HIGHLIGHTS OF NORTHERN VIETNAM MOTORBIKE TOUR

* Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba – BRIEF ITINERARY:

Day 1 –  Hanoi motorcycle tour to Mai Chau (Hoa Binh)
Day 2 –  Mai Chau motorcycle tour to Phu Yen (Son La)
Day 3 –  Phu Yen motorcycle tour to Vu Linh village (Thac Ba lake, Yen Bai)
Day 4 –  Thac Ba motorcycle tour to Ba Be National Park (Bac Kan)
Day 5 –  Boat ride on Ba Be lake and motorcycle tour to Na Khan (Bac Kan)
Day 6 –  Na Khan motorcycle tour to Hanoi

Day 1 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Hanoi motorcycle tour to Mai Chau (Hoa Binh)

We start our motorbike tour by leaving Hanoi on dyke roads to avoid the heavy traffic around 9.am , we ride our motorcycles west to Mai Chau, an area of beautiful landscape and home to the Thai ethnic minority.
We will motorcycle on Highway 6 passing extensive farming lands comprising a sea of paddy fields split by tree-lined roads punctuated by limestone karst scenery.

After a light lunch in Hoa Binh Province, we cross Thung Khe, one of the most beautiful mountain passes in North Vietnam then descent to the mountain valley settlement of Mai Chau. After dinner we join performance, where you can dance and share a range of special liquors (rice wine) with the locals. Overnight in a house-on-stilts of the Thai people.

Summary:
Distance:  160 km
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay in village

Day 2 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Mai Chau motorcycle tour to Phu Yen (Son La)

Mai Chau is one of the closest places to Hanoi where you can experience a ‘real’ Montagnard village. In the morning we take a short walk around village to discover local life. Life in the countryside starts early so by sunrise there is a wealth of activity. The Thai women are masterful weavers who ensure that there is plenty of traditional-style clothing to buy in the village centre. You will see women weaving on looms under or inside their houses in the village We can buy some handmade traditional-style clothing, knife or cross-bow.

After breakfast in home-stay, we say goodbye to villagers and leave Mai Chau around 10 am. We ride from Mai Chau to the direction of Moc Chau, where we have lunch. This highland town produces some of Vietnam’s best tea and is a good place to stock up.

The surrounding area is also home to several ethnic minorities, including Green H’mong, Dzao, Thai and Muong. Moc Chau boasts a pioneering dairy industry that started in the late 1970s with Australian (and, later, UN) assistance. The dairy provides Hanoi with such delectable iuxur us as fresh milk, sweetened condensed milk and little tooth-rotting bars called “Banh sua”.

After lunch, we turn to the less travelled Road 43 leading to the Da River, crossing the reservoir of Da river at Van Yen ferry, then ride on a beautiful winding second road until Phu Yen, a small mountain town in Son La Province, where we stay in a basic guest-house.

Summary:
Distance:  140 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Guest-house

Day 3 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Phu Yen motorcycle tour to Vu Linh village (Thac Ba lake, Yen Bai)

In the morning, we motorcycle across Lung Lo pass before head up on Road 32.

During the First Indochina War, the 15km-long Lung Lo Pass, used by the Vietnamese resistance force to transport weapons, goods and food during the Dien Bien Phu campaign of 1954, was heavily bombed by the French in order to sever the front lines from the rear. Lung Lo Pass, situated in the northern province of Yen Bai, was also recognised as a national heritage by the ministry.

Head up to Ba Khe T-junction, we continue our motorbike tour on sealed road through renowned tea growing areas, where the hillsides are literally covered in plantations, all the way to the city of Yen Bai which sits on the Red River.

From here it’s a short ride to the Thac Ba Lake, also formed by the construction of hydroelectricity dam in the 1970s. We keep riding to the Dao village of Vu Linh where we stay for the night, enjoying Dao hospitality.

We will have an unforgettable dinner with the hosts, whose are really big drinkers and they party every day. The welcome is exceptional and we hope you will survive.
Overnight in homestay.

Summary:
Distance:  180 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay

Day 4 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Thac Ba motorcycle tour to Ba Be National Park (Bac Kan)

In the morning we motorcycle passing Tan Trao and Cho Chu.
Tan Trao Historic Site is a small valley lying between mountains and jungles in Son Duong District. It was used as a resistance base before the August 1945 Revolution.

It is also where the Indochina Communist Party first carried out the National Congress (13 August 1945). At the National Assembly held on August 1945 in Tan Trao, “the great policies of Vietminh were drawn and a temporary government lead by Ho Chi Minh was elected”.

Cho Chu Monuments prison is on the hill in the neighborhood Chu Cho township, Dinh Hoa district, Thai Nguyen province. In 1889 the French occupied the station has built robots. In 1894 they put the agency ruled this area agents. Conducted in 1916 to build prisons until 1945.
Cho Chu Monuments prison, vivid symbol of the revolutionary soldiers are willing to devote life, sacrifice fighting for independence and freedom of the country.

Keep motor-cycling on beautiful road through Ba Be National Park into our home-stay in Bac Ngoi village. It is located inside Ba Be National Park.
Our home-stay in Tay’s family is right by the side of Ba Be lake with wonderful and peaceful view.

Summary:
Distance: 190 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay

Day 5 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Boat ride on Ba Be lake and motorcycle tour to Na Khan (Bac Kan)

Half-day boat-ride on the lake to the other side, where we can explore Dau Dang waterfall on Nang river. As one of the 27 ASEAN heritage gardens, Ba Be has the potential to attract nature lovers with its 450ha natural fresh water lake, and 553 species of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish.

According to a survey from the Viet Nam Institute of Geo-sciences and Mineral Resources, over 11,000 years ago, an earthquake caused a collapse of the subterranean Nang River, creating a natural dam which led to the formation of Ba Be Lake.

Lunch in a village near by Dau Dang waterfall before back to home-stay. Get on our bikes and take a half-day ride on countryside to Na Khan. This Nung’s village is in middle of nowhere.
We have last experience on the trip to share the meals and house with locals.

Summary:
Distance: 80 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay

Day 6 – Vietnam Motorbike Tour to Mai Chau, Phu Yen, Ba Be, Thac Ba : Na Khan motorcycle tour to Hanoi

Easy motor ride in the morning, passing peaceful villages and rice fields before reaching very busy road in the afternoon. Traffic is getting worst and worst on Road 3, the way back to Hanoi, so we should be back before rush hour.
Finish our trip around 4 pm

Summary:
Distance: 160 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

End of services!

INCLUDE:
Motorbike(s) (Honda or Yamaha)
Helmet(s)
Driving gears
Gasoline on tour
English or French speaking guide
Mechanic (only for group from 6 passengers)
Accommodation as indicated in the itinerary (based on twin or/and triple shared)
Homestay permission
Meals as indicated in the itinerary
Entrance fees
Boat ride

EXCLUDE:
Travel insurance
Visa
Air-ticket
Tips
Personal expenses

Note: We provide support truck (120$ per day) for emergency and for your safe riding in Vietnam – Most of other tour operators do not offer that. Contact us if you think it’s necessary.