Every question, in one place

No. Every trip is priced and sold on its own and most of our bookings are trip-only. The film is an add-on you can also decide on up to seven days before departure, once you have seen the weather forecast.

You do, for any use including commercial. We ask separately, in writing, whether we may use clips of your trip on our own channels. If you say no, nothing is published, and saying no does not change the price.

The trip runs. Ha Giang in rain is still Ha Giang, and the film says so.

If a road closes and we cannot complete the route we refund the days not travelled in full, and the film package in full if there were fewer than two filming days.

No. The guide guides and the filmmaker films. One person doing both means you get worse of each, and it is the most common shortcut in filmed tours.

Not yet, and we would rather say that than show you somebody else's showreel. TourVlog is new. What we can do is put you on a call with the filmmaker who would travel with you, and show you unlisted work they have shot before.

Yes, up to seven days before departure, subject to a filmmaker being free. Inside seven days it depends entirely on availability.

No. Drone flight in Vietnam is restricted near airports, military sites and some border areas, and Ha Giang is a border province. The filmmaker flies where it is legal and declines where it is not, which sometimes means the shot you were imagining does not exist.

Tell us within thirty days and we do the included re-edit, guided by what specifically is wrong. We do not refund the film package once it has been shot and delivered, and that is stated here rather than in small print.

Mid to late October. Dry roads, clear passes, the harvest just finished, and the sea calm enough that Ha Long is reliable. It is also when everyone else comes, so book homestays two months out.

Yes, and it is beautiful and nearly empty. It is also genuinely cold on the passes, down to 5°C with wind, and if you are on a motorbike that matters more than the number suggests. Bring proper gloves.

Yes, before you pay. We have talked people out of specific weeks and into others, and occasionally out of the trip entirely.

Six to eight weeks for September to November. Two to three weeks is usually enough for the rest of the year. The film package is the part that runs out first, because there are fewer filmmakers than vehicles.

TourVlog is a brand operated by Alotour Travel Company Limited, a licensed tour operator in Hanoi. Your contract, invoice and insurance are with that company. Details are in the footer of every page.

Between two and twelve guests, plus a guide, a driver and, if you booked it, a filmmaker. Most departures run with four to eight.

Yes, all three trips can be run privately for your group at a different price. It is the most common request we get and it is on the prices page.

No. The film package only exists attached to one of our trips, because the whole approach depends on the filmmaker knowing the route, the light and the guide. Standalone filming is production work and we do not do it.

Within one working day, with a price. If your enquiry arrives on Saturday evening you will hear back on Monday.

You can agree everything by phone, but the booking is only confirmed once you have the written itinerary and price and have replied to accept it. That is for your protection more than ours.

Yes, on the same number as the phone line. It is the fastest way to reach us and the easiest if you are already in Vietnam on a foreign SIM.

Sometimes for the street food night, occasionally for Ha Long, rarely for Ha Giang. Call rather than email. The film package almost never works at that notice.

Because we run them ourselves rather than reselling, and three is what a small team can run well with a filmmaker attached. Adding a fourth would mean subcontracting one of them, and the film package falls apart the moment we do not control the day.

Yes, and most people do. Ha Giang plus Ha Long is a seven-day window including travel and a rest day. Tell us your arrival date and we will lay it out.

Shared by default, with two to twelve guests. Private departures are available on any date for all three trips at the prices shown on the prices page.

Yes. Most bookings are trip-only. The film is an add-on and the trip price does not change if you skip it.

Because a hostel loop tour puts you on the back of a bike with an easy-rider driver in a group of twenty, with dormitory beds and no guide, and that genuinely costs a third of what we spend.

It is a real and good way to see Ha Giang, and if the price gap matters to you, take it. What you are buying from us is a private vehicle, a guide who is not also your driver, named accommodation, and a group capped at twelve.

Combining the street food night with either of the other trips takes USD 15 off the street food night. Beyond that, no. A discount off a published price means the published price was wrong.

Trip prices are per person. The film package is per group. That is the whole rule and it is why the film gets much better value with six of you than two.

Thirty per cent to confirm, the balance twenty-one days before departure. Inside twenty-one days it is payable in full at booking. Methods and the cancellation ladder are on the how to pay page.

For seven days, once we have sent you a quote, and we will tell you if somebody else is asking about the same date. After seven days the quote stands but the date does not.

Yes, and some people prefer it to avoid a second transfer fee. It does not change the price or the cancellation terms.

Call the guide's mobile, which you will have. For Ha Long we can usually get you onto the boat by road later the same day. For Ha Giang, missing the first morning generally means missing the trip, because the vehicle is on a route.

This is exactly what travel insurance is for, and it is why we require it.

We need the details, not the document: full name, number, nationality and expiry. A photo of the page by email or WhatsApp is the usual way.

No, and about half our guests do not. You can sit in the support vehicle for the whole loop or ride pillion behind a local driver, at the same price. Riding your own bike is the option that costs extra, not the default.

The roads are good and the traffic is light, but they are mountain roads with drops and no barriers, and accidents on the loop are not rare among independent riders.

What we control: helmets, a driver whose only job is driving, guides who end a day early for weather without asking, and a hard requirement that you carry insurance covering motorcycling.

Night one is a family homestay in Yen Minh with shared rooms and hot water. Night two is a small hotel in Dong Van with twin rooms and private bathrooms. Night three at Du Gia is mattresses with mosquito nets on a shared wooden floor, with a shared bathroom. We name the properties in your itinerary.

You can, and we do not sell it, because a three-day loop means either skipping Du Gia or driving Ma Pi Leng in the afternoon when it is backlit and busy. If three days is all you have, Ha Long plus the street food night is a better use of them.

It is the same limestone landscape, in the adjoining Lan Ha Bay, reached from Hai Phong. If your requirement is to say you were in Ha Long Bay specifically, this trip does not do that and we would rather tell you now.

Small. Maximum twelve guests in six or seven cabins, plus crew. Cabins have private bathrooms and air conditioning that runs on the generator, which is switched off for part of the night.

From roughly April to October, off the back of the boat and in the lagoon. In winter the water is around 18°C and most people do not.

Lan Ha is sheltered and the water is usually flat. The two hours between the harbour and the anchorage is the only exposed part. Take something before boarding rather than after.

It is more than dinner. Come hungry, skip lunch, and know that the guide will not be offended if you leave half of stop five.

Children over eight are fine for the first five stops. The last stop is a beer corner, and families usually leave after the egg coffee, which is a good place to stop anyway.

No. The walking version covers the same six stops and takes twenty minutes longer. About a third of guests walk.

It runs. Four of the six stops are covered, the guide carries ponchos, and Hanoi in the rain is arguably the better version. We only cancel for a typhoon warning, and then we refund in full.

No. Northern Vietnam only, all trips departing Hanoi. Hue, Hoi An, Da Nang and the Mekong are outside what we run.

Yes. Four days for Ha Giang, a rest day in Hanoi, two days for Ha Long, and you have used seven. It is the most common combination we book.

Ha Long, if it is your only trip north and you have two days. Ha Giang, if you have four days and want the trip you will still be talking about later.

No, deliberately. Two pages about places we run trips to are worth more than twenty assembled from research.

Yes. It is a border province and a travel permit is required for the loop, issued in advance from your passport details. It costs about USD 10 and takes a few working days. On our trips it is obtained for you and included.

Yes. A car covers the entire loop, and riding pillion with a local driver is the most common choice for people who do not ride. Neither costs more than riding yourself on our trip.

They are different landscapes. Sapa is green terraces and trekking, and its town has been heavily built up. Ha Giang is grey karst and driving, and it is harder to reach, which is most of why it feels the way it does.

If you want to walk between villages, go to Sapa. If you want passes, go here.

Down to about 5°C on the passes in December and January, with wind. In the valleys it is 10 to 15°C. On a motorbike, plan for it properly — gloves and a windproof layer, not a fleece.

The main Ha Long routes are, and in October the anchorages there are crowded. Lan Ha and parts of Bai Tu Long are not, and the landscape is the same. Which bay you sail matters far more than which month, with the exception of storm season.

You can, and we do not sell it. Five hours in a vehicle for about four hours on the water, on the busiest route, at the busiest time of day. If one night aboard is impossible, spend the day in Hanoi instead.

Between June and September there is a real chance, because tropical storms close the bay by order of the harbour master. Outside those months cancellation is rare. We refund the trip and the film package in full when it happens.

In Lan Ha and the outer bays, yes, from roughly April to October. Near the main ports and the busiest anchorages it is visibly less so, which is another argument for sailing away from them.

No. Every trip is priced and sold on its own and most of our bookings are trip-only. The film is an add-on you can also decide on up to seven days before departure, once you have seen the weather forecast.

You do, for any use including commercial. We ask separately, in writing, whether we may use clips of your trip on our own channels. If you say no, nothing is published, and saying no does not change the price.

The trip runs. Ha Giang in rain is still Ha Giang, and the film says so.

If a road closes and we cannot complete the route we refund the days not travelled in full, and the film package in full if there were fewer than two filming days.

No. The guide guides and the filmmaker films. One person doing both means you get worse of each, and it is the most common shortcut in filmed tours.

Not yet, and we would rather say that than show you somebody else's showreel. TourVlog is new. What we can do is put you on a call with the filmmaker who would travel with you, and show you unlisted work they have shot before.

Yes, up to seven days before departure, subject to a filmmaker being free. Inside seven days it depends entirely on availability.

No. Drone flight in Vietnam is restricted near airports, military sites and some border areas, and Ha Giang is a border province. The filmmaker flies where it is legal and declines where it is not, which sometimes means the shot you were imagining does not exist.

Tell us within thirty days and we do the included re-edit, guided by what specifically is wrong. We do not refund the film package once it has been shot and delivered, and that is stated here rather than in small print.