An early morning start to Thac Ba lake by canoe will provide an opportunity to visit Dzao; a Caolan minority people and partake in the daily life of the locals. This experience is unique as the Caolan are a very colourful people. After lunch, to aid our digestion, we take a walk along Thac Ba Lake and view hundreds of beautiful green islands.
By late afternoon, after several hours driving, we will stop for the night in a Tay ethnic village and before dusk enjoy a 2km walk to mountain-top Dong Tinh village. The Red Dzao ethnic people populate this village. During the dry season a day’s travel is hard by any means of transportation except by our ‘iron buffalo’ as road conditions become very poor. The local Red Dzao earn their living by collecting forestry products, hunting and farming a variety of subsistence crops and some fruits. Only when the sunset will we return to the Tay family for dinner.
Day 3: Luc Yen - Xin Man. 160 km, ~5 hrs.
Enjoy breakfast, The morning will start with a walk along a small path, through numerous beautiful villages and terraced rice fields. It is an opportunity to enjoy the picturesque landscape of the Vietnamese countryside. It’s not a long distance but a climb up to Xin Man is a must. Vehicles haven’t appeared on the tortuous road up the mountain for a long time. The local ethnic family leaves the travellers with a very impressive experience. Dinner and overnight at the village
Day 4: Xin Man - Ha Giang. 140 km, ~5 hrs.
The regular Sunday Xin Man market is located right at the edges of Xin Man itself. Here you will see people from the H'mong, Nung; Tay, Dao… ethnic minority groups. They all walk through mountain paths and rough terrain from their mountain villages to the Xin Man market to trade items and socialize. This market is one of the most isolated market in Vietnam, so it has never been given much attention. To reach Xinman, it's at least a 3 hours ride along narrow meandering roads from the town of Bacha, on this leg you have to be careful not to lose yourself in the dense woods. An easier but longer route can be taken on the curving road cutting through steep mountains for the 100 km ride from Xinman. This will still take about 4 hours despite the newly upgraded bitumen road and the absence of other vehicles.
The lively central market of Xin Man will be visited in the morning before we depart for Bac Quang where you will have to be alert as the road has many dangerous meandering turns. After reaching Heaven’s Gate II and the Hoang Su Phi Pass, a picnic lunch will be provided amongst superb surrounding landscape. When dropping down into Tan Quang the tour will take a leisurely ride along the National Highway No 2. If time permits we’ll have a deep in the warm waters of the hot springs. The remainder of the day we will spend relaxing. This night will be spent in a hotel.
Day 5: Ha Giang - Meo Vac. 165 km, ~5 hrs.
Rise and shine for a few hours trek to many of the Heaven Gates such as Quan Ba, Yen Binh, Dong Van. They are so called because one gets the feeling of touching the sky - heaven's gates. This is the best time and place to enjoy the wonderful sightseeing of this vast limestone mountain range and perpendicular walls of rock, which brings one a feeling of adventure whilst being lost in a magic land. Here we are surrounded by many rocks of all shapes and sizes. After lunch at Yen Minh town, the scenic route climbs over a pass before arriving in Pho Bang, also called Pho Bang Street, which was built a long many centuries ago and features multi-storey houses made of clay bricks and tile roofs. Then we continue our trip to visit the infamous Vuong Palace, a H'mong family of high rank during French colonial rule. This palace attracts keen interest from architecturally minded visitors due to its mixed style of European and Chinese architecture. After bidding farewell, we take time to climb over the Ma Pi Leng Pass from which we can see and enjoy a beautiful sunset over the Nho Que river.
Visiting these remote areas, we will witness how hard the local people struggle with their environment for their survival and development. Living conditions are extremely harsh, there is barely any arable land within the rocky mountains and the people survive on a diet of corn, which is about the only crop able to grow in the rocky soil. Even through this hardship, the local people are very friendly, simple yet develop a strong attachment to other people. They are the soul of this remote area.
Day 6: Meo Vac - Bac Me. 150 km, ~5-7 hrs.
he Meo Vac market lasts till the mid-afternoon. However the tour will hit the road before lunch, as today is a real challenge as the group travels by a track through a forest. This 80 km motorcycle ride is a measure of your bravery and skills. The rolling rocky roads take you to hell on a rainy day. However the breath-taking scenery makes the hardship all worthwhile.
Meo Vac is a land of rugged mountains and beautiful hill villages remaining unchanged for centuries. The Meo Vac market attracts a wide variety of ethnic minority groups who walk all the way from their mountain villages to Meo Vac market in order to trade goods and produce. Market sessions provide a chance for locals to promenade and young men and women in colourful costumes to meet, date or seek sweethearts. For this reason, markets in the northern mountainous areas are often called the Love Markets. Visiting Meo Vac on Sundays, one can shop in a very original mountain market where all kinds of goods and multicoloured clothes can be purchased.
Day 7: Bac Me - Ba Be Lake. 80 km, ~7 hrs.
Yesterday you had an opportunity to develop your riding skills, and again today its time to muster up all your skills, techniques and experience for the 80 km of forest road. Only with the help of our experienced guides will you not get lost in one of the 16 branching roads. Along the way, we traverse many tall passes and deep river valleys. This road trip will take you only 3-4 hours during the dry season, but at least 7-8 hours during the rainy season. However, the feeling of ‘conquering nature’ makes the hardship all worthwhile. Upon arrival, we will cross 3 rivers between 20-30m in width and up to 70cm in depth, all managed with the instruction of our experienced guide. The remaining 3kms of the journey is a pleasant and relaxing ride. You’ll ride along an open hillside road along the Nang river. Catch your breath while you can. We complete our journey at the Dau Dang waterfall. This is basically an overnight stop to break our long journey and stretch our legs, take the tiredness away and share the day's adventure with the owner of the Nang river restaurant; Mr. Pirate’s. The next day we canoe our hearts out through the tranquil lakes of Babe, renowned for their majesty. Then we can swim or trek to visit the Tay ethnic minorities and talk with the local people. We overnight with our host family.
Day 8: Ba Be lake.
Today is a full day to take advantage of lake Babe. During the cruise on the lake, we visit Babe National Park and witness the simple lifestyle of local people in these remote areas, including the Tay, H'mong and Dao ethnic groups. After another delicious meal cooked by our hosts, we spend the evening sitting together around a fire, discussing and enjoying the days sightseeing with the local people.
Day 9: Babe - Tan Trao. 150 km, ~4 hrs.
Having a full day for the excursion on Babe lake will soon take your tiredness away get your ready for another leg of our journey towards Tan Trao. After bidding farewell to the friendly people on Babe lake, we travel to visit the Northernmost Vietnam community which was the headquarters to the Vietminh; the League for the Independence of Vietnam. After establishing the government in 1945, they moved here to build a resistance base in order to prepare forces for the arduous struggle against the French colonialists. Not until Independence was gained in the whole of Indochina, did the Vietnamese government return to Hanoi in October 1954. In this area, President Ho Chi Minh led the uprising of the whole nation to mark a great victory over 50 years ago.
After this journey, we will dine on local specialties, such as baked pork, bamboo-tube rice, bamboo sprout and many more traditional specialties. After dinner spend the evening sitting around the fire recalling the heroic Nine-Year Resistance War with the local people who recount history so vividly. We spend another night at a host family's house.
Day 10: Tan Trao - Hanoi. 160 km, ~5 hrs.
The morning will provide free time for you to explore this heroic land before returning to Hanoi. On the way back there is an opportunity to admire the splendid scenery of the Pho Day River containing crystal clear water with beautiful images of country girls in small basket boats, as we ride past.
A stop in Tam Dao, a Sapa like miniature town, will provide lunch and time to relax after a long journey. We will arrive in Hanoi late afternoon.
