HA GIANG LOOP, VIETNAM (2024) | How To Drive The Ha Giang Loop By Motorbike (+ Highlights & Tips)

What's up guys! We're on our last day of the Ha Giang loop and in this video we're going to show you our entire experience throughout the route as well as all the road conditions because it is considered a pretty dangerous route. And yeah at the end of the video hopefully you can decide for yourself if you're going to take the easy rider option on the back of someone driving or if you're going to drive your own scooter. So hope you enjoy the video. The Ha Giang loop is a scenic motorbike route located in the Ha Giang province in northern Vietnam. Stretching over 400 kilometers this exhilarating loop has gained immense popularity in recent years. The northern part shares a border with China and is known for its rugged mountain landscapes and unique ethnic cultures. In fact Ha Giang was cut off from the rest of Vietnam until the 1970s so it's often called Vietnam's last frontier. Boundless and sparsely populated it was the last part of the country to open up to tourism. The loop itself takes riders through winding mountainous roads crossing picturesque valleys, towering limestone peaks, and quaint ethnic minority villages. In this video we share our complete itinerary for the Ha Giang loop along with all the information that you need to do the trip yourself. We've broken the loop into four parts and ideally each one represents one day. At the end we'll also share important travel tips. Now let's dive in. We are Zach and Ina. We make helpful videos about destinations around the world so you can easily plan your own adventures. The loop starts and ends in Ha Giang city where you can find a number of guest houses that offer motorbike rentals and group tours. It's recommended to stay the night here before and after the loop. From the city you'll head in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction. We drove counterclockwise to avoid some of the larger groups and tours. Normally this means that you would take the QL34 and DT178 roads to get there. However the road conditions are currently very poor in that section and it's not recommended to go this way. We drove the QL4C towards Tam Son but soon turned to the right on a smaller road that winds next to the river. This made the drive slightly longer but certainly not boring. There are many views of scenic rice terraces and steep mountains. You also pass remote villages. Our most memorable stop of the day was at Lung Ho viewpoint which looks out on a local village that's surrounded by lush green mountains as far as the eye can see. Zu Za was our last stop of the day. It's a quiet village with a handful of guest houses and homestays. There's also a small waterfall right outside of town which is a popular attraction among riders. And although it was too cold to swim we simply enjoyed the relaxed and cheerful vibes here. It was a good ending to an adventure-filled day. Woke up to more rain and clouds this morning unfortunately and apparently day two here is the most sketchy road of the whole trip so we're gonna have to go really slow like maximum 30-40 kilometers an hour and yeah hopefully no crashes. We set off early in the morning while the local Saturday market in Zu Za was in full swing. First we made our way to Mo Ze where we stopped for a coffee and some local specialty meat. Then we encountered our first challenging roads of the day. After some nifty driving we made it to Meo Vac, a town nestled in the rugged mountains. This is where we stopped for lunch. Afterwards we continued to Ma Pi Leng and the Nho Que river. Standing on top of Ma Pi Leng provides a panoramic view of the river below but it's when you embark on a boat that you get to immerse yourself in the surrounding landscape. Make sure to save enough time for the boat tour as it's a bit of a detour from the main road. It's also one of the most popular activities in the area. If it's a clear day you can later head towards Ma Pi Leng skywalk. This viewpoint is supposed to be out of this world but unfortunately the weather wasn't cooperating with us on that day. Our last part of the drive to Dong Van was an unforgiving mist and darkness making for a sketchy finish to our second day. The third day is the most cultural day along the Ha Giang loop as you'll visit the northernmost part of Vietnam. We started our day with a visit to the iconic Dong Van Sunday Market where different ethnic groups from the surrounding hills come to trade. It's an entirely local affair full of color with a diversity of fresh produce and goods for sale. Our guide Han told us more about the tribes that inhabit this area. So my name Hanh, I come from Ha Giang province. I'm a local tour guide here. So inside the UNESCO park here we have 17 different ethnic minorities. In this market here you will see the Hmong people, flower Hmong. When you want to recognize as a Hmong or Xao or Thai people don't look at the men just look at the women because the women they wearing the traditional. After our visit to the market and a short stroll around ancient street it was time to move on. Typically you ride to the border with China where the Lung Ku flag tower is located. This flagpole represents the country's sovereignty and offers a panoramic view of the surrounding countryside. However due to poor weather conditions we decided to skip this out and back journey. Instead we made our way to the Hmong palace. This palace was built at the end of the 1800s and was the seat of the Hmong kings for over half a century. It's a great place to learn more about the Hmong people. As the driving time on this day is a lot shorter there's plenty of time for additional stops. We pulled over to explore the moon surface as well as the Lung Kam cultural village where we went inside a century-old traditional Hmong house. The final destination of the day is the town of Yen Min. Here you can unwind and prepare for the last leg of the Hazang loop. On the last day you cover the most distance to get back to Hazang city. If you're not in a hurry to get back there are a few more interesting sites that you can visit. The first one is the Lung Tam weaving village where local Hmong women diligently work with looms to create beautiful fabrics and linens. The women were happy to show us the entire weaving and design process. This woman here is 94 years old and she's creating some really intricate designs beautiful still. Another worthwhile attraction is Lung Kui cave located in a beautiful mountain area near the town of Tam Son. This cave only opened to the public in 2015 and is about 300 meters or 984 feet long. We needed a torch to enter but sometimes they turn the lights on inside. After these activities we had lunch at a local house. Our guide Han played us a traditional song on his flute before conquering the last stretch of road. From Tam Son it was another 50 kilometers or 31 miles back to Hazang city. There are a few more famous viewpoints along the way such as Heaven's Gate and the Twin Mountains. But after that the mountain started to rain.