The Ha Giang Loop with Mama's Homestay

The Ha Giang Loop is, as far as we are concerned, one of the best things you can do in Vietnam. Three or four days riding a 350-kilometre circuit through the mountainous far north, over passes like the Ma Pi Leng at fifteen hundred metres, past small villages, rice terraces and viewpoints where you want to stop every few minutes.

Almost every backpacker who does Vietnam names this afterwards as the highlight. So the question is not whether you do it, but how you arrange it.

If you want to ride the loop without working any of it out yourself, Mama’s Homestay in Ha Giang is a good place to start. Everything about the route itself is on our page for the Ha Giang Loop.

What the loop is

The Ha Giang Loop is right at the top of Vietnam, up against the Chinese border. The region is known for its mountain landscapes and the roads that wind through them, and the classic route takes three days.

You ride past mountain passes, local villages and viewpoints, sleep in homestays along the way, and travel with a group of other backpackers. That last part is not a detail: it makes this one of the best places on the whole route to meet people.

Riding yourself, or with an easy rider

Mama’s Homestay runs tours with the transport, the accommodation and the guiding all arranged. You choose whether you ride yourself or sit behind an easy rider, a local driver who does this route for a living.

Our advice here is not subtle. Riding yourself sounds like the adventurous option, but the roads in Ha Giang are not roads to learn on: narrow, steep, blind bends, and traffic you do not always see coming. If you have little experience on a motorbike or a scooter, take an easy rider and do not think about it again.

There is also the paperwork. Vietnam recognises only the 1968-convention international driving permit, with category A or A1 on it, alongside your own motorcycle licence from home. A car licence is not enough for a bike that requires a motorcycle licence, and the police on this loop genuinely check. Without the right papers you are also not insured, so check your own travel insurance before you decide to ride.

With an easy rider you sit behind somebody who rides these roads every day, and you get to look at the view instead of the tarmac. For a lot of backpackers that is not the compromise option, it is simply the better one.

What to expect

On the loop the journey is the point. Every day you ride through a different part of the mountains and you stop constantly. Along the way, count on:

• Mountain roads and viewpoints that do not let up
• Villages where nothing is aimed at tourists
• Nights in homestays
• Local food, on a table everyone shares
• Long evenings with your group
• Guiding for the whole route

The exact route and stops vary depending on the tour, the weather and the conditions on the day.

How many days

The most popular choice is four days and three nights. That gives you enough time to see the region without spending every day covering long distances. The classic route itself is three days, so four gives you room to breathe.

If you have less time, there are shorter versions. Just know that you then spend more hours a day on the bike, and that comes straight out of the stops.

Before and after the loop

Plan at least one night in Ha Giang before you set off. Especially if you are coming in on the night bus from Hanoi, it is worth being able to shower, sort your things and get the briefing before you go anywhere.

That makes Mama’s Homestay not just your starting point but a handy place to sleep before and after your tour. A bed here is around five euros.

What to bring

Do not take much on the bike. Your big backpack normally stays behind at your accommodation in Ha Giang.

Useful on the road: a small daypack, a warm layer, a rain jacket, sun cream, sunglasses, a power bank, decent shoes, swimwear, toiletries, cash and your passport or a copy of it.

Do not underestimate the cold. Up in the mountains it is a lot colder than Hanoi, especially in the evening and early in the morning, and on a motorbike that feels a few degrees colder again.

When to ride the Ha Giang Loop

You can ride the loop nearly all year, but mountain weather turns fast. March to May and September to October are generally the best windows, with the best odds of pleasant temperatures and long views.

On a clear day the views over the mountains are genuinely spectacular, and even with some cloud the landscape has something to it. Bear in mind that the weather can be completely different from one pass to the next.

So bring clothes for several kinds of day. A warm layer and a proper rain jacket are not overkill, because in a few days on the Ha Giang Loop you can easily get sun, rain, wind and cold.

Why we send people here

The Ha Giang Loop belongs on any list of the best things in Vietnam. In a few days you ride through one of the most beautiful mountain regions in the country, over passes and past villages where you keep wanting to pull over.

With Mama’s Homestay you have to arrange almost nothing. The route, the guiding, the meals and the homestays are sorted, and you choose between riding yourself and going on the back with an easy rider. That leaves you free to concentrate on the part you came for.

But the loop is not only about what you see in the daytime. You ride it with a group of other backpackers, and in the evening everyone eats together at the homestay. After that the karaoke and the glasses of Happy Water, the local rice liquor, come out. Before you know it you are singing Vietnamese karaoke with your easy riders and the rest of the group.

It is that combination of adventure, landscape and long evenings that makes this route what it is. If Ha Giang is on your Vietnam trip, this is how we would ride it.

Rebels on the Road discount

Booking the Ha Giang Loop with Mama’s Homestay? Use the voucher REBELSONTHEROAD. Give the code when you contact Mama’s Homestay or reserve your tour, and you get the Rebels on the Road reader discount.

See Mama’s Homestay

Should you do the Ha Giang Loop?

As far as we are concerned, absolutely. The Ha Giang Loop is one of those experiences you come to Vietnam for. Days on end riding through the mountainous north, over spectacular passes, past small villages and through a landscape that keeps changing under you.

The main decision is whether you ride yourself or go on the back with an easy rider, and it is worth being honest with yourself about that. The roads here are narrow, twisting and sometimes properly steep. This is not the place to learn to ride a motorbike. With little experience, we would take an easy rider every time: you sit behind somebody who knows the road and you get to look at it.

Have the time? Take four days rather than three. More room for the route, the stops and the evenings at the homestays. And arrive in Ha Giang the night before, so you start the loop rested.

Pack a warm layer and a rain jacket, get on the bike or on the back of one, and enjoy it. Three hundred and fifty kilometres later you will understand exactly why so many backpackers call this the best part of Vietnam.