The Adventure of a Lifetime: 3 days on the Ha Giang Loop
Listen - in my lifetime I’ve gotten the chance to do lots of amazing things. Bathe elephants in a river in Thailand, scuba dive through shipwrecks, explore royal palaces in Korea, and even camp in the Sahara Desert. But up until October of 2022, if you asked me what my favorite experience I’ve ever had would be, I would’ve felt like I was picking between my children - it was simply impossible.
Then, during the (incredibly small amount of ) research I did for my 3 month Southeast Asia trip, I happened across something called the Ha Giang Loop - a 3-5 day motorcycle route that winds through the northernmost mountains of Vietnam.
In all my years of reading travel blogs, I had literally never heard of Ha Giang before. Ha Long? Sure! Hanoi? Duh. But wtf was Ha Giang and why was it suddenly all over my For You Page???
All I have to say is thank God for TikTok because without stumbling across that one video, the most epic experience of my life would never have happened.
And to be completely honest, it almost didn’t happen anyways! As I mentioned before, the Ha Giang Loop is something you complete on a motorbike - and I had absolutely no idea how to drive one of those.
Womp womp.
Never fear, you can always hop on the back of what they call an “Easyrider” - which is a local tour guide who is employed by the company you book your tour through. This makes the Ha Giang Loop accessible to almost everyone, regardless of motorbike expertise!
Unfortunately for me, my ego when it comes to travel and adrenaline inducing activities is absolutely gigantic, and without fail I always overestimate my abilities. I’m really out here living on planet delusion convincing myself that I’m a natural at everything… It’s a sickness.
All of these factors had me telling my travel buddies and convincing myself that I was either driving myself or simply not doing it at all. (And not doing it all all was also not an option so I had NO choice but to drive myself apparently?) To which they replied, “Emma, you might want to try to learn how to drive a motorbike then.”
A fabulous suggestion.
Except in a long story that if you’re a regular over here on the blog you’ve heard one MILLION times, my quest to learn how to ride a motorbike ended up in a completely skinned leg, a missing tooth, and a trip to the hospital in Vientiane.
I was seriously considering swallowing my pride and shelling out the extra money for the Easyrider, until my delusions hit full force again.
“Everyone who travels Southeast Asia comes off their bike at least once,” I said. “I’ve just got it out of the way now! Good thing it happened before I started the Ha Giang Loop!”
As if falling twice wasn’t even a possibility?? Okay Emma. Okay.
So there I was, on the crammed, smelly, (horrific) overnight bus on the way to Ha Giang, where my Semi-automatic bike was waiting for me - a silly girl covered in scabs whose tooth was being held in with her retainer, who only (sort of) knew how to drive a mo-ped.
Nice.
**Disclaimer!!! The Easyriders are amazing! You can take pictures all day and actually enjoy the scenery and not have a white knuckled death-grip on the handlebars and tense shoulders the whole day! I’m just mentally unwell and desperately wanted to prove to myself that I ~could~, ESPECIALLY after embarrassing myself with the whole tooth incident.
I managed to get a little bit of sleep on the overnight bus (perks of being a short girl who fit in the tiny bed (if you’re over 5”4’ you may be in for a rough night) as well as a bit of sleep when we arrived to our hostel in Ha Giang, but I’m not going to lie…
…I was SWEATING. If there was space to toss and turn on the night bus I would’ve been doing just that, but all I could do was lay there and let my mind wander to all the horrific possibilities. Good thing I had no service because my google search history would’ve been full of Ha Giang death statistics.
I also made the mistake of not buying travel insurance before I embarked on my trip, and it was too late now. The next morning, I signed my life away on some waivers, signed some more forms saying I’d pay for the bike if I wrecked it, and lined up for my little lesson on how to drive a semi-automatic motorbike.
When the guides asked me what happened to me (regarding my extremely scabbed over leg) - I blamed an imaginary friend who wrecked their bike with me on the back… lol.
Not my proudest moment but no WAY they were trusting me with a bike if they knew the truth, right?
After a few times riding up and down the long stretch of flat road to get the hang of shifting, I was feeling slightly more confident. After a quick breakfast of banana pancakes and instant coffee, we were off.
How to book the Ha Giang Loop
Before we get into the actual journey itself, I have a few things to say about booking the tour!
I didn’t do much research on different companies that operate the tour, which I was definitely kicking myself for later on in the week - but I’m happy to help you learn from my mistakes! In Hanoi, I was staying at Buffalo Hostel, which joins forces with Central Backpackers for the tour. I met loads of people from the bar crawls I did with these hostels, and when they told me they were all signed up to leave the very next day for the Ha Giang Loop, I jumped at the chance to go with them!
I loved being on the loop with my friends, but I can’t recommend booking your tour through these hostels.
They frequently left people who were in the bathroom at rest stops, they didn’t take us to the iconic hanging rock overlook, and we didn’t get a chance to go down to the Tu San Canyon river like I had seen so many other groups do.
The best way to book is through Jasmine hostel. You can either book online or in person through their office, which is located in Hanoi at the Old Town Backpacker Hostel.
My friends who did their tour through Jasmine were able to go to all the places I missed, and I was KICKING myself for not having done better research.
Or if you don’t want to show up in Vietnam and play it by ear, simply book a tour in advance on Viator! Make sure you read the descriptions to see if a boat ride in the Tu San Canyon is included! You can browse the available tours here.
Logistics
Typically, any hostel you book through in Hanoi will let you leave your big bags in their storage room, and give you a free night of accommodation upon your return!
I re-distributed everything I was going to need into my smaller daypack, and left my 46 liter backpack at Buffalo Hostel. You’ll strap your backpack to the back of your motorbike, so the smaller the better! I made sure to bring leggings and cycling shorts for long days on the motorbike, as well as a sweatshirt and thick socks for the cold nights in the mountains. I highly recommend not forgetting sunglasses, as there aren’t many places to buy them in Ha Giang!
(Trust me, I looked.)
Typically, your night bus from Hanoi will leave at 9 pm, and you’ll drive for 7 hours and arrive at 4 in the morning. You’ll switch from your “bed” in the overnight bus to a dorm room for your last few hours of sleep, and start the loop at around 9am that morning.
The price will typically include all food and accommodation along the loop, your motorbike and all the fuel you need, as well as the overnight bus and typically your first night back after you complete the loop - so it really is a good deal!
***Quick note on the photos in this post! Quality is VARYING - due to some being taken my either my phone or my drone, and also due to the fact that I was so focused on not crashing that a lot of these came from my friends who rode on the back! Please bear with me.
Day 1
The first day on the Ha Giang loop was absolutely stunning.
We took it easy for about an hour as we drove into the mountains, but as we got higher and higher, the switchbacks and turns got sharper and twistier. I was MULTITASKING: trying to gun the bike enough to get me up the steep hills as we climbed up the mountains, concentrating on downshifting to make going up the hills easier, and remembering the tips that my dad taught me on how to make turning easier.
(If you’re turning right, push DOWN on the right handlebar as you lean, and vice versa for left - don’t try to ~turn~ the handlebars, as it simply won’t work.) This tip helped so many people on my trip so I just thought I’d share! Shout out Dad <3
By the time we reached the first lookout, my whole body was sore. Not from bad roads and bumps, but from being completely tense and fearful for my life the entire time. It was going to be a long day.
After admiring the view at one more viewpoint cafe, we stopped for lunch. The meals were all included as a part of the tour price, and while the lunches were typically the same every day, they were really delicious! We also grabbed some ice cream from a little shop as the sun had actually become super hot.
I was so worried about the weather on the loop, as I was pretty scared of driving on wet roads and going through all the hassle to have clouds covering the views (Imagine a horrific overnight bus, constant gripping fear, and losing three days of precious travel time for some views of the clouds), but I got SO lucky with it! I went in the second week of October and got away with a sport bra and biker shorts during the day (got some horrific tan lines though I won’t lie) and leggings and a sweatshirt at night! I highly recommend this time of year.
We stopped at two more viewpoints that each had little cafes in the afternoon, and after some coffee and mango juice, we arrived to our homestay.
The homestay was honestly so cute. There was one big bedroom with mattresses lining the walls, and while some were put off by this, I thought it was so fun! We all had one big slumber party and we were all so tired from the day that no one was worried about having difficulty sleeping.
We claimed our beds, threw our bags down, and hopped right back on our bikes because, apparently, there was a waterfall to go swimming in. An if there’s a waterfall to swim in, you best beLIEVE I will be all up in that.
It was bout a 15 minute drive, but when I tell you that the road to the waterfall was worse than any stretch of road we were on that entire day, I mean it. Huge, loose rocks, dirt roads, steep hills and potholes - I was about to lose my mind. I FINALLY, by the grace of God, arrived in the parking lot and nearly burst into tears. No WAY I was going to be able to get my bike back up to the homestay.
Luckily, a sweet sweet Easyrider saw my watery eyes and told me he’d drive my bike back and then walk back to get his. Absolute ANGEL. Just be super aware that maybe walking and taking longer to get to the waterfall is a far better option!
Once at the waterfall, we all took turns jumping from the top, shrieking at the freezing temperature of the water, and enjoying the sunset. The Easyriders did all just sit there and watch, and it had me wishing I’d packed a more conservative bathing suit - so just keep that in mind!
After my guardian angel dropped me back at the homestay, we all took turns showering and headed down for a family style dinner.
Now, from all the Youtube videos I had watched and reviews I had read, I was slightly concerned for dinner. And if I’m being honest, this was the part of the tour that scared me the most! (Literally - not the steep drop-offs and cliffs, not the windy, twisty roads, not the fear of knocking out another tooth - dinner. Dinner scared me the most).
And let me tell you why! The northern region of Vietnam is known for what the locals call “Happy Water,” which is an extremely strong type of rice liquor. Typically, no matter what tour you go with, the locals will offer you shot after shot after shot - and apparently it’s impolite to refuse! People wake up extremely hungover because of this, and with the amount of stress I already had going on, I simply did NOT need a hangover while trying to stay on my bike and not die.
I also did not want to offend our entire group of generous Vietnamese hosts, so maybe you can see my dilemma.
Or maybe you’re one of those people who can rip shot after shot with little to no consequences; unfortunately I am a 40 year old 24 year old, in the fact that I’ll have one drink and be doomed to a headache the next day.
But Luckily, I took just 3 shots before daring to refuse, and the locals didn’t seem to mind! I don’t think it came across as rude at all, so if that’s something you’re worried about, don’t be.
We stayed up until midnight singing TERRIBLE Karaoke (sponsored by the aforementioned Happy Water), and then all went upstairs to start out giant slumber party.
Day 2
Day two was by far the most harrowing day on the Ha Giang loop. It depends on what route your tour decides to take, but everyone I talked to who had already completed the loop with Buffalo Hostel said that day 2 was definitely the trickiest due to the construction.
Because of the influx of tourism to northern Vietnam in the past two years, they’re doing their best to expand the roads and make them safer! Unfortunately for us, we arrived smack in the middle of this construction initiative, and as a result were dodging semi-trucks, bouncing over massive loose rocks, and getting absolutely covered in dust and mud.
The older this blog post is for you, dear reader, the bigger the chance of you having a smooth, easy-breezy trip! That was just simply not the case for me.
Photo below on the left is maybe the worst photo I’ve ever taken, but I wanted to be able to convey just what the roads were like! There were massive, miles-long stretches where the entire road was like that rocky patch in the middle, and I was literally having flashbacks to the war (falling of my bike and knocking my tooth out in the middle of nowhere in Laos).
Because of the different skill levels in our group, we did tend to get very spaced out. There was always a leader and someone bringing up the rear, but I typically found myself somewhere in the middle. During this particular day, however, there were so many stretches where I had no one visibly in front of me, and no one visibly behind me.
It was just me and my sheer willpower keeping me on that bike, when all I wanted to do was get off, sit down, and cry. Obviously I’m not the best motorbike rider, but the big rocks had my tires spinning, my bike tilting and threatening to throw me off, the dust was all in my eyes, and I was definitely holding back tears at one point.
But miraculously, I stayed on! I am happy to report that there was a grand total of 0 incidents for me on the Ha Giang Loop, which was definitely an act of God.
While the roads were absolute crap, the views, once again, were majestic, and 100% worth the hassle. Todays Landscapes were full of more views of the unreal roads we were navigating, stunning rice terraces, and Southeast Asia’s deepest gorge: the Tu San Canyon.
Here’s where I started kicking myself for not conducting better research to ensure the best possible Ha Giang Loop.
All of my friends who booked through Jasmine Hostel were able to actually take their bikes all the way down into the canyon and do a boat ride through the gorge - their photos are absolutely stunning, and I was green with envy. My group still stopped at a little café that had gorgeous views of the blue-Gatorade water below, but obviously it’s not quite the same.
At the café we stopped at, we could also see the Chinese border! It was too far away to get a decent picture, but it was pretty surreal looking at our location on Google Maps and seeing us toeing the edge between the two countries. China is someplace I’ve always wanted to go, so it was nice to get a little taste of the landscapes of the South of China, even though we were just in North Vietnam looking over.
The day was a little hazy, so I didn’t get the best photos, but look how stunning the Tu San Canyon is!
And although we didn’t make it down for a boat ride, I was at least able to fly my drone down to get a little bit of a closer look. The color reminded me exactly of my trip to Halong Bay when I was in Vietnam back in August, and apparently I cannot get enough of Vietnam’s assortment of emerald green waters.
After yet another mango juice and a coffee, we set off again.
We weren’t traveling for long when we stopped at another cafe.
This is what doesn’t make sense to me with the trip we went on. At the end of day 2 they had all said that we didn’t have enough time to make it all the way to the iconic Skywalk rock photo op, but we stopped at countless cafes and other viewpoints throughout the day.
While this stop was obviously stunning, it just consisted of more views of the canyon.
Meanwhile, the photo on the right I’ve stolen from a friend who actually got to the skywalk rock, so if you could just picture me perched there on the rock in the top right corner with my little legs dangling over the stunning landscapes of Northern Vietnam… that would be great.
I always like to clarify that while I’m not extremely photo driven (probably one of my detriments as a travel blog, but my passion simply lies in writing and storytelling - not photography!) that it still does make me a little anxious when I don’t get good pictures or complete all the experiences a region has to offer. It sometimes feels like I’m selling you short or not able to give you guys the full picture!
It’s obviously a bigger deal to me than it is to you, as you can find pictures like this just about anywhere on the internet, but STILL.
As the sun began to set both in the sky and on my epic photo hopes and dreams, we made it to our next night’s accomodations.
Forgive these blurry pictures - I really do love them in theory but taking pictures with my left hand (gas is on the right handlebar of motorbikes!) as I drive own bumpy roads and try not to crash is not that easy in practice.
But just LOOK at how epic the mountain formations are in northern Vietnam. Driving through these gorgeous mountains as the sun set on our last full day was definitely a core memory that I will never forget.
It almost made up for the disappointment I felt at missing out on not one, but TWO experiences I thought I was going to have on this trip:(
Our next accommodation wasn’t a homestay, but a hostel this time! There were much more showers to go around, lots of rooms that had bunk beds and privacy curtains, and balconies with stunning views that overlooked the quaint little town’s rice fields.
We all enjoyed staying in a town instead of being out in the middle of nowhere! While we had fun last night with the waterfalls and the homemade karaoke stage, there were a few of us who went for a massage (those bumpy roads really do it to you I swear), went out for dinner, or went to the local pub for some actual Karaoke.
Karaoke is a non-negotiable no matter where you are, clearly.
I opted for the karaoke at the bar (in an effort to drink an actual cocktail and not be ripping shots of Happy Water (an unsuccessful mission - I definitely partook in a very reluctant share of Happy Water)), and we had an absolute ball. This little town was full of other travelers on other tours or simply DIYing the loop (brave), but by the end of the night, we had shut down the bar. It was me and my two travel buddies from Laos, a group of 6 girls and a group of 3 girls both from the UK, and a group of old British men whose matching embroidered shirts tipped us off to the fact that they all were apart of the same golf club back in England and were out on their 7th annual boys trip.
A very unsuspecting group of us, but we had the time of our lives belting out Piano Man and I Will Survive.
That last one was me manifesting for the last day of the loop, I won’t even lie.
Even though the last day of our trip had us taking some of the same roads we did the first day, when you have views like these I can’t imagine ever tiring of them.
It was also on this day that I had the most FUN driving. I was used to all the shifting by now, had gotten the hang of making sharp turns, and the sun was absolutely shining. Where the roads pictured below would’ve had me sweating despite the heat on day one, I took one look and got excited to give them a go.
Wind in my hair, sun on my back, confident on my bike, not a care in the world, flying through the mountains of Ha Giang: life simply doesn’t get better than this, and I got that feeling again - the feeling that I’d be doing this again some day. I would absolutely love to DIY it when I come back - I think I’d manage to get better photos, get to the viewpoints that I wanted to, and overall have even more fun.
We took some group photos at this rest stop, and bought some flowers from the local girls. We knew the petals would blow right off the stems the second we got back on our bikes, but sometimes you just need to support the local vendors when you can.
Plus, the flowers were really beautiful.
After a pitstop for lunch in the same restaurant as the first day, the mountains started to level out as we slowly made our way back to the starting point of Ha Giang.
The afternoon haze made for some dreamy landscapes, and when we pulled over for a few people to go to the bathroom in the bushes I managed to snag one singular picture of myself (downside to being a solo traveler is that we don’t get too many of these!)
3 incredible days later, we pulled back into the parking lot of our initial hostel. I sat there on my bike in shock for a second, before turning to my travel buddy Josh and saying, “Sorry - am I a BIKER chick?? Should I get a motorcycle when I get home?”
He looked at me and said, “… maybe consider that when your tooth isn’t being held in place with your retainer.”
Wise words from Josh.
3 days on the Ha Giang Loop
I know the photos and the explanations of the days in this post seem repetitive (“how incredible can 3 days spent just driving in a circle through northern Vietnam be?” - a question I’ve got on multiple occasions), but I promise you: the Ha Giang loop is a MUST-DO when in Vietnam.
It was my favorite experience in not only Vietnam, but all of Southeast Asia, and if I could go back and do it again, I would either book the 4 day tour as opposed to the 3, or even go by myself just to be able to take in the experience even more.
I have never seen landscapes like these, nor did I even know that they existed! My goal when traveling is to not only have amazing experiences and meet even better people, but to also see as much of creation as I physically can - and it’s views like these that give me butterflies in my stomach.
It was also SO empowering! While there’s absolutely no shame in the Easyriders (and I found myself on more than one occasion wishing I had one just so I could take pictures to my hearts content!), I really managed to prove to myself that I am capable of hard things.
I think the easiest thing for me to do after such a rough accident just the week before would have been to play it safe and hop on the back. I’m really proud of my decision to get back on the bike, trust that there were lessons learned, and accomplish this all on my own; it felt like redemption!
It also restored my confidence and I had no qualms against driving through the rest of Vietnam (even in Hanoi)!, as well as in Thailand. In Bali I was confined to my friends motorbike skills and taxis to take me where I wanted to go, but getting over my fear of falling off again gave me so much freedom throughout the rest of my backpacking trip.
I HIGHLY recommend the Ha Giang loop (not my exact tour) - and even if you’re running on limited time in Vietnam, you can definitely squeeze it in. I would go back in a heartbeat, and it’s one of my fondest memories.
Would you do the Ha Giang Loop?
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