Ha Giang Loop: Four Days on the Back of a Motorbike

September 5, 20266 min read

A winding Hà Giang mountain road between green slopes and misty peaks

Everyone calls the Ha Giang loop a once-in-a-lifetime ride. Nobody mentions the karaoke or the happy water.

I came for the nature, the mountains and the views, and they all delivered. But what I remember best is singing into a microphone with a guy from the Netherlands, and the Piña Colada song.

We'll get there. First there's a night bus, a wet turn and a road block.

The night bus that's almost a bed

After a week in Hanoi, Pookie, Fefe, Flaco and I headed north. The bus left in the evening. We booked the sleeper bus through Odyssey's booking page, and ours was the royal cabin bus. I will say this for it: it's fancy.

Each person gets their own space, almost like a bed. There's a curtain and a USB charger. It was a bit too short for me, so if you're tall, you've been warned.

Take a blanket or a sleeping bag, and you'll sleep like a baby. Maybe not exactly like a baby, because the road is rocky and full of turns. Halfway there the bus stops for food and a toilet break. We arrived early in the morning at Odyssey Hostel in Ha Giang, with a few hours to sleep before the loop began.

We left our big luggage at Odyssey Hostel and took just a four-day bag, small enough to fit on the back of the bike.

Reclining sleeper berths and a narrow aisle inside a royal cabin night bus — Royal cabin, night-bus luxury

A private sleeper-bus berth with a pillow and blanket — Almost a bed. Almost.

Motorbikes setting off along a road into the Hà Giang mountains — From bus bed to bike seat

Easy rider means someone else steers

We all chose the easy rider option. That means a local rider drives, and you sit behind and try to look relaxed. Every one of us got our own rider. Pookie's was a girl.

We booked the four-day group tour with Odyssey Ha Giang.

Most of the riders didn't speak English. It didn't matter. We managed with hand gestures, facial expressions and a lot of smiling, or through the group lead, who did speak English.

The wider group was a good one: a couple from the Netherlands, and a girl from Malaysia who had brought a small dog along. The dog, a girl too, rode on the bike with her. She wore a diaper, for the road and for safety around the local dogs. Yes, a real dog, on a real motorbike, in a diaper, in the mountains.

Fluent in smiles, hand gestures and one group lead.

Andreja wearing a helmet on the back of an easy rider’s motorbike — Someone else steers

Travellers and easy riders smiling together in their helmets — Our helmet crew

Tour motorbikes parked beside a rocky mountain road with luggage strapped on — Four days on the back

The first night on the loop had a pool

The first night's accommodation on the loop had a pool. It was fancy, next level compared with what came on the following days, so I'll say it plainly: enjoy it while it lasts.

The other nights were mostly homestays or hostels: very basic, but clean. Every place had other guests, and every place had its own karaoke night, dinner and beers. You could also buy snacks and water. On the second night I wanted my own space, and the place found me a room very close by for an extra €10. I could wash my hair and sleep in peace, and I needed that.

A blue swimming pool surrounded by mountain scenery at the first overnight stop — Night one: a pool

A simple room with a green floral bedspread at a loop overnight stay — A room of my own

Travellers playing pool indoors at an overnight stop — Night three: A different kind of pool

The group table

Meals were always a group affair, ordered upfront by the tour provider. We didn't choose the restaurants or the food, and the restaurants knew when we were coming. Several different dishes arrived on the table for us to share and taste. The easy riders ate at a separate table, with different food.

Usually there was an egg omelette (a regular), spring rolls, fried noodles, cooked rice, and meat or vegetables in sauce to go with the rice. Sometimes, funnily enough, we got French fries or some version of pizza. Dinners worked the same way: a group table and mixed dishes, so everyone could decide what they liked best.

The fun part came after. Every evening the easy riders wanted to say cheers with "happy water," a strong, colourless drink, some kind of schnapps, that looked exactly like water. It was the warm-up for karaoke, on top of the beers, and any fear of singing in front of the other riders disappeared.

Happy water: the only water that makes you sing.

Shared dishes and vegetables on the group’s lunch table — Lunch, family style

Rice, vegetables, meat and dipping sauces shared during the loop — A little of everything

A hot dish surrounded by plates at a group meal — Nobody leaves hungry

Shared dinner dishes, rice and small cups on the evening table — Dinner before the chorus

A hand holding a small cup of happy water beside dinner plates — Cheers to happy water

A man singing into a microphone during a lively karaoke evening — Then came the karaoke

The road itself

Then came the road. Tons of perfect views, rural areas where you could see how people live, and at one point we were 50 metres from the Chinese border. I drank the traditional coffee and loved it.

The loop also puts you right inside everyday life. We saw the local markets, where everything happens: animals for sale, machetes, medicine sold by the number of pills, clothes. We saw families with children, and work done outdoors, in the fields, in person, with things carried by hand. The local clothes were colourful, and the houses were very basic.

There was one part of the road, a little outside Dong Van, that scared us a bit.

And there was a road block for construction, on the way to the Nho Quế River, where we took a boat trip before riding back. We waited for two hours, maybe more, and it got dark while we waited.

A river winding between green mountains on the Hà Giang Loop — The views delivered

Layered mountain peaks beneath a blue sky and a Vietnamese flag — Mountains upon mountains

Vietnamese black coffee overlooking a winding mountain road — Coffee with a view

A market shopper in colourful clothing beside a stall of goods — Colour at the market

Machetes displayed on a table at a local market — Not your usual souvenir

Packets and blister packs of medicine spread across a market stall — The market pharmacy

The wet turn

On one stretch it rained, and the road turned wet and slippery. Then came a turn that was not an easy one, and Pookie's rider couldn't get through it. The bike fell. Nobody saw it coming, and both Pookie and her rider got hurt.

Pookie injured both knees, one worse than the other. We went back to the previous town, found bandages and medical supplies, and patched her up. Then the whole group carried on, Pookie too, with bandaged knees.

On the loop, you are in the middle of nowhere, and there are no real doctors. I will tell you how glad I was that my tooth had been fixed in Hanoi, in civilisation, and not here.

The operator gave us knee protectors before we started, and we left them behind. Next time I'd wear them: better safe than sorry. Respect the road, and pack some basic first aid too, because the nearest real help can be far away.

The travel group posing on a boat surrounded by green river water and steep cliffs — The crew, afloat

Tour riders and motorbikes waiting beside road-construction rubble — The road says: wait

Motorbike riders lined up on a mountain road as darkness falls — Still waiting, after dark

Karaoke, the real highlight

Karaoke is part of the culture here, and it happened every single evening. Even our riders took the microphone and sang their local songs. Then it was our turn, and we sang ours.

I can still remember Pookie and me singing "Sarà perché ti amo," and the Piña Colada song with a guy from the Netherlands, who also knew some Serbian songs. In northern Vietnam. Here's the local song: listen on YouTube.

What I'd keep

If you asked me for one moment, I'd say the first night's pool. But I'd really keep the whole journey: the new people in the group, seeing rural life, getting out of my comfort zone.

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and it will be a lifetime memory.

The travel group taking a selfie together above a mountain valley — The people made it

Travellers posing at a mountain viewpoint beneath a Vietnamese flag — A lifetime memory

A traveller beside a mountain road with green peaks rising behind her — Out of my comfort zone

Goodbye, Flaco

We took the night bus back to Hanoi, all of us together, and at the bus station our paths split. Flaco was off to meet his sister for a Ha Long Bay boat cruise, and after that to India. Pookie and Fefe went one way, and I went another, to my own place, with Lan Ha Bay by myself ahead of me. Four people, three directions, one bus station. The group went from four to three, and I wouldn't see Pookie and Fefe for a few days.

I had two nights in Hanoi. Next: a bay, a local's advice and a lot of laundry.