The Ha Giang Loop, four days, twelve people maximum

At a glance

Length

4 days, 3 nights

Group

2 to 12 guests

Start

Hanoi

Finish

Hanoi

Effort

Moderate

From

USD 265 per person

Who this trip is for

This is for people with four days who want the loop done properly rather than quickly: a private vehicle so the group is not on somebody else's timetable, a guide whose only job is guiding, and named homestays rather than whatever has beds. It is the trip most people picture when they picture northern Vietnam, and it is the only one of our three with enough material for a full film.

It is also a border province, which means a travel permit obtained in advance from your passport details, roads that close for landslides in the wet months, and a genuine altitude change — Ma Pi Leng sits at around 1,500 metres and it is cold at the top even in April.

Day by day

Day 1

Hanoi to Yen Minh, over the Quan Ba pass

Quan Ba at 08:30, before the first tour buses reach it

You board a sleeper bus in Hanoi at 21:00 the night before day one and wake in Ha Giang city around 05:00. Breakfast is pho at the bus station, which is not glamorous and is the correct thing to eat at that hour. The guide meets you there with the vehicle and the permit already issued.

The first two hours out of Ha Giang city are unremarkable, and then the road climbs into the Quan Ba pass and the limestone starts. You stop at the Heaven's Gate viewpoint before the coach groups arrive, then run north through Tam Son to Yen Minh. Afternoon is loose: a walk to a Hmong village above the road if the group has energy, an early night if it does not.

StayFamily homestay, Yen Minh, shared roomsMealsBreakfast, lunch, dinnerTravel4 hours 30 minutesOn foot3 km, optional village walk

Day 2

Yen Minh to Dong Van, and the Lung Cu flag tower

Late light on the plateau between Sa Phin and Dong Van

The best driving day. The road to Dong Van runs along the top of a plateau of grey karst that looks like nothing else in Vietnam, past the Hmong King's palace at Sa Phin, which takes forty minutes and is worth them.

In the afternoon you go north to Lung Cu, the flag tower at the northernmost point of the country, and climb the 389 steps to the base. China is the hillside opposite. Back in Dong Van by evening; the old quarter is small, and the coffee house in the square is the one place on this trip where you will meet other travellers.

StaySmall hotel, Dong Van old quarter, twin roomsMealsBreakfast, lunch, dinnerTravel3 hours 15 minutesOn foot4 km including 389 steps at Lung Cu

Day 3

Ma Pi Leng, and down to Du Gia

Ma Pi Leng at 08:00 with the valley still in shadow

Ma Pi Leng is the reason the loop exists: twenty kilometres of road cut into a cliff above the Nho Que river, a thousand metres below. You leave Dong Van at 07:00 to have it in morning light and mostly to yourselves. There is an optional boat on the Nho Que through the Tu San canyon, an hour, paid locally.

The afternoon turns away from the tourist route and drops south to Du Gia, on a smaller and rougher road. Du Gia is a village with a waterfall you can swim in and no coffee shops, and it is where most people say the trip finally stopped feeling like a route.

StayVillage homestay, Du Gia, mattresses on a shared floorMealsBreakfast, lunch, dinnerTravel5 hoursOn foot2 km to the waterfall and back

Day 4

Du Gia to Ha Giang city, and the bus home

A slow morning, then three hours of small roads back to Ha Giang city through villages that see very few vehicles. Lunch in the city, the afternoon free to shower and repack at a day-use room we hold for the group, and the 16:00 bus to Hanoi, arriving around 22:00.

If you are flying out the next morning we will tell you now: do not book a flight before 10:00. The bus is reliable but it is not a train.

StayNot included, night bus to HanoiMealsBreakfast, lunchTravel3 hours plus 6 hours by busOn foot1 km

Price

The film package for this trip is USD 420 for the full film plus a vertical cut, or USD 180 for the vertical cut alone — per group, not per person. Detail on prices and how we film.

What is included

Photographs from the route

Who this trip is not for

Four days on mountain roads is not neutral, and this list is not a formality.

• Anyone who cannot manage 389 uneven steps at Lung Cu, or a shared sleeping floor on night three. Du Gia is a village homestay, not a hotel with a homestay label.
• People who get motion sick. Days one to three are almost entirely bends. Come prepared or take a different trip; this is the most common reason someone has a bad four days.
• Riders without a licence we can legally accept. An international permit with the correct motorcycle category, or a Vietnamese licence. Without it you may not ride, and no insurer will cover you if you do.
• Travellers in July and August who cannot absorb a changed itinerary. Landslides close this road. We will run the trip; we may not run it in the order printed.
• Anyone who wants comfortable hotels every night. Two of the three nights are basic by design, and that is where the trip actually happens.

Before you book, read this