chefmaison

I did quite some research before setting of on the Ha Giang loop, and then off course there is the experience of doing the Ha Giang loop in september 2024. To make it easier for anyone planning to to the Ha Giang loop, I put all the possible tips for you together in one place!!

• Make sure you have a motorbike license if you want to drive the loop yourself, alone or with a group.
• Make sure you have the correct international drivers license, your country has to have signed the 1968 convention in Geneva, it is mentioned on the front of the IDP.
• If you do not have the right drivers license you will either have to go with an easy rider, on the back of a motorbike, or take a car with a driver. Yes there are still a lot of foreigners who rent and drive a motorbike in Vietnam without a motorbike license or the correct IDP, we also met them along the loop, and yes they paid the fines ( ranging between 40 and 80 USD per person) and then continued driving. But if you do not own a motorbike license you should not drive a motorbike. In your home country you would not do this either, so don’t do in Vietnam what you won’t do at home… We all should want to keep this beautiful corner of the world a safe place to visit. And yes you will get stopped by the police along the way, we actually got stopped twice, but since we had the right drivers license they were very friendly and let us continue. But both times other foreigners got fined and one foreigner even was not allowed to continue. 
• Do your research before you go, you will enjoy it so much more if you are well prepared.
• If you are going with an easy rider decide if you want to join a large group of youngsters or would prefer to go with a small group of friends, family, or as a couple or maybe even only by yourself and a driver/guide, so that you can communicate this clearly when booking a tour.
• Take raingear with you, a raincoat and rain trousers and avoid using the one-use rain ponchos and rain gear they give you here, nature will thank you!
• You can rent several kinds of motorbikes, from the semi-automatic 125 cc that most tour groups use, over the 150 CC manual gear with a clutch up a 350 cc manual motorbike. If you are not very experienced driving a motorbike best choose the semi-automatic 125 cc, experienced drivers can choose the 150 CC manual, while the 300 or 350 cc might be a little too heavy for this tour, especially if you want to ride on small off road paths. The fully automatic motorbike might miss a bit of power on the steep climbs of the loop. We were two on the motorbike, my husband is an experienced motorbike driver, so we chose the Honda 150 cc and were very happy with it. It is powerful enough to carry two. All motorbikes have a luggage rack on the back to strap your luggage on. We used a trekking backpack, not fully filled, and a smaller day pack backpack. We strapped both on top of each other on the luggage rack. (The first two days I had the day pack on my back, we only found out we would actually strap the day pack on top of the trekking backpack on the third day) It actually created a nice seat for me and a back support. The rental place will give you elastics to strap your luggage on the rack, we also had brought two elastics straps along which we used to strap our day pack on top of our larger backpack.
• What to take: wear long pants and sturdy closed shoes on the bike. It is nice to have a kind of scarf or balaclava to wear on your head under the helmet, it keeps the helmet better in place, and I liked it out of hygienic reasons, everyone sweats inside this helmet… Take sunscreen and sunglasses. Take decent raingear, coat and pants, it can rain heavily in Vietnam and in the mountains. Some like to wear gloves on the bike to protect their hands. Many loop tour groups offer knee and elbow braces as protection in case they fall. You can ask for it when you rent the motorbike. You can also ask for a large plastic bag to cover you luggage on the bike, it protects not only against rain but also against dust. (they usually provide more than one) Pack some shirts and fresh underwear, and something light and slippers to wear in the evening. Take some basic medication with you and a mosquito repellant. If you travel from November till February you might need a warm jacket, scarf, gloves and a warm sweater for the night. You can take a refillable water bottle with you. We stayed at the better lodgings on the loop and they all provided towels, shampoo, shower cream, a hairdryer, and even extra toiletries like a razor, comb and toothbrush, water boiler with coffee and tea and drinking water. Most places also offer a welcome drink. Bring a swimsuit and maybe a light trekking towel if you want to take a dip at one of the waterfalls. A hat against the sun for when you stop somewhere and take your helmet of. Camera or phone, you will want to take lots of pictures along the way!!
• Be aware that many of the homestay’s and lodgings on the loop welcome large groups of easy riders, mostly youngsters in their twenties or early thirties, looking for a fun time. These lodgings often have karaoke in the evening, while everyone drinks the local distilled alcohol ( known as happy water). Be careful drinking the local distilled alcohol, several tourists died drinking this kind of alcohol in Laos this year. So if you are looking for a more quiet experience choose your lodgings wisely and avoid these places. On the loop we met only a handful of riders who were in our age group ( fifties and sixties) Many of the stops along the way are regular stopovers for several of the organised groups, resulting in loud blaring music played at those café’s. For us it spoilt the beautiful natural surroundings a bit. Some of the larger early rider groups even play loud music while on the motorbike. Just choose other stops if you want a more quiet experience. ( there are enough stops..) Of course some of these stops have the best views, in that case we just stopped to take pictures and chose another stop to have a rest and a drink.
• You can use google maps to find your way around the loop if you are driving alone. With a Viettel SIM card you have 4G coverage along the whole loop. Just make sure you have some sights you want to see noted down in advance, so you won’t miss them during the loop. Not many sights are well signposted, apart from the obvious views along the way. 
• Most tourists take one of the day or night VIP or limousine busses from Hanoi that either pick you up at your hotel or pick yo up at a fixed starting point. If you can spend more you can also choose a private transfer, Flipside Adventure Vietnam arranged one for us. The busses can be arranged as part of a package that not only covers the bus ride Hanoi-Ha Giang-Hanoi, but also the loop tour for 3 or 4 days, all the lodgings, meals and a place to sleep at one of their hostels after arriving by evening/night bus from Hanoi( you will arrive at the middle of the night) or after the day bus. You can also leave you extra luggage behind in these hostels during the Ha Giang loop tour. The transfer between Hanoi and Ha Giang takes about 6 hours, including stops along the way ( toilet and meal stops).
• Many of the lodgings can be booked in advance via booking.com, and the prices range from 10 to 50/60 EURO per night often with breakfast included.
• At most lodgings you can have a meal in the evening, they also almost always offer a cup of ‘happy water’ to cheer before the meal. (Don’t feel pressured to drink it, you can refuse, it is not considered rude)
• The better lodgings also have airco and hot water showers in an en-suite bathroom in their private rooms. The airco often doubles as heating in the winter, and some have heater light bulbs in the bathroom and electric blankets on the bed.
• You find plenty of places to eat or drink something all along the loop, no need to stock up on food or drinks. Just a bottle of water will do.
• Yes (until now) it is safe to leave your luggage and your helmets with the bike if you park somewhere to visit something or to eat or drink something. At some sights you might have to pay a small fee to park your bike ( 5000 dong), like at the Lung Khuy cave.
• The border area travel permit that was previously needed by every tourist traveling the Ha Giang loop and was issued for 10 USD by the immigration office in Ha Giang is not needed anymore. You only officially need it when staying overnight at Lung Cu, right on the border with China, the homestays there have to ask for it. But even they do not always ask for this permit. If you stay in villages along the loop, there is no need for this permit anymore. We got stopped by the police twice and they only ask you for your drivers license and international drivers permit. 
• You can do the loop in clockwise or counter clockwise direction, we chose the counter clockwise direction because it used to be the less chosen one, but now it felt like there were as many groups choosing the counter clockwise direction as the clockwise direction. 
• We initially planned to do it in four days, but the super typhoon Yagi forced us to do it in three days. And actually, it did not feel rushed to do it in three days. We did not feel we missed out on anything we wanted to do or see. Doing it in four days makes the stretch between Dong Van and Yen Minh very short, in three days the stretch between Dong Van is quite long, but because we did this on the last day, it actually felt right, you want to stop more often on the first days because the views are so much more impressive at the start. On the last day you do not feel the urge to stop at every bend anymore, one can only take that many pictures…

The Ha Giang loop is a very beautiful tour to take when in Vietnam and really worth it. But start prepared, you will enjoy it even more!!