Northeast Vietnam Motorcycle Road Trip from Hanoi to Ban Gioc Waterfall and Ba Be – 5 days

Today’s morning, our guides will pick you up from your hotels, and we will start moving towards our tour office on the outskirt of Hanoi to avoid the heavy traffic of the inner city. After all the necessary procedures, we will head off our tour for Nhat Tan bridge, then onto National Highway 3, going towards Bac Giang province. Our road preference leans heavily on smaller, less crowded roads, and for the added effect of riding through refreshingly green views on the roadsides, we won’t be taking National Highway 1 as a choice for most tour agencies.

We will have reached the smaller provincial and communal roads. Our morning will be spent riding between vast green rice paddies and little villages distinctive of rural Northern Vietnam and taking some photoshoots. To some, this will be a whole new kind of scenery, with the dominant green background of planted forests. We’ll stop for lunch at a local restaurant. This is your first meal on tour, and you should communicate all your dietary needs to our guides (allergies, vegetarianism, veganism).

After a cup of coffee for dessert, we’ll get back on the road. From here on out, our road will not be as easy and smooth as it has been in the morning. We will be treading on jungle mountain paths! If all of our biking abilities are good enough, we can add an extra 20km of rough northeast off-road going deep into the local villages to experience the daily life of the ethnic Tay people here. They have a special type of roof tiles exclusive to this area. This is a highlight of our day, as we will be riding up and down hills and valleys with ever-changing scenery all along the way! We’ll get to our homestay at around 4 pm, where we will leave our baggage and ride up to Na Lay mountain peak.

Summary:

Meal: Lunch – Dinner

Accommodation: Homestay

Distance: 190 km (over 6 hours of riding)

Today, we will cover quite a lot of distance, mainly on national and provincial roads. However, these roads are rarely maintained, which is just as rough and trying as any Vietnam off-road motorcycle tour. Our route today also has a special historical value. It was crucial to the victory in the fall and winter of 1950 during the Indochina war. The border campaign dealt a staggering blow to the French colonial forces. The border perimeter was broken through, fundamentally collapsing the Reve plan. This victory set off a chain reaction that would lead to Dong Khe’s and That Khe’s eventual liberation, both of which landmarks we will be visiting today.

We’ll ride for 75km, crossing rustic villages among mountain ranges, until we reach That Khe town for a coffee break. From here on, we have two choices:

Option 1: We’ll stick to the main road, following National Highway 4a towards Cao Bang, or

Option 2: We can turn into a tough 20km dirt road section hugging That Khe river going upwards, crossing some Dzao villages, before circling back to National Highway 4a for lunch. This will be a very hard 20km to cross, especially if it rains. However, the sheer sense of triumph and the wild, pristine scenery along the way are well worth the effort. It would be one of the most interesting north off-road Vietnam

At noon, lunch is served at a local restaurant in Dong Khe town. Right after lunch, we’ll be on our way. We’ll reach our homestay at about 4 pm, ending the 2nd day of the 5-day North Vietnam motorbike tour safe and sound!

Summary:

Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner

Accommodation: Homestay

Distance: 180 km of mostly forest and mountain paths.

We had seen so much of nature’s beautiful landscape the previous day in northeast Vietnam. Today, we’ll witness a different kind of wonder: Ban Gioc Waterfall, Nguom Ngao Cave, and Ma Phuc pass. Our route today will also be very enjoyable to experienced bikers.

After a hearty breakfast, we bid farewell to our host family before heading straight toward Ban Gioc waterfall. After an hour of riding some of the best roads running between limestone mountains, we’ll reach our first destination of the day: Nguom Ngao Cave. Exploring this cave will take up to 45 minutes, after which we will move on to the highlight of our day: Ban Gioc waterfall. From as far as 10km away, we can already spot the Qui Dien river and hear the faint sound of water thundering down in the distance.

Once we’ve reached the fall, we can ride closer to its foot before parking our bikes and taking a small raft to get closer to the waterfall. We’ll raft around the fall, towards the Tall fall, where we can all take a dip in the cool refreshing water. After a good swim and some coffee, we’ll return to Quang Uyen, taking a different route this time: harder, smaller roads that stretch for 45 km. Lunch break at a local restaurant in Quang Uyen , then we’ll return to our bike, riding on towards Cao Bang city.

This will be our ride of the day! Right upon leaving town, we’ll hit Ma Phuc pass. Ma Phuc pass is not too long, but the elevation is rather staggering. Its name, Ma Phuc, means ‘defeated horses’, as once upon a time, horses tended to collapse from fatigue at the top of the pass. Arriving at our hotel at around 5 pm, unpacking and unwinding after a long day of greatness and fun!

Summary:

Meal: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner

Accommodation: Standard Hotel

Distance: 160 km over 5 hours of riding

Today, we’ll follow National Highway 4a towards Lang Son and turn into a small dirt road cutting through the forest just 15 km out of town. This will be a memorable ride, with 30 km of small track cutting through a sea of trees. We’ll undoubtedly have a rough time crossing rough forest ground and various streams, but the ride, not to mention the view, is very rewarding. This rough route is only for the experienced, in a small group, for safety reasons (smaller than 5)

Lunch at Cho Gia town. Then, we’ll ride for another hour before reaching Ba Be lake, where we will park and embark on a 2-hour tour of the lake. We can also swim in this giant ‘pond’, so bring your towels. Checking in at our local homestay at around 5 pm, with a lovely view overlooking the lake. You can also join in to cook with our Tay host family!

Summary:

Meals: Breakfast – Lunch – Dinner

Accommodation: Homestay in Pac Ngoi

Distance: at least 150 km.

Our morning will still be treading through small mountainous roads with little to no traffic, and this will be the last stretch of it before we get back to the lowland. After lunch in Thai Nguyen city, we have two options to get back to Hanoi:

Option 1: We’ll continue along National Highway 3 towards Nhat Tan bridge. This major road connects the North-Eastern provinces with Hanoi and thus is more dangerous with heavy traffic.

Option 2: We’ll take the scenic route through villages and rice paddies to return to Nhat Tan bridge before ending our tour at the tour office.

We reach Hanoi at roughly 4:30 pm, right before rush hour. Hopefully, we will have made it back to our tour office before getting trapped in the impossible evening traffic.

Summary:

Meal: Breakfast – Lunch

Distance: 240 km with dense traffic, over 5 hours of riding

END OF TOUR