8 Day Incredible Offroad Vietnam Guided Motorbike Tour to Mu Cang Chai, Sapa, Ha Giang, Ba Be Lake

Wonderful Vietnam Motorbike Tour

Enjoy the beauty of mountainous northwestern Vietnam with Indochina Motorbike Tours in this motorcycle tour while you are riding on wonderful and spectacular routes such as Khau Pha pass and O Quy Ho Pass. Gaze with veneration at the fanciful terraced rice fields in Mu Cang Chai or Than Uyen. Prior to Ha Giang attractive destinations, you will also explore the different tourist attractions like Sapa and Bac Ha. Besides, you wll have the opportunity to visit Ba Be National Park to explore the wild beauty of nature here!

Key information

Bike: rental bike (scooter, Honda, Yamaha)
Terrain: mix of tarmac, gravel, curves, steep passes, muddy, rocky, and off-road
Mileage: 1,350 kilometers / 839 miles
Daily rides: 120 - 230 kilometers / 75 - 143 miles
Meals: 7 breakfasts, 8 lunches, and 7 dinners

Highlights

Starts and ends in Hanoi
Visit the Ba Be National Park
Descend the mountainous Sa Pa
Ride through the Mu Cang Chai massif
Panoramic ride of the beautiful Ha Giang city
Wonderful ride route of Khau Pha Pass
Scooter and motorcycle rental
7 nights accommodation

Skill level

Intermediate
Advanced

8 days with instruction

Program

Day 1: Hanoi to Phu Yen (Son La), 160 kilometers / 100 miles

The motorbike tour will be started by leaving Hanoi on dyke roads to avoid the heavy traffic and breaking out of the delta plains. You head out of Hanoi skirting along Red River to Son Tay and then ride through a peaceful countryside to Phu Yen, which is a small mountain town as a stop-over for a night. Stay in a guest house.

Day 2: Phu Yen to Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai), 180 kilometers / 125 miles

In the morning, we motorcycle across Lung Lo pass before head up on Road 32.

During the First Indochina War, the 15km-long Lung Lo Pass, used by the Vietnamese resistance force to transport weapons, goods and food during the Dien Bien Phu campaign of 1954, was heavily bombed by the French in order to sever the front lines from the rear. Lung Lo Pass, situated in the northern province of Yen Bai, was also recognised as a national heritage by the ministry.

After lunch, we ride through the Mu Cang Chai massif, almost as high as the Fansipan. From the top, it offers one of the most beautiful views of North Vietnam. The ride is challenging but very rewarding. Overnight in a hotel.

Summary:

Distance: 180 km
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 3: Mu Cang Chai to Sa Pa (Lao Chai), 160 kilometers / 90 miles

We motorcycle to head straight toward the main Fansipan Mountain range. There is also the option for a very challenging back route which takes us through several river crossings. The massive mountain range dominates the road until finally we must make a splendid climb up from Binh Lu and up to the top of the highest road pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass).

Motorbiking into Lao Cai Province at over 2,000m the views looks out over the main range for miles and miles, before we descend to the mountainous Sa Pa valley. Sa Pa is located in Lao Cai Province, north-west Vietnam, and 350 km north-west of Hanoi, close to the border with China. Sapa is famous both for its fine, rugged scenery and for its rich cultural diversity.

French used to consider Sapa as Summer Capital of Northern Vietnam in the early decades of the 20th century. Its naturally gifted beauty keeps attracting more and more people to spend their vacation there since then. Particularly, the place is the foremost choice for honeymoon couples! Overnight in Hotel.

Summary:

Distance: 160 km
Meals: Breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: Hotel

Day 4: Sa Pa to Bac Ha (Lao Cai), 120 kilometers / 75 miles

You ride your motorcycle down from Sa Pa to Lao Cai City and then have a coffee stop on the bank of Nam Thi river, which is Vietnam - China border. Enjoy your coffee while taking the view to China. Head to Road 70 before you turn to Bac Ha on Road 153.

Long touted as the weekend alternative to Sa Pa, this small Highland town doesn't have the same dramatic location of its more illustrious neighbor, but it is calmer when Saturday comes. It fills up to a choking point on Sunday morning, when visitors flood in to meet the Flower H'mong at the morning market. Compared with Sa Pa, tourism is still in its infancy here and during the week the town has a deserted feel. Bac Ha is a good base to explore the surrounding highlands. Around 900 meters above sea level, it is noticeably warmer than Sa Pa.

One of Bac Ha's main industries is the manufacture of alcoholic home brews (rice wine, cassava wine, and corn liquor). The corn hooch produced by the Flower H'mong is so potent it can ignite! Bac Ha is the only place in Vietnam where you'll find this particular moonshine; there's an entire area devoted to it at the Sunday market. Overnight in Bac Ha.

Day 5: Bac Ha to Ha Giang City, 200 kilometers / 125 miles

After breakfast, you take a motor ride on the track to Xin Man and Hoang Su Phi on many small back roads with scenic mountain views. Xin Man is right on the border between Vietnam and China. It is, as of this writing, well hidden and completely surrounded by wild mountains and forests.

There's a single road from Xin Man to Hoang Su Phi. Hoang Su Phi is among the most untouched area of Ha Giang Province of Vietnam. The area was separated from the mainstream society until very recently. Passing Hoang Su Phi, you will be charmed by the pristine beauty of the wild mountains and the authentic culture of the local ethnic groups which include: the Nung, the Flower H'mong, the Tay, and the Ha Nhi People.

After lunch, join the main road heading up to Ha Giang City, where you stop for the night and apply for a permit.

Day 6: Ha Giang to Dong Van, 160 kilometers / 100 miles

After getting the permit for motorbike tour in border areas at Ha Giang's Immigration Police, you ride on small challenging mountain roads (but incredibly beautiful) on the land of colorful mountain hill tribes.

You ride your motorcycle up the Ma Pi Leng Pass. Here is yet another amazing place, with cloudy mountain ranges and the poetic Nho Que river winding off in the distance.

It is really difficult to find the exact words to describe Ma Pi Leng Pass, located between Dong Van and Meo Vac, near the northernmost tip of Vietnam, as a painting of astonishing beauty and magnificence that captures the eyes of all viewers and nature lovers. Ride on a zig-zag track until reaching Vuong Family's Residence, 14 kilometers before Dong Van.

Vuong Family was considered the King of the Hmong People in Dong Van, Ha Giang. Their residence was built in the scenic valley of Sa Phin with Chinese architecture. The whole house was built out of wood and rock only. The rocks for the buildings were imported from China. Vuong Family Residence is a masterpiece of man work in the valley of the heavenly beauty of Sa Phin. This is a remote area and you can meet the hard working local people here. It is inspiring to see how they survive as they manage to live in the rocks. When you reach Dong Van town, you will have some extra time to wander the ancient streets lined with H'mong homes of clay bricks and tiles roofs built centuries ago.

Day 7: Dong Van passing Meo Vac to Ba Be National Park, 160 kilometers / 100 miles

The road is still under construction and tracks that make the motor ride relatively long in spite of few kilometers. The landscape is among the most beautiful scenery of Vietnam, and the slow tempo is only more appreciable.

You ride your motorcycle across the wild regions of the mythical province of Ha Giang, Meo Vac is included. It shares the border with Dong Van District of Ha Giang Province and Bao Lam District of Cao Bang Province. Meo Vac has most of the terrain in the Rock Plateau of Dong Van and over 1000 meters above sea level. Meo Vac has a harsh climate in the winter which is from November to April with dry and freezing cold weather. It is inhabited by different ethnic minorities including the H'mong, the King, Tay, and Dzao. Most ethnic groups have maintained their culture untouched by the outside world. Have a beautiful motor ride down to Bac Kan Province in the afternoon. Take a local boat-ride on the reservoir of Na Hang Hydro Power Factory to a village near by Dau Dang waterfall in Ba Be National Park for homestay.

Day 8: Ba Be National Park to Hanoi, 230 kilometers / 143 miles

Note: This is a very big day, you should start early and ride back carefully on Road 3.

After breakfast, take another boat-ride on Ba Be lake to another side before jumping on your bikes to Cho Ra, head up to main Road 3.

Ba Be National Park is an abundant bio reserve area containing the world’s only fresh-water karst lake and several rare species of fauna and flora. The biodiverse 10,048-hectare park - home to 1,268 species of flora and fauna, a series of caves and a gigantic fresh water lake - was established in 1992 by the Vietnamese government to preserve forest ecosystems in the northeast.

Ba Be is home to over 3,000 people from the ethnic minorities of Tay, Nung, Dao, and Mong, who live in 13 villages within the park. The Tay people have inhabited Ba Be area for centuries and make 58 percent of the population within the park's boundaries.

On Road 3, the way back to Hanoi, traffic is getting worst and worst, so you should be back, before rush hour.

Note: Indochina Motorbike Tours provides support truck (120 USD per day) for emergency and for your safe riding in Vietnam. This trip can be shorter by taking night train from Hanoi to Lao Cai instead motorbiking on first 3 days. Please send Indochina Motorbike Tours for more information regarding this note.

Intermediate

can ride for 3-4 hours
average riding experience
little assistance required
comfortable with extreme curves and leans
average experience with unsurfaced roads
steep ascents and descents

Advanced

can ride for 5-6 hours
extensive riding experience
assistance on demand (if required)
experienced with riding a variety of motorcycles
comfortable with any terrain and weather conditions

Food

The following meals are included:

Breakfast
Lunch
Dinner
Snacks
Drinks

The following dietary requirement(s) are served and/or catered for:

Regular (typically includes meat and fish)

If you have special dietary requirements it's a good idea to communicate it to the organiser when making a reservation

What's included

7 nights' accommodation
Boat ride
Driving gears
English or French-speaking guide
Entrance fees and sightseeing fees
Fruits and coffee on roads every day
Gasoline on tour
Helmets
Homestay permission
Meals as indicated in the itinerary
Mechanic (only for group from 6 passengers)
Motorbikes (Honda or Yamaha)

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