The Ha Giang Loop, 348 km and the Ma Pi Leng
Four days on the best mountain road in Vietnam, riding yourself or on the back of a guide's bike, with luggage carried and a mechanic in the group.
At a glance
- Days
- 4 days, 3 nights
- Ridden
- 348 km
- Group
- 2 to 10 riders
- Start
- Ha Giang town
- Finish
- Ha Giang town
- From
- USD 390 per person
Read this before anything else: the licence question
Riding a motorbike in Vietnam legally requires a Vietnamese licence, or a foreign licence accompanied by an International Driving Permit that Vietnam recognises. Vietnam recognises permits issued under the 1968 Vienna Convention. It does not recognise permits issued under the 1949 Geneva Convention, which is what several large countries still issue.
The practical consequence is that many visitors who believe they are covered are not. If your permit is not recognised, you are riding without a licence, your travel insurance will almost certainly decline a claim, and a hospital bill after a serious crash on this road is not a small number.
We ask every rider to send a photograph of their licence and permit before we confirm. If the permit is not one Vietnam recognises, we will not put you on a bike — we will put you on the back of a guide's bike at no extra cost, or convert your licence to a Vietnamese one if you have a three-month visa and the time to do it. Rules change; check your own position with the authority that issues your permit rather than relying on this page.
This costs us bookings. Operators who do not ask are common and cheaper, and the reason we ask is that we have twice had to sit with a family in a provincial hospital while an insurer refused to pay.
Who this route is for
Ha Giang is the road that makes people who do not ride motorbikes want to. It runs north from Ha Giang town onto a limestone plateau of grey towers and terraced smallholdings, over the Quan Ba gate, through Dong Van, and then across the face of the Ma Pi Leng — 20 kilometres cut into a cliff 800 metres above the Nho Que river.
The riding is not technical but it is unforgiving: hairpins with gravel on the apex, trucks on blind corners, and a drop on the outside with a low kerb or nothing. Four days is the right length. Three is a rush, and the two-day version sold in Hanoi involves an overnight bus at both ends and a great deal of riding in the dark, which is where most of the accidents happen.
About 40 per cent of our riders on this route ride themselves. The rest go as passengers behind a guide, which is not a lesser experience — you look at the view instead of the road surface.
Day by day
Ha Giang to Yen Minh, over the Quan Ba gate
Bikes checked and fitted at 08:00, a briefing on riding order and hand signals, then 105 km north. The first 40 km climb steadily to the Quan Ba gate, where the road tops out and the twin hills and the plateau appear below.
The road after Quan Ba is the introduction: continuous bends, good surface, very little traffic once the day-trippers turn back.
Yen Minh to Dong Van
A short 78 km, because this is the day to stop. The road runs across the karst plateau through Lung Cu and the Hmong villages, and there is a market somewhere on the plateau most mornings.
Dong Van's old quarter is a hundred years of Chinese-influenced shophouses around a square. The Sunday market is the biggest in the region and worth planning the trip around.
Dong Van to Meo Vac over the Ma Pi Leng
The day everyone comes for, and only 53 km of it. The Ma Pi Leng section is about 20 km of road cut into the cliff face, with the Nho Que river a long way below in a green gorge.
We stop for the boat on the Nho Que, which takes an hour and a half including the descent to the jetty, and reach Meo Vac in the late afternoon.
Meo Vac to Ha Giang, the southern road
The long way home: 112 km down the eastern side through Mau Due and Du Gia, on a rougher and emptier road than the northern one, with river crossings and two sections of loose surface.
Back in Ha Giang town by about 16:00, in time for the evening sleeper bus or the private car back to Hanoi.
Prices
| How you travel | Group departure | Private, 2 people | Private, 4+ |
|---|---|---|---|
| You ride, semi-automatic | USD 390 | USD 560 | USD 470 |
| You ride, manual 150cc | USD 430 | USD 610 | USD 510 |
| Passenger behind a guide | USD 460 | USD 640 | USD 540 |
| Passenger, private room throughout | USD 540 | USD 720 | USD 620 |
Getting to Ha Giang town from Hanoi is separate: the sleeper bus is about USD 18 each way and takes six to seven hours overnight, and a private car is about USD 145 each way for up to four people. We book either at cost.
What is included
What the price includes
- 3 nights as described, twin share, in hotels and homestays
- Motorbike, fuel, helmet, gloves and a rain suit
- Guide who rides with the group, plus a mechanic on departures over six riders
- Support van carrying all luggage between stops
- All breakfasts, four lunches and three dinners
- Nho Que river boat, Vuong mansion and all local permits
- Basic accident cover as required by law, which is not travel insurance
What it does not include
- Transport between Hanoi and Ha Giang town
- Travel insurance, which must explicitly cover riding a motorcycle of the engine size you will be on
- Fines, damage to the bike, and any medical cost
- Drinks and tips
Photographs
Who this tour is wrong for
- Anyone whose International Driving Permit Vietnam does not recognise, who still wants to ride. We will not make an exception. You can come as a passenger, or you cannot come.
- First-time motorcyclists. This is not the road to learn on. If you have under 2,000 km of road experience on a manual bike, take the semi-automatic or ride pillion, and do not let anyone in Hanoi tell you otherwise.
- June to August visitors. This is the wet season in the far north. The danger is not the rain, it is the landslides, which close sections of the loop several times a summer at no notice.
- People who want to drink in the evening and ride in the morning. Rice wine at a homestay is offered generously and the road the next day punishes it. Our guides will not let a rider out who has been drinking, and that decision is not negotiable at 08:00.
- Anyone in a hurry. Ha Giang in two days from Hanoi means two night buses and 200 km days. We do not sell it, and if you want it, someone else will.
Next steps
Send us your licence and your dates
Photograph of your licence and permit, your month, and whether you want to ride or go pillion. We will answer both questions honestly within a day.
Read more: Ha Giang as a place, the six-day Northwest Loop, and the bikes we run and how support works.
Questions travellers ask most
Can I ride if I have never ridden a motorbike?
No, not on this road, and not with us. The Quan Ba climb has trucks and blind hairpins in the first hour, and there is no forgiving section to learn on.
Go as a passenger. It is the same trip, it costs USD 70 more, and you will spend the Ma Pi Leng looking at the gorge instead of at the gravel on the apex.
What bikes do you use?
Honda XR150 and Honda CB150 manuals, and Honda Winner semi-automatics, all bought new by us and replaced at about 30,000 km.
They are checked before every departure and a mechanic rides with groups over six. We do not use the 110cc Cub-type bikes that most Ha Giang hostels rent; they are underpowered for two people and a pack on these gradients.
Is the road safe?
The road surface is good on the northern loop and mixed on the southern return. The danger is other traffic, gravel washed onto bends, and riders going too fast downhill.
Serious accidents on the Ha Giang loop are common enough that the provincial hospital has a ward largely occupied by them, and almost all of them involve unguided riders on rented bikes, at speed, often at night or after drinking. We ride in daylight, in order, at a pace set by the slowest rider.
Do I need a permit for the border area?
The far north sits close to the Chinese border and some sections have required permits in the past. Our guide handles whatever is currently required as part of the trip.
Bring your actual passport, not a photocopy. It is checked at guesthouses and occasionally on the road, and a copy is not accepted.
Read next
Tell us about the ride you have in mind
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.