Ha Giang is the poorest region in Vietnam and tourism only recently started here. But practically all tourists come for the same thing, to ride the Ha Giang loop on motorbike!
The Ha Giang loop is an adventurous road that crosses mountains, valleys, rivers, forests, caves, small villages and has plenty of breathtaking viewpoints! The main part of the road is situated in the protected geopark, providing a wide variety of natural sceneries.
We rented a semi automatic motorbike at our hostel (Alex driving, me on the back), left our big backpacks and took off for our 3 day adventure! We decided not to book anything ahead and just see where we would end up for the night.
The first day we drove from ha giang city to Yen Minh. On the way we stopped to do a small trek to the lung khuy cave that has only been discovered in 2015! The cave is pretty cool and full of stalactites. The trek to get there was equally amazing!
The second day we drove from Yen Minh to Meo Vac. The sun was shining and the views were really amazing here! We took a detour to visit a local village and the dragon cave. It was really hard to find this cave and the locals did not seem to know it either (despite the unesco signs). After three wrong routes, being chased off by a vicious dog and being stared at by all the locals, we finally found it.. Only to discover that it was closed. Quite a disappointment, but it was still super beautiful! We continued our way to the Ma Pi Leng pass, with its beautiful blue river.
In Meo Vac we stayed at little yens homestay and it was amazing. Finally a good bed!! We had the best sleep there since we arrived in Vietnam. On the third day we drove back to Ha Giang. It was pretty cold and cloudy on the way back but we still enjoyed the three ride!
Overall, the roads were mostly good but on some parts were bad (holes in the road, rocks on the road etc.). It also goes steep up and down and winds along mountains. It's not for the faint hearted and honestly I was happy not to be driving myself. (for those like me, you can also hire an easy driver that takes you on the back). But there is not a lot of traffic, people drive pretty slow and the views are totally worth it!! It's not everyday that you see Pinetrees, bananatrees, ricefields, limestone Mountains and super blue rivers all together.
After we came back we had a final family dinner in the hostel and took the night bus to Cat Ba Island (halong bay).
The first days of our trip flying by, we have already lost all sense of time and dates and are enjoying the simple life of backpackers!
Xoxo
Alex & Yvette
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