As Vietnam made it to the Top 5 Travel Destinations on TourRadar around 2 weeks ago, I thought it´s a good time to share & recommend one of my favorite motorbike adventures so far. In February when exploring Southeast Asia we did a 3 Day Motorbike trip on the incredible Ha Giang Loop in Northern Vietnam. Some highlights and recommendations, for all of you who plan to visit Vietnam in the future:
At least plan 2-3 nights for the loop
Best time to do it is from March - May
You can take a bus from Hanoi to the mountain village Ha Giang (around 5-6 hours)
There are several hostels in Ha Giang where you can keep your big backpack and stuff, highly recommend only taking a smaller backpack to the trip
We stayed over night in the two villages Yen Minh and Dong Van
Choose a motorbike with at least 125 ccm
Things you should not miss:
Having a coffee at Heaven Gate and enjoy the view
Respect locals who mainly are working in the fields with their children
Explore Lung Cu Flag Tower located at the border and enjoy the view to China
Cross the incredible Ma Pi Leng Pass
Explore the Skywalk (highly recommend going up by foot, only locals drive up their motorbikes there )
Accept to take some pictures if you get asked (“you are sooo tall!”)
Don´t be overmotivated when it comes to riding the bike - enjoy all these incredible views and do a lot of stops (we only drove around 2-3 hours per day)
Drive carefully & keep safe!
There are also some tours available for this area!
Thanks for sharing Thomas, such an amazing trip I was once in Vietnam during my studies in China, and loved the country, cuisine, people and nature!
Ainash 100% agree
Thomas do you need a motorcycle license?
Roann in 90% of cases they wouldn´t ask you for a licence, so a 125ccm bike you would also get without a motorbike license. The only problem would be in case of an accident, your insurance would definitely ask for your licence. So there I would be a bit worried. In any case I would get an “International Licence” for around 20€
I also did a motorbike trip in Vietnam and absolutely loved it! But definitely not something where you want to cut corners and make sure you have insurance that covers you. I had a friend that fell off his bike while going over some rocky roads, the good news is we were close to a town where there was a medical centre and it didn’t cost too much. But I’ve heard other stories where people need more extended care and you don’t want to be stuck with a hefty bill at the end.
A lot of credit cards offer travel insurance and world nomads is a great option - just make sue to check what is and isn’t included and have the best time!