The North West 7 days – No plan is a good plan

This article is written by Tigit’s Vietnamese guides, and the English has mostly been left untouched and natural with only minor editing. 

The North West of Vietnam is known to be a difficult area to ride in the country, but very remote and very beautiful.

• The roads are bad, with landslides, flash flooding in the rainy season.
• Tourism has not developed much, there are few English speakers.

Is it possible for new riders to ride the North West?
Yes, It is.

In my opinion, the North West is chill and crazy both ways, depends on what kind of rider you are or what bike you choose for your trip.

1.  200km per day on curvy mountain pass with your buddies would raise your adrenaline to the top.
2. 150km per day and fill up the day with coffee stops, epic views, taking a lot of photos and many activities could be the trip of your dream.
3. XR150 is the most comfortable bike, Blade 110cc semi-automatic is the coolest one, bigger bikes for advanced riders.

We can’t compare The North West, Ha Giang loop and The North East, each of them is beautiful in its own way but The North West is the best recommendation for explorers.

The North West map described here starts in Hanoi and ends in Ha Giang, it can be done in 7 days.

• Tigit has a service to transport your bikes from Ha Giang to Hanoi – you must book in advance – 35 usd per bike one way.
• You can continue your trip from Ha Giang loop to the North East. Check out the blog here.
• You can also do the small Ha Giang loop to Dong Van – Lung Cu – Meo Vac – Bamboo Ferry – Bao Lac and get back to Hagiang in 3 days more. (follow the Ha Giang loop maps above)
• Vu Linh is the best stop before riding back to Hanoi (150km). You can do Bac Ha – Vu Linh – Hanoi or Hagiang – Vu Linh – Hanoi.

Day 1: Hanoi – Mai Chau 145km. The best way to escape Hanoi

Can we go on highway by a motorcycle?
Most of people will say “No” but yes, you can. Some CT roads allow bikes.

CT03 is known as Thang Long Avenue. There is a large lane for motorbikes.
CT02 Hoa Lac – Hoa Binh is one of a few highway in the country that allows motorbikes.

Good amount of riding to start your trip.

• People are usually busy on day 1 for transportation, bike rentals, paper work and packing.
• Riding out of the city with your jet lag is not easy.
• 150km – 4 hours will fill up your day, you won’t need more.

Mai Chau is the quickest way you can hit the mountain from Hanoi. After a big day of traffic and passing the mountain, you will arrive to a beautiful valley where you can stay at a hotel or lovely homestays surrounded by rice fields. Enjoying a good drink, jumping into a swimming pool and having a good dinner is a perfect way to end your first day in Vietnam.
If your hotel doesn’t have one. No worries, there are 3 swimming pools in the village that you can use for 30.000vnd/ticket.

Hotel: Mai Chau Lodge is the hotel where we stay for Tigit tours.
Food:
1. Bun Cha Hanoi is my favourite but Bun Cha Mai Chau made me surprised, I love them both.
2. Ban Bakery & Tea is where you can look for Pizza and very fancy Banh My.
3. There are many restaurant in the village (Ban Lac) that you can look for a set of Vietnamese foods, BBQ and sticky rice in bamboo.
Option: You can stop for Moc Chau instead of Mai Chau, it makes day 1 a bit longer, day 2 a bit shorter.

Day 2: Mai Chau – Bac Yen 150km. Water fall day

I got the idea for this day from the South West Hanoi trip with Jon.

• Water fall hunting is a smart idea for the wet weather in the North West.
• It is also a good way to fill up the day, if you are an explorer, you will like this day a lot.
• It is very fun to do with a group of friends, and romantic to do as a honey moon or dating trip.

The old Ql6 is beautiful and has a bit of offroad. If you dislike it, follow the way we noted to avoid that offroad section before you head to the new Ql6.
The Ql43 is a good one for riding where you can cross The Black river a.k.a the most powerful river in Vietnam, here are the two biggest hydroelectric dams in Vietnam. Van Yen ferry is very cool, I prefer a local boat than the big ferry.
Many people would stop for Ta Xua but I like Bac Yen better for several reasons:

1. Ta Xua is full of Vietnamese tourists and always fully booked at the weekend.
2. I’ve been trying my best but couldn’t find the answer for a good hotel, even the most expensive one is crap.
3. Services are poor, especially coffee shops; they’re too busy making trendy instant noodle soup for breakfast. (Vietnamese tourists like it for instagram pictures)
4. Bac Yen is half the price of Ta Xua yet everything is better.

Hotel: Paris hotel Bac Yen is the best hotel you can look for in the town.
Food: Ta Xua Quan is where we use for Tigit tour, they have Vietnamese foods and hot pot with black chicken.

Day 3: Bac Yen – Tram Tau – Nghia Lo 125km. Dinosaur Backbone and Hot Spring

This is a relaxing day with a short ride distance. On my last tour, we spent a lot of time on the Dinosaur backbone before heading to Tram Tau. We got freezing weather on that day so the hot spring were amazing, two of us had had a cold but recovered right after that.
For people who are even more relaxed than us, we recommend to stay for few days in Tram Tau. This area surrounded by highest mountains in Vietnam where you can hike a couple 2800m – 2900m peaks or discover the minority culture with a local tour guide speaking good English. For camping lovers, you can go to see some hidden waterfalls deep in the jungle.
Roads:

• DT112 is a beautiful road
• DT174 is small, curvy and full of blind U-turn, it took us an hour to go for 30km.

Hotel: Mien Tay hotel
Food: Nha Hang Minh Anh

Day 4: Nghia Lo – Sapa 234km. Big day of riding

This is a good day of riding. There are plenty of good-view coffee stops on the road. The Ql32 from Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai is very “the North West.” It is the answer to “what does the North West look like?” You can’t see it anywhere else in the country.

The next section of QL32, from Mu Cang Chai to Nghia Lo, reminds me of the HCM road a lot. It has stunning scenery and a river goes along with it. The road is in good condition and has the best grip for cornering.

50km from Than Uyen to Tan Uyen, the road is under construction, it is big, flat and slighty offroad. It is dirty on dry days and muddy on rainy days (August, 2024). But it is going to be a big road soon, I guess it would be the reving-up section of the day.

If you don’t want to ride that much in one day, you can cut it in half and stop at Mu Cang Chai.

Lunch: Nha hang Pho Nui is a good one in Tu Le, they are famous for Vietnamese food and colourful sticky rice, you will like to try some stir fried “local vegetables” with garlic.

Food: Sapa is very easy to travel to. These are my Tigit colleague’s recommendations:

1. Nha hang O Quy Ho Sapa: they make the best “pumpkin soup with black chicken”.
2. Mẩy Quán: the best “grilled chicken with pepper sauce” here.
3. Pork Noodle Nga Cảnh: local style noodle soup with spicy and sour flavours. (I personally like to have noodle with only grilled pork here)

Massage: there are massage everywhere in Sapa but if you have time to go for 10km to “La Dao Spa”, this is the best of the best. A full package body massage is around 45 USD.

Day 5: Sapa – Y Ty – Lao Cai 170km. Or a rest day

Plan 1: Bad-roading
After the first 40km away from Sapa, the road becomes more and more challenging. The road is under construction and filled with rocks and mud along the way. It will be very fun to ride with the Honda Blade 110cc, XR150 . It is quite challenging on the Honda CB500X.

Despite the bad road conditions, the scenery is indescribable.

Lao Cai is the big city where you can have everything.

Plan 2: Rest day in Sapa

Sapa is the biggest tourism spot in the Northwest, and you can get everything you need.

After 4 days of riding, this day would be a perfect timing to have a rest. People normally don’t take a rest until they’re very tired, which means they are unable to recover, and the second half of their trip becomes difficult. A big city sometimes is the only chance where you can have a good massage, a good sleep in a good hotel room. If you can’t enjoy Vietnamese food, this is the time to look for a good burger, pizza, steak, etc.. Let’s get ready for the roads ahead!

Here are a few reasons to stop in Sapa.
1. Fansipan the top of Indochina 3140m: you can either hike up there or take a cable car.
2. Sapa Cloud Dragon Glass Bridge
3. La Dao Spa: I have to say it again because it is so good. I don’t think people would have time to go for it unless they have an extra day.

Day 6: Lao Cai – Si Ma Cai – Bac Ha 150km. The best riding in Vietnam

The best road in Vietnam.
“Confirmed twice by Tigit Jon, to be the best driving road in the country! But, it puts you on the path of the North West, so is it worth it?”
Yes.

Not like other roads in Ha Giang loop or the North East, the scenary is filled by spectacular mountains and jungles which no one can build a house on. It includes valleys and sometimes, you will find yourself driving into the clouds.

We noted a lunch stop, a few coffee shops and view points on the recommended map.

Hotel: KHÁCH SẠN SAMU.

Food: Vietnamese food at hotel.

Day 7: Bac Ha – Vinh Quang – Ha Giang 180km. Heading to Hagiang loop

From Bac Ha to Vinh Quang has good road condition and stunning views similar to Si Ma Cai – Bac Ha.

The full version of DT177 on Day 2 – Hagiang loop 7 days. (Vinh Quang – Ha Giang)
“The highlight of the day is DT177 which is 100% off-roading. Beginners may struggle a bit, but the good news is that the trail is not steep.”
Updates: they’ve done 70% of DT177 so far (August, 2024).

Food:
1. Com Nieu An Nhien for Vietnamese foods.
2. Ha Giang Sports bar And Food: good Vietnamese beefsteak with banh my, good pizza.

Hotel: Silk River hotel, Phuc Lam Hotel.

Option: If you can’t make it or just don’t want to make it in 1 day. You can stop for Hoang Su Phi bungalow which is a very beautiful homestay and it is the Day 1 of Ha Giang loop 7 days.

Option: The green line on the map is the way to avoid the offroad DT177.