I visited Vietnam in April 2024 and did the Ha Giang loop for 3 days and 2 nights. If you’re heading to Ha Giang, find out more from my experience to know what to expect and how to prepare for your trip!
Where Is It?
Ha Giang is a province located in the northernmost region of Vietnam, and is near China. It is most well known for the Ha Giang loop where one can appreciate the stunning mountain landscapes and picturesque winding roads.
The People of Ha Giang
The area is home to several ethnic minority groups such as the Hmong, Tay and Dao. It is a rural region and the people here rely on agriculture as a livelihood.
We learnt from our loop tour leader that the Hmong live in the higher mountainous regions while the Tay and Dao people live closer to the valleys. Their homes also have different configurations where the Hmong homes use the second floor for storing rice grains, while the Tay people use the ground floor for storage and sleep on the second floor.
The Ha Giang Loop involves driving through some of the villages of the ethnic minority who live there.
It’s important to be mindful while on the loop that we are visiting someone else’s home. Do be respectful of the people and area (e.g. being careful not to trample on the crops when taking photos etc)
Thing To Know & What to Expect
Majority of travellers heading to Ha Giang are there to do the loop on motorbike.
Everyone’s experience of the Ha Giang loop is different. Depending on the hostel/operator you book with, the weather and where you visit.
While the name Ha Giang Loop seems to imply a specific route, there isn’t a fixed route. There are popular hostels with bigger groups and others with smaller groups. Where you visit will depend on where the group leader brings you 🙂 or if you’re doing the loop by yourself, where you decide to go.
On main roads, popular viewpoints and nearer to the town, it is likely you will see other groups of motorbikes on the loop. But as groups head to different areas, the crowd slowly disperses.
On my trip, we were the only group on the route we took for majority of the time. While the loop is getting more popular among tourists, my experience was not overly touristy.
Beautiful Mountain Views & Winding Roads
A bulk of the experience involved being on the bike and just enjoying the breathtaking sights it had to offer.
There were viewpoints and cafes developing here and there that seemed to be designed for tourists. However, they don’t seem to be affecting the local village life and if anything, I hope it helps the area as an additional source of income.
The road conditions on some parts of the Ha Giang loop can be quite treacherous with rocky cliffs and winding hairpin turns. While it was quite scary at some parts, our easy riders also rode slowly through these areas and they had good control of the motorbikes. There was also a reasonable amount of safe distance between each rider.
On my trip, we also passed by an area under construction that was extremely sandy, our shirt and pants were coated with sand after.
- Tip: I highly recommend bringing a pair of sunglasses to protect your eyes from both the sun and any potential flying debris.
If you’re planning your own Ha Giang loop tour, read our upcoming about some of the places in Ha Giang we visited.
Witness Local Life
As we drove through winding roads, we got to witness snippets of local life such as buffalos walking home. We saw many locals in their traditional handmade clothing carrying an assortment of items such as branches, a tree, baskets, and children. Many walked by the side of the roads under the hot sun in slippers.
Many of the friendly locals standing by the road would wave to us as we drove by.
There were some situations where the children would run towards our fast moving bikes to give us a high five which was super dangerous. I think it’s okay to wave at them, but do avoid reciprocating the high fives as it could put them in danger.
One of the easy riders in our group was Hmong and he kindly invited us to his home. We got to see their pigs, buffalos and how simple their homes were.
Language Barrier
Most of the easy riders in our group did not speak English except for the leader. We learnt from him that most of the easy riders in the group are actually friends / neighbours from the same / nearby villages in Ha Giang.
However, as most of them don’t really speak English and we didn’t speak Vietnamese or Hmong, it was a bit hard to ask more detailed questions about what we were seeing. Most of the trip was mainly focused towards appreciating the mountain views and experiencing the adrenaline of riding through winding roads in the mountains.
- Tip: connectivity in the mountains can be inconsistent. Highly recommend enabling offline translation for Vietnamese
We ended up learning more about Hmong culture on our trip to Sapa after that explained a lot of what we saw in Ha Giang such as sticks/corn drying in the sun, buffalos walking home etc
I’m not sure if other Ha Giang loop tours offer more insight into learning about the local culture, but if you’re looking to learn more about Hmong culture in-depth, I would recommend going on a Sapa trek where there is a larger population of English speaking Hmong guides.
Potential Butt Pains
We did the loop for 3D2N with very regular breaks. The longest ride we did before a break never exceeded an hour. Despite the breaks, several people in our group had butt pains till they requested a stop to buy cushions for comfort.
I wasn’t in enough pain to require additional cushioning but every bike is different. Would recommend bringing an extra towel that can be used as an additional cushion on your ride if needed. It can also be used for your swim stop!
Refreshing Swim Stop
Depending on the time of year you visit, you might get to have a swim stop at a lake or waterfall! I visited in April and the swim stop was so refreshing after spending long days in the hot sun.
Our swim stop included a bamboo raft ride to a small rock where we could jump off. But I’ve heard other groups going to waterfalls too – will depend on where your group tour brings you.
Tipping is Encouraged
At the end of the tour, don’t forget to tip your easy rider! All of the easy riders in our group were super sweet and friendly. They really went out of their way to make sure we are safe, comfortable and having a good time.
Check the Weather
After our visit in April, Ha Giang experienced a heavy monsoon season that caused heavy flooding in June. Many tourists doing the loop ended up being stranded in areas. For your personal safety, I would recommend avoiding doing the loop on motorbike during the rainy season in Ha Giang which generally falls in the months of May, June and July.
If you’re visiting during that period, do be prepared for wet weather such as bringing waterproof shoes and raincoats.
- March – May: Hot weather
- June – August: Hot & Humid, Wet Weather
- September – November: Cooler weather
- December – February: Winter, cold weather
What to Bring
You’ll be able to leave your large suitcase and backpacks at the hostels as they won’t fit on the bikes. Do bring a smaller backpack to bring what you need for the loop tour duration (2 / 3 / 4 days).
For a full list of items, refer to my upcoming blog about Ha Giang loop packing list.
Getting to Ha Giang from Hanoi
There is no train station in Ha Giang so the most common way for travellers to get from Hanoi to Ha Giang is by sleeper bus or private car.
Sleeper Bus
- Duration: Approximately 6-8 hours.
- Cost: Around 200,000-350,000 VND (approximately 8-15 USD).
- Where to catch: Depending on where you book with, sleeper buses have options that pick you up from your accommodation, My Dinh Bus Station or Noi Bai International Airport
- Booking: Tickets can be purchased at the bus station, through travel agencies, or online via booking websites.
Private Car/Taxi:
- Duration: Approximately 6-7 hours.
- Cost: Can range from 3,000,000-4,500,000 VND (approximately 130-200 USD) depending on the car type and company.
- Booking: Can be arranged through hotels, travel agencies, or private car services in Hanoi.
Where to Book Ha Giang Loop Tour
It seems like every hostel in Ha Giang offers Ha Giang loop tour packages. I did the 3D2N tour with BiBi Ha Giang Loop Tour (Ha Giang 1 Hostel). I’ve read that other tour groups can go up to 60 and more so I would consider my group of 9 relatively small and just the right size.
My experience with BiBi was positive as we had a great leader, Kiss, who brought lots of positive energy and ensured everything was going well along the way.
As I’ve only done the loop once, I can’t provide any comparisons on the experience on other loop tours. We did meet smaller group sizes of ~4-5 along the way. Highly recommend checking with your operator on group size before booking to ensure it meets your preferences.
