Explore the untamed pristine beauty of Northern Vietnam – 6 Days

Exploring the Northern delta from a bike’s seat We’ll start off the first day slow and easy to get used to the specific of Vietnamese traffic. Unlike other tour agencies that tend to pick National Highways with denser traffic and bigger vehicles, we try to pick out smaller roads, back roads, even dirt-roads to ensure your safety and to show you more of Vietnam at its rawest. +8:00 am: Our guides will pick you up at your hotel and relocate towards our render-vouz point (our tour office). We normally start tours frmo the ourskirt of Hanoi to avoid heavy traffic and getting lost in the urban maze. +8:30 am: We meet up at the tour office for an inventory check, and a quick safety briefing from our tour director, to ensure a safe journey ahead of us. +9:00 am: Off we go! We will ride along Thang Long boulevard to the other side of Hanoi. Once we’ve cross Nhat Tan bridge, we’ll turn and hug the Red river levees heading towards Vinh Phuc. We’ll cross the river on a small raft, and come across a small old and peculiar temple. The temple gate is covered roots of a 500 year old sacred fig. This one sacred fag has been listed as a Vietnamese national relic. We can stop for some photos, or look for a side-walk cafe for a short break. +10:30 am: We’ll resume our journey. Even though we’re still on the same levees road, there are on-going construction at the moment, so we will face short sections of off-road riding before reaching the other side to turn into National Highway 2. +12:30 pm: We’ll stop for lunch at a local restaurant: a giant stilt house with a view of the river. +1:40 pm: We’ll cross the river again on a small raft, and turn into National Highway 37 towards Ngoi Tu village in Yen Binh commune: a small Dzao village right next to the poetic Thac Ba lake. Before reaching our homestay for a nice dinner and some rest, we will have to cross 3 off-road sections, totals at about 40 km. This will be an impressive ride passing through tea hills and cutting through villages. +5:00 pm: We’ll arrive at our homestay, unpack and move on to explore Thac Ba lake (lake of the lady waterfall) on a boat, where you can have a swim right at the foot of the waterfall. +7:00 pm: We’ll have dinner and learn about the local wine culture, as well as their hospitality customs. + Homestay with Black Dao Family

On one of Northern Vietnam’s love roads Sapa is a favorite spot for international tourists coming to Vietnam due to its cool climate all year round and its poetic scenery, as well as a diverse and vibrant local ethnic culture. What’s more? The route leading up to Sapa is one ride-worthy track! + 8:30 am: Breakfast, coffee, and we’re good to go. Bidding fairwell to our homestay hosts, we’ll continue riding along Thac Ba lake, taking the the lake view and the peaceful village life on the shore. +9:30 am: We won’t be taking National Highway 2, but turn towards Yen The township. Before reaching town, we will have to climb a slithering pass where we can stop for a few snap shots of the vast green rice paddy in Thac Ba valley down below. riding through the local villages, we will catch glimpses of the local daily life: thin sheets of paper wood drying on the road side, people going about their life, children playing. Right before we reach town, we’ll ride through ranges of limestone and marble mountains, and hills of palm trees, next to endless green rice paddies. +10:30 am: We’ll stop got coffee at Yen The, famous for their gem stones, where you can grab a few sourvenirs for your loved ones at reasonable prices. +11:00 am: We’ll continue with our journey. Commonly, tour agencies opt to take National Highway 70 instead of 4E, going though Lao Cai city to see the Vietnam-China border crossing there, but we won’t be taking that route, as the road from Lao Cai city leading up to Sapa has a lot of 18 wheelers and tour buses, making it much more dangerous for us. We chose the 4E for the free road and open view overlooking magnificent forests and mountains and vast green rice terrace. 12:30 pm: We’ll stop for lunch at Xuan Giao, in a really good local restaurant, before sitting down for some coffee to recharge us for the afternoon ride! We will be exploring Thanh Phu-Thanh Kim-Ban Ho valley, and especially Y Linh Ho-Lao Chai Ta Van valley. +2:00 pm: After coffee, we’ll hit the road again. We’ll ride for about 30km on really great road with so very little traffic before turning into an off-road route to explore Y Linh Ho-Lao Chai-Ta van valley, climbing all the way up to Sau chua peak. This might as well be the best view on the road for the day, roaming about and climbing above a giant rice terrace valley, one of the most beautiful rice terraces in all of Vietnam. +5:30 pm: We’ll end out tour in Sapa town center, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Vietnam, with a wide variety of night activities waiting for us. The local cuisine and food scene is always blooming, with a lot of variations of Eastern and Western dishes! We’ll end our 2nd day on this 6 day off-road motorbike tour! Accommodation: Standar Hotel in Sapa

Normally, tourists would be spending up to 2 days in Sapa to fully experience this wonderful place, however, since we’re exceptionally more mobile on a motorbike tour, we’ll fit two days’ worth of sight seeing in just one day. We’ll see all that is special and beautiful in Sapa one today’s ride! Other agencies tend to choose National Highway 4D followed by National Highway 32 for convinience’s sake, and in the process skipping out on the many poetic valleys that constitute the the charm of Sapa. We’ve already rode among the Lao Chai-Ta Van terrace valley and Sau Chua peak the day before, and this day we continue to explore more of Sapa’s valleys. 8:30 am: Breakfast and coffee, and we’re off on our way. We’ll explore Cat Cat valley on our bike’s backs! Cat Cat and Sin Chai villages are among the poorest villages in Sapa, but they are also the most beautiful and majestic. Afterwards, we’ll ride towards Lao Cai province and explore Ta Phin valley. +9:30 am: We’ll stop for a short coffee break at a small road-side cafe, owned by the local ethnic people here, before making our way to O Quy Ho pass. Right here we’ve got a short off-road section of about 10 km. We will try our skills at a single footpath which is extremely narrow as it is mainly used by locals to walk between villages. This is for the hardened riders, but the view will be worthwhile, as we will be riding through the forest, amid a sea of green. Furthermore, we won’t have to back track our way out of this off-road section, as it leads straight to our next destination: O Quy Ho pass. This is one of 4 great mountain passes in Vietnam, standing at 2000m above sea level, surrounded by mist and cloud all year round. O Quy Ho pass lies over the Hoang Lien Son range, bridging the two mountainous provinces of Lai Chau and Lao Cai. We’ll stop for picture on the pass. +10:30 am: We’ll continue on National highway 32 towards Mu Cang Chai +12:30 pm: We’ll reach Than Uyen for lunch. +1:30 pm: We’ll resume our journey, with a fairly easy section of the day, on big open road with breathtaking turns and even more magnificent views! However, if time permits, we may have a few off-road options, to show you the entirety of Mu Cang Chai valley from low to high! Mu Cang Chai is gradually becoming more popular to international tourists, with its signature rice terraces climbing up mountain sides like a green and gold blanket of vines during harvest season. 5:30 pm: We’ll end our impressive third day on this off-road motorbike tour, amid this mist-covered mountain land, where the people are poor and yet happy and content! Stay in standar hotel in Mu Cang Chai.

A perfect mix of off-road and on-road riding Mu Cang Chai - Tu Le - Khau Pha pass are all hotspots that calls to bikers, enticing them to gear up and go, to behold with their own eyes the elegant winding road amid breathtakingly magnificent scenery of rocks and trees! +8:30 am: We’ll have our breakfast and coffee before getting ready for a whole new day! For the day, we’ll have a lovely off-road and on-road choice for you, all of which extremely tough and trying, but also as rewarding and astonishing. About 15km out of town, we will start off our off-road section of the day: a rough 30 km that will takes up to 3-4 hours to conquer! Or, we can opt for National Highway 32 and explore Khau Pha pass, which is also just as satisfying, with its relentlessly twisting and turning road stretching up and down over 50km. +12:30 pm: Lunch break at Tu Le +1:30 pm: We’ll get back on the road, heading towards Nghia Lo township. There won’t be an off-road option for the afternoon, but we’ll have the chance to conquer yet another mountian pass: Lung Lo pass. During the Indochina war, Lung Lo pass is among the vital supply route for the 1954 Dien Bien Phu campaign. The French army dropped up to 12000 tonnes of bombs on this area over the period of the war! In 2011, Lung Lo pass was recognized by the Vietnamese government as the a National historical landmark. 5:30 pm: We’ll end our 4th off-road bike tour at Phu Yen town safely, having experience so much wonder of nature and man on this trying yet rewarding day! Accommodation: Standard hotel in Phu Yen.

The most poetic day on our tour with romantic Moc Chai highland and its various tea hills, plum hills, apricot and cherry blossom hills! With all that you’ve experience on the road with us, the 5th day will be just as thrilling and enjoyable. 8:30 am: Breakfast and coffee to start off our day as usual. +Option 1: the down-and-dirty pick with 80% off-road route just 30km out of town. We’ll take a dirt trail passing Da Pho - Bac Phong, to Van Yen ferry crossing, then towards Moc Chau town. 12:30 pm: Lunch in Moc Chau city From here, we’ll take National Highway 6 then turn towards Pha Luong, then on to Mai Chau. This will definitely be a one-of-a-kinda off-road experience. We’ll take a small trail through the forest, crossing several streams and small villages. If the weather is good, we can take on another off-road section right before reaching Mai Chau. 5:20 pm: Arriving at our homestay in Mai Chau Option 2: We’ll start the day by hugging the National Highway 43 to Van Yen ferry crossing, then turn into the old National Highway 6 and check out Hua Tat pass. +12:30 pm: Lunch at Moc Chau town. After lunch, we’ll have time to explore further into Moc Chau highland and its simple Thai villages resting quietly among the forest trees. We’ll continue on National Highway 6, a historical supply route for the Vietnamese army during the French colonial period. Before leaving National Highway 6, we’ll take a look at Tat Nang waterfall, one of the most beautiful waterfall in Hoa Binh province, and have a quick coffee break at a local shop right by the foot of the fall. National Highway 6 can also be considered a light off-road route, as though it is occasionally maintained, it is still in rough condition. 5:30 pm: Arriving at Mai Chau. Mai Chau is relatively well-known to both Vietnamese and international travellers alike for the serene atmostphere and friendly Thai ethnic in this lovable valley After dinner, we’ll sit back and enjoy the evening sing and dance activities of the local, and partake in “Can” wine, a local specialty. +9:30: Lights out, safely ending a serene 5th day on our 6 day off-road tour.

The last day of our tours It is understandable that most agencies opt to take larger and easier to ride routes back to Hanoi. However, we prefer sticking to smaller back roads and off-road options. +8:30 am: We’ll bid farewell to Mai Chau and get on our way. The popular route would be through Thung Khe and Da Trang pass, but if we do that, we’ll miss “Little Ha Long” in the heart of Hoa Binh province! So our target to bring much as much we can to give you one Sapa Motorbike Tours unforgettable +9:00 am: we’ll stop by Go Lao waterfall for a quick photo ops, then hug small roads along the great Da river towards Ba Khan lake, one of the most beautiful natural lake in Northern Vietnam. This is sometimes refered to as Little Ha Long in Hoa Binh province. We’ll stop to take in the magnificent views along the lake, and have our coffee break. Afterwards, we’ll continue exploring this lovely valley, ride into the forest, passing by a few small villages and conquer some short but interesting off-road sections. that is the way we organize Sapa Motorbike Tours North Vietnam +12:30 pm: We’ll have lunch at the foot of Thung Khe pass, at a local restaurant, before getting back to our ride. We always try to pack in as much authentic and raw experience in all of our tours, thus, right after lunch, we’ll have an off-road option for you: an fun-filled route that leads to Luong Son commune, before we head to Quoc Oai commune and onto Thang Long boulevard, which will take us straight home. 5:30 pm: We’ll reach our tour office, safely ending an exciting and eventful 6 day off-road tour of Northern Vietnam. And so, within only 6 days, we’ve witness Vietnam in its most authentic lights. We’ve seen the best that Vietnam nature has to offer: Thac Ba Lake, Sapa, Mu Cang Chai, Moc Chau, Mai Chau, Tu Le… We hope you’ve enjoy our trip, and look forwards to seeing you on yet another adventure!