I am only going to mention a few of the stops we made as each tour will take a slightly different route and make various stops. These stops can also change due to the weather so I wouldn’t get your hopes up on going to specific places, there are some that seem to always be included but apart from that it can change day to day.

We got to go to two waterfalls on our tour. The first one was at the end of day 1 after we had dropped our stuff at the hostel and so did a lot of other groups. We didn’t get any pictures of this stop as it was very busy and after one attempt from Ash that went terribly, we didn’t dare get into the water. It had a really strong current and there were people jumping in and doing flips with nowhere to just be in the water and sit we decided to just watch everyone splashing about and that was good enough for us. When it started to get so busy the whole pool was nearly full and there was nowhere to sit outside of it we decided to head back and get ready for food. The second waterfall was on our last day and again we didn’t get in as the rain from the week before had turned the water very brown and it was very rocky. We asked the guides if they would swim in the water and they said no so we were happy with our decision but I had been looking forward to swimming in a waterfall.

There were many places where we just pulled over to admire the view of mountains and valleys so I couldn’t tell you the names of the area but we did stop at Meo Vac. This is a huge valley with a river at the bottom that has boats going through and on the other side is China. I particularly enjoyed this stop because it all felt so big and the boats looked tiny it was an epic view. Then from here we went to ‘Death Road’ which was as scary as it sounds and is more of a path than a road. I had to close my eyes a feew times so I couldn’t see the drop and luckily my driver told me to could hold onto him if I needed to, which I did. Some people say it isn’t as bad as it seems but I would not drive that road myself and we were fortunate that it was quiet when we went so we didn’t have to cross others. Then after that you climb up a steep, rocky hill to sit on an outcropped ledge and I am sure the view is spectacular but we were more than happy with our view from further down. There are often huge queues in this particular area and being with Road Kings meant we had the area almost completely to ourselves so we could sitnamd take it all in.

The Dong Van Pass is probably the most famous area of the loop and what is used for most advertisements. We did stop here very briefly and the view is fantastic however this is where there are lots of children who are trying to grab your hand and plait your hair. We hadn’t even parked before I had little girls trying to grab my hand. We had all seen online that children braid hair here for money but it was an overwhelming situation. None of us had our hair braided from my group as we had heard (online and from our local drivers) that these children work here instead of going to school and it’s a cycle that doesn’t benefit people long term. We did see however a girl getting her hair beside and she gave the children some sweets then became surrounded by these little kids who were carrying babies on their backs and it was really sad to see. I don’t know the right thing to do or the solution but we were all uncomfortable and left after a short time. For us we all enjoyed the ride down this windy road more than the view of it.

Another famous stop on the loop is the Vietnam-China border. There are a few points were you can see it from a distance but you have an opportunity to see it up close, with quite a lot of barbed wire and a bit of a buffer area but we were so close we waved to the guards on the other side. There is also a little cafe here so we had some tea with our drivers before heading back out and before we set off the clouds had come in and we could no longer see the border clearly.

There were two stops we made that were longer and more of an activity. The first was a river boat cruise and the other was a cave. The river cruise was supposed to be on a bamboo raft but because of the bad weather the area had just before we went we couldn’t do that but we still had a good time. The views were nice and we could go on the roof of the boat which was great but it actually got exciting when our boat broke down and we were just floating around the river. We had a few of the drivers on board with us and they were helping fix the boat but it was no use so we had to be rescued by another boat that towed us back to the shore. This was on our 2nd day and we were on the boat with the 3 day tour group so it was nice that we all got to know each other a bit better.

On our last day, we went to Lung Khuy cave which was about 2km from the road. Our guide said it wasn’t too far and an easy walk but failed to mention all the stairs but we should have realised it wasn’t as easy as he made it when none of the other drivers joined us when they usually do. It was a lovely walk with great views but there were a lot of steps and we had to have an ice cream at the top to cool us down. The cave is so worth it though. It just kept going and going and there were even some areas that went further but looked a little tricky to get out of so we skipped those bits. The entrance looked pretty inconspicuous but it just opened up and is full of stalagmites and stalactites and little pools. It was the perfect way to start our last day.

Food, Bathrooms and Beds

The food isn’t exactly showing up on the Michelin guide but we all thought it was good considering these places are feeding a lot of people at once and have to cater to Western palettes. It is all served family style and there’s a mix of vegetable dishes and meat when we were joined up with the other group we all swapped the dishes we each wanted that they didn’t so it worked out well. After 4 days of the same food we did treat ourselves to Pizza4Ps back in Hanoi as we needed a change but we didn’t go hungry and no one got ill. We also got coffee or soft drinks at most stops and a big bottle of water a day that were included in our cost to Road Kings so unless we wanted extra snacks we didn’t need money at all over the 4 days. If you do have allergies and restrictions then in some places it can be accommodating but this might mean four days of rice.

Bathroom breaks are pretty regular and all the toilets were in pretty good condition for Vietnam, you don’t flush toilet paper and some toilets flush by throwing water in the toilet. The only toilet we struggled with was the bathroom at our first stop on the journey to Ha Giang. I saw some girls open the door and not go in so I was a bit unsure of what I would find and then Phoebe, who later became my friend, warned me that it was all open. I had to go because the next stop would have been another 2 hours away but its not easy to go when it’s an open bathroom with 8 drop toilets in a row. We all laughed our way through it and joked that it was a great icebreaker before the next few days. Whilst on the loop if you are desperate you can ask to stop and if there are no toilets at the scheduled stops then your best option is to just find a secluded spot and go in nature. It was what was suggested to me when I was desperate and I do carry a she-wee for moments like that but I decided to hold on. The drivers said it very matter of fact that I could just go anywhere and it isn’t uncommon to pass people doing their business at the side of the road so if you need to go, you need to go and you will find somewhere.

All of the places we stayed in were nice and accommodating. We had private rooms and bathrooms which was important to us and all of the food we were served was great. We stayed in a traditional mud house which was surrounded by rice fields, one place was up a hill and we had a view of mountains in the morning and our first homestay had karaoke and a pool table which we made good use of. The places you stay are in pretty remote areas so even if you weren’t too tired from the day there aren’t many places to go outside of the accommodation.

What to take with you

If this is what you have come here for, sorry it is at the bottom. There is enough room on the bike for two backpacks, yours and the drivers and there’s not much room for anything else, but you don’t need much. We packed basic, small toiletries to share between us, I didn’t pack makeup or my full skincare routine. For our clothes we only packed a few options and wore stuff twice. I brought a dress to specifically wear at night around the homestay. I made sure to pack long pants and a shirt to cover my arms so that I was protected from the sun. I did still end up sunburnt but only on the back of my arms. No one cares if you wear the same outfit twice or if you look cool because everyone is just enjoying the experience. If the weather isn’t in your favour though you might end up quite sweaty or drenched from rain so just bring enough so you have spare clothes. You leave your bigger bag at the hostel and although not in lockers there did seem to be someone in the room any time the door was unlocked.

Rain covers were provided and helmets so you don’t need to worry about those. We did also see people with more protective gear on but we didn’t get that. You will need some cash with you, we needed some for our first night at the hostel because we wanted a private room and we got some tacos at the restaurant next to the hostel but we didn’t have much. Some people did buy extra drinks and snacks but they didn’t cost a lot and we bought some bits to help the local economy.

Something that we are so glad we brought was Ash’s camera and DJI Osmo because now we get to look back at all the memories. Ash started using them after we got used to the bikes so he felt comfortable with holding them. We all took our phones and had them in either cases around our necks or on strings so they were easily accessible. If you are taking cameras just make sure they are easy to keep hold of.

Final Thoughts

As soon as we finished the tour we all felt overjoyed at the experience and so sad that it was over. Post Ha Giang Loop blues were intense and I would do it again in a heartbeat. It wouldn’t be the same though because I think we were so incredibly lucky with our group, the drivers we had and the weather but it was so worth the money.

There were times during the tour though when we all sat together and talked about how we had been contemplating the effects of the amount of people visiting the area. Obviously, there will be a monetary gain for some of the local people who run their businesses here but when we realised just how many tourists were in the area and how congested some of the roads were it did make us think. It’s another reason why I would recommend the easy rider option. There are so many accidents because of inexperienced drivers and a lot of reckless driving. Many locals we saw appeared happy to see us but these tours are going down roads where children are playing and everyone is just trying to work and get money, they don’t need tourists shouting and speeding. I just hope it doesn’t become overrun with tour groups and companies like Road Kings don’t just try and make more and more money by increasing group sizes and put tours on when the weather is known to be bad. There are so many landslides and floods across Ha Giang and lots of tourists are getting stuck there, which again, the locals don’t need more hassle.

It’s important to do research before doing the Ha Giang Loop and choosing your provider so you have the best possible time. If you aren’t a party animal then this experience is still for you. If you have never been on a bike before, don’t be too scared and do it. Don’t worry about making friends because more often than not you will be with like-minded people and you’ll all be having so much fun you will get along. It is the best thing we have done on our travels and I would recommend it to anyone.

if you have any questions just ask and if you want even more information I have made some TikToks and Ash has some YouTube videos you can check out. Once again, my post has turned out longer than I expected but I want to make sure I covered everything I wanted to know before going.