Notes from the Ha Giang loop

The Ha Giang loop went from a permit-only route to northern Vietnam’s best-known ride in about six years. Some of the advice written about it has not kept up.

The route in four days

Riding anticlockwise from Ha Giang city:

Day	Leg	Roughly
1	Ha Giang → Yen Minh	100 km
2	Yen Minh → Dong Van	50 km
3	Dong Van → Meo Vac → Du Gia	90 km
4	Du Gia → Ha Giang	70 km

The second day is the shortest of the four. The Ma Pi Leng pass is the reason you came, and rushing it to save an afternoon is a poor trade.

On driving it yourself

A lot of guides suggest renting a semi-automatic and riding it alone. That works if you have ridden mountain roads before. If you have not, the passes demand full attention at exactly the points where the views are best.

An easy rider costs around 1.2 million dong a day. You sit on the back and look at the mountains. We book them for most clients and have never had someone say they regretted it.

If you do ride yourself:

• Get an international permit that actually covers motorcycles. The rental shop will not check. The police at Meo Vac sometimes do.
• Check the brakes before you leave the shop, not at the top of a pass.
• The fuel stop between Dong Van and Du Gia is unreliable. Fill up in Meo Vac.

Where to stay

The large hostels in Dong Van fill with tour groups. The homestays in Du Gia and around Lung Cu are smaller and better placed for early starts.

Weather

March to May, or September to November. June to August is the wet season and the passes become dangerous, so we do not book the loop in July or August.