The Ha Giang Loop

We’ve just spent four days sitting on the back of a motorbike, as we have been driven around the Ha Giang Loop, a famous motorbike loop in the northern mountains of Vietnam.

We headed out of Hanoi on a VIP bus (it basically had big seats), and arrived in the city of Ha Giang. We stayed in the hostel of our trip organiser, ready to go the next morning.

There’s two options for the loop: self-drive or be an “easy rider”, which basically means you sit on the back. I opted for the easy rider, as I wasn’t sure how technical the ride would be. It turns out this was a good decision, as one of our group drove himself, got himself fined £100 for not having the right licence, and crashed four times (he was generally ok).

We headed out of the city and to our first viewpoint.

We travelled along climbing winding roads to our next stop, a waterfall.

We continued along narrowing roads, taking in the views as we drove. There are many proper viewpoint stops on the route, usually with some sort of cafe and a Vietnam flag. The locals have clearly taken advantage of the tourism that the loop brings.

We visited a local home, where they truly do live off the land. They keep their own animals and grow their own crops to live off.

Our final stop of the first day was what would turn out to be the best viewpoint of the entire loop. Dylan also found a digger to play in.

We arrived at our home stay for the night, which was very cute.

Day two started with a visit to another viewpoint.

We then took a very narrow road up a steep climb and over a pass. At the top, we were rewarded with spectacular views and a very friendly cow, who enjoyed me stroking it. Sadly, the downhill bit that followed was difficult, and I wasn’t even driving. The guy self driving fell off twice, and my bum and arms were hurting from clinging on.

After the pass, we headed for some relaxation by heading to a cave, which you had to access via a bamboo raft. It was quite fun having to pull the raft along with ropes.

After the cave, we headed up another pass to have lunch.

Our next stretch of road was along a mountain ridge, with incredible views over a river down below.

We headed to our second home stay, which felt more like a hotel, but I did get a double bed.

The next morning’s first stop was the Chinese border, but of course we weren’t allowed to go through.

We then headed up to the most northern point of Vietnam, where you could clearly see the border divide.

Next we headed to a village for a look around.

We then headed to a house where they showed us how they make fabric from hemp. While the demonstration was good, I left after the fake sales chat started. We drove some more to our final night stop.

Karaoke is big up in north Vietnam, particularly on the loop. Our home stay had its own karaoke room, so it would have been rude not to go in there and enjoy it.

The final day was a bit of a washout so we didn’t really see much. No matter though, as the views this day aren’t meant to be the best anyway. It turned out we had rode the loop in reverse, which didn’t really make sense as the views got worse as the trip went on. One of our group had a serious allergic reaction overnight, and had to take a taxi back to the city, while the self rider had another accident, meaning he had to be driven back to the city to get patched up. The remaining six of us powered on through the rain back to Ha Giang.

Many people rave about the loop in person and online, often saying it’s the best thing they’ve ever done. It was good, but I wouldn’t say it was great. The views are fantastic, but it gets old after a couple of days, not to mention that your bottom is constantly sore. It made me realise that often those doing the loop haven’t yet had the chance to travel as much as I have, so I can see why this is such an experience for them. I’m glad I did it though, but I wouldn’t do it again.

After getting back to Ha Giang, we boarded a sleeper bus back to Hanoi, which reminded me why I haven’t been using them in Vietnam. They aren’t the most comfortable and are made for short people. I actually slept in a pod at the airport as there was no point going back into the city.

Our time in Vietnam is over. When I visited nine years ago, the lesser travelled younger me said it was my favourite country. I still agree with him. The people, the landscape and the food make Vietnam incredibly special, and I’m very glad I made the time to come back.