Connecting the HCM to Hanoi Route to the North of Vietnam. Post-COVID, all the rage is the Ha Giang loop in the North of Vietnam, but at Tigit, we prefer to send customers off on the North West loop, which I will explain in more detail.
Offroad routes North West.
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Please treat these with respect, some of them are very difficult and it is not our responsibility when you fall off a cliff. Very much recommend a fully guided tour, or at the very least a Yamaha WR 155 rental.
It is controvercial making these sort of routes public due to the risk it can put some drivers at.
Old news, and why set routes for the North are so hard to find on the internet
The North of Vietnam is very mountainous, and people drive at vastly different speeds. This can be down to:
- Skill level
- The weather
- How many photos does the driver like to take?
The North of Vietnam also has homestays everywhere, so it doesn’t rely on set tourist destinations like the Ho Chi Minh to Hanoi route. Therefore, it is much more normal for people to stop when they are tired. You can stop literally anywhere, and there will be a homestay of some sort nearby.
Due to all this, it has always been incredibly difficult to recommend routes for the North of Vietnam.
The North West is what we recommend.
If you are coming up from Ho Chi Minh, you may choose to pass through the famous tourist area of Ninh Binh. Either way, from Phong Nha heading up the country, you should be aiming for Mai Chau or Pu Luong. These two places are located next to each other and make a great starting point for exploring the world of beautiful rice paddies.
Pu Luong in itself is actually an enormous area full of waterfalls, homestays, and even caves. Days can be spent in this area alone.
The Tigit “Vietnam motorbike route” is designed to be kept simple without thousands of icons on it. However, you can see in the Southwestern parts of Hanoi that we abandoned the simplicity concept and started dotting waterfalls everywhere.
We still don’t know if this level of detail is good or bad, but it gives an idea of just how long you can spend in one area of this map.
Mai Chau or Pu Luong to Phu Yen
From Mai Chau or Pu Luong we head up to Phu Yen over a ferry. This day’s drive isn’t anything special in itself but certainly not a bad one. The tourist town is actually called Ta Xua, but we like to stay in Phu Yen down the bottom of the mountain. The main attraction of Ta Xua is the dinosaur backbone, which you can walk or drive past.
Phu Yen to Tram Tau
This is an absolutely stunning ride these days, and it breaks my heart everytime I talk about the town of Tram Tau. This is because it is an undiscovered beauty with natural hot springs. It should stay as an undiscovered beauty, but idiots like me make money talking about it, so that is quickly changing! Go there, and get there before it explodes to catastrophic levels of tourism!
Many people might get stuck in Tram Tau for days, living that dream of “reading a book.” I mean, relaxing, watching shorts all day.
Optional Tram Tau to Mu Cang Chai
You can see on the map my lines of driving Honda Blades around Mu Cang Chai’s mountains. Awesome viewpoints and another area of amazing rice paddy culture.
Tram Tau to Vu Linh
Vu Linh is full of homestays and a really cool boat experience out onto a lake. Despite being a hub of tourism that passes through the area, the ethnic culture in this region remains strong, which appears to have prevented it from becoming overly commercial.
Did you know that each family member owns a small piece of land in the lake. It is cause for massive family struggles and confrontation over who owns what in that lake. Very amusing when you get the backstories!
Tram Tau to Hanoi
Nothing special here, but the roads into Hanoi these days are super quick and quite pleasant.
Connecting into Sapa
The North West loop connects very nicely into Sapa, going over one of the most beautiful passes on the QL32. I have personally done this many times, but I have never seen anything because I am always in the clouds. Eitherway, if you are someone who finds yourself in the right conditions here, then lucky you!
Sapa is not one of our recommended places to stay. Wrecked by tourism and gimmicky activities from my perspective. Nonetheless, people seem to enjoy it, and it is a “tick box” of Vietnam, so if that is your thing, then go for it! Sapa is also close to the town of “Y TY“, which I deem to be the prettiest town in the country. It also connects to my favorite road between Lao Cai and Bac Ha.
We are now very much back into the famous Ha Giang loop, so that is where this article ends!
Good things about the North West
- There are no police in the North West. Out of the entire country, this region is probably the least likely to see you getting stopped by the police.
- Despite the region being very remote and basic, we use it for guided tours, and it is also where I spend most of my time driving. So yes, I have found a soft mattress in every single destination!
- The views are probably the best in the entire country. They are at least the best whilst being the most natural. Let’s use the over-used phrase “The Real Vietnam.”
Bad things about the North West
- The clay is horrendous. It doesn’t matter what time of year you drive here. The clay will catch you out at least once and you are guaranteed at least one crash until you learn to respect how slippery clay can be. Clay is worse than ice, and this isn’t an exhaggeration!
- It always rains. Never send an email to Tigit asking about the weather in the North West of Vietnam. The answer is, that it is raining. Ta Xua in particular, is one of the most beautiful places on planet earth. At the same time, it is one of the most miserable and depressing places on planet Earth. Watch the locals struggle with thick clay and permanent rain; it’s a tough life out there!
- You need to be a good driver for this region. The roads are narrow and slippery. I think the Honda CB 500x is a terrible choice for this reason, and you should be on an XR 150, Honda Blade, or Yamaha WR 155.
Why go to Ha Giang?
Ha Giang is beautiful, and it has wide paved mountain roads with plenty of grip. A driver’s dream in many ways; this is CB 500x territory, to be fair! The downside, though, is mass tourism, and by this, I mean beer-drinking backpacker mass tourism.
I haven’t been back to Ha Giang in years, and it’s on my to-do list to go back. I will update this article when I do!
The police are a major problem these days, and unless you are completely by the book, with the right license and the right IDP, then you will get stopped. The fee is approximately 3,000,000 VND, but it may be higher. It is best to look at this fee as an “entrance fee,” and you can decide if that is worth it to you.
From our perspective, though, if you want to see “the real Vietnam,” then just go to the North West. It is where Tigit specializes, and this region has a special place in the hearts of myself and all the Tigit guides. Just make sure you don’t tell anyone about Tram Tau!
