The Ultimate Guide to The Ha Giang Loop With Mama’s Homestay
What Is The Ha Giang Loop?
The best thing you could do in Vietnam is the Ha Giang Loop motorbike tour, a ~350 km multi-day adventure that takes you through stunning landscapes, rugged mountains, lush valleys, and remote villages of Northern Vietnam. This journey offers breathtaking views and a chance to experience the local culture firsthand. As someone with Vietnamese heritage, this experience was a revelation, giving me a whole new understanding and perspective of my home country. It truly was an unforgettable experience that I will treasure deeply for the rest of my life. As many people say, this tour is “the best thing you will ever do in South-East Asia.”
Choosing Which Company To Do The Loop With
There are many companies offering the Ha Giang Loop motorbike tour, so it’s essential to research which one suits your interests and preferences. Here are the top four popular options:
- Atmosphere: Known for its vibrant and lively crowd of young backpackers who love to party.
- Group size: Expect large groups, sometimes up to 100 people, which means there can be a lot of waiting before hitting the roads.
- Itinerary: Includes plenty of hiking and outdoor activities.
- Atmosphere: A bit calmer than Jasmine Hostel, but still knows how to party.
- Group size: Smaller groups, around 25 people, which means less waiting time compared to Jasmine.
- Itinerary: Focuses more on stopping at stunning viewpoints and taking photos rather than hiking.
- Atmosphere: Known for their smaller, more relaxed groups. They respect your choice whether you want to party or have a chill night.
- Group size: Smaller groups, which means more personalized attention and less waiting.
- Itinerary: They cater to what the client wants, for example for viewpoints or more trekking activities.
Most hostels can arrange transportation to and from Ha Giang via sleeper buses. I highly recommend opting for the VIP sleeper bus, where you get your own cabin with curtains for added privacy. You don’t need to book the tour far in advance. Booking a day before your desired start date is usually sufficient, as most companies will have availability.
Booking The Ha Giang Loop with Mamas Homestay
I did the 4D3N Ha Giang Loop tour with Mamas Homestay where I chose the easy rider option which cost 4,990,000 VND (approx. ~$300 AUD).
This price included:
- Three meals each day with coffee and tea
- Happy water!
- Accomodation for three nights in dorms (you can pay an extra 375k VND a day for a private room)
- Driver + motorbike + gasoline fee + motorbike insurance
- Ticket entrance fees
- A Mama’s homestay t-shirt or a tote bag
I also tipped my easy rider 400k VND at the end (100k tip a day). You can check out the prices for their tours depending on how many days you want to go, if you’ll be riding yourself, have an easy rider, or riding with a friend at: https://mamashomestay.com/#tour
P.S. This price does not include the bus ride to and from Ha Giang. When booking on their website, they will give you the option to book a bus from your destination to Ha Giang and your next destination after Ha Giang.
What To Pack For The Tour
You’ll be allowed to bring only one small backpack for the tour, while larger backpacks or suitcases must be left at Mama’s Homestay in Ha Giang city.
Recommendation on what to bring
- ~1-2mil VND in cash: Carry enough cash for extra drinks or snacks. ATMs are scarce on the route, so it’s wise to get cash before you head to Ha Giang. Trust me, you’ll be craving other snacks and drinks when you’re going to be eating the same meals 4 days in a row.
- Waterproof jacket: Ha Giang’s weather can be unpredictable, so pack a waterproof jacket. If needed, you can also rent one at Mama’s.
- Lightweight jacket: The weather can change rapidly, so a lightweight jacket that’s easy to put on and take off is a good choice.
- Gloves & scarf: If you’re traveling during winter, bring gloves and a scarf as the mountainous roads can get quite cold.
- 2x tops: One long sleeve and one short sleeve shirt will cover different weather conditions.
- 2x pants: Pack two pairs in case one gets dirty, especially since the roads on day 3 can be very dusty.
- 1x shorts: Bring shorts only if you expect warm weather; otherwise, skip them if you’re traveling in winter.
- Walking shoes: Since you’ll be hiking, comfortable walking shoes are essential.
- Flip flops: Useful for shared bathrooms at the homestays.
- Sunscreen: Always always bring sunscreen everywhere, I don’t make the rules!
- Insect repellent: Bring some for night time, the bugs usually come out at that time.
- Medicine/First Aid Kit: It’s good to have a basic first aid kit, even though your guide team leader will likely have one as well.
- Important electronics + chargers: Bring necessary electronics and chargers, but consider leaving your laptop behind in Ha Giang to lighten your load.
Day 1: Ha Giang-Tam Son-Yen Minh
The night before, Mama’s will organize a sleeper bus to Ha Giang, and you will arrive at around 3 AM at Mama’s Homestay if you came from Hanoi. You will be told to wake up at around 8 AM, where you will then be taken to a place where they will feed you breakfast, give you a briefing of the tour route, and then put you into groups. You will be sticking with this group until the end, and it will be the perfect opportunity to make lifelong friendships.
The tour starts at around 10:30 AM, and we are on the road for around an hour, making a few stops at beautiful lookout spots before we arrive at our first destination, Lung Tam Village, which is a linen weaving village. The Hmong women in this village will show how they hand-make their unique brocade products, which is super interesting. You will also have the opportunity to buy their products if you’re interested. Then you will stop for a family lunch where they serve you traditional local food, which includes vegetables, and various delicious meat dishes.
You then hop back on the bikes and get taken to Quan Ba Heaven Gate, which is a mountain viewpoint. The landscape’s views were breathtaking, but just wait until you hear that the views on day two are even more stunning! The camera does not do any justice for this beautiful view. I forgot to take a landscape photo so below are screenshots from the video I took.
The tour ends at 4:30 PM, where you will stay overnight at a local homestay in Yen Minh. You get to rest or explore the city until they serve you Vietnamese family-style dinner at 6:30 PM. This is the most exciting night because they not only introduce you to happy water, but they also teach you the Vietnamese drinking chant: Mot, hai, ba, dzo! Remember this because you’ll be doing this chant for hours straight until 10 PM each night! I remember having my first shot of happy water, and I swear I saw my life flash before my eyes. We were told that the happy water was 40% alcohol content—no wonder people got warmed up fast for karaoke! They put on karaoke at 8 PM, and all partying halts at 10 PM so you can get some rest but there is also an option to head to the city to a bar to party until your hearts content. This will be the night routine for the remaining nights.
Day 2: Yen Minh-Lung Tam-Dong Van
The day starts nice and early at 8 AM, with a breakfast of banh mi and fried egg, accompanied by coffee or tea. The tour continues at 9 AM, taking you to the famous Tham Ma Pass. At this stop, many local children eagerly run up to us, holding our hands, braiding our hair, and even putting pretty flowers in them! Even though these children are adorable, please do not give them any money, as their parents might pull them out of school and use them to get money from tourists. Feel free to give them candy though!
The tour then continues to the Lung Cu Tower, a 30-meter tower on the summit of Lung Cu Peak, with a large Vietnamese flag at the top. From this height, you can see views across a lush valley of rice paddies. After this, you will have lunch, which serves basically the same food as yesterday, before heading towards the border of southern China! I remember when we arrived at the viewpoints where we could see China’s borders, my phone got a notification saying, “Welcome to China!” One of the people in our group had a professional camera and zoomed in on the border, and we saw Chinese police patrolling! They will then take you to many more beautiful viewpoints along the way to take photos where you see many more beautiful mountains and rocks.
You will end the day like day one, with a great family dinner, lots of karaoke, and happy water, as well as bonding sessions with the easy drivers. The homestay is in Dong Van, which was honestly my least favourite homestay of the entire trip. They fit around 30 single beds in one room and the bathrooms were not the most hygienic. I personally didn’t shower that night and just used body wipes.
At night, the people in the city of Dong Van Old Town like to dance and sing – my easy rider secretly told me about this and offered to take me. I agreed, and we snuck off to Dong Van Old Town together while the others were busy singing their hearts out in karaoke. I was too shy to join in on the singing and dancing, but it was a surreal experience seeing the locals be so carefree, singing and dancing happily together as a community. I wish I took photos and videos that night but I was too busy being in the moment. I also took this opportunity to get my hair washed as there was a hair salon in the city (princess things).
Day 3: Dong Van-Ma Pi Leng-Meo Vac-Mau De
You know the drill by now! Up at 8 AM for breakfast and leave at 9 AM. Get ready to be excited because in my opinion, this day offers the most beautiful and breathtaking views that I have ever seen in my entire life. The first viewpoint they will take you will show you the Nho Que River and then they will take you down to the river and hop on a boat tour where you see a close up view of the turquoise water and the towering mountains. Don’t worry, tickets for the boat tour are already included! Near the boats there are some stalls that sell fresh fruit which is a nice snack to have whilst you’re admiring the view on the boat.
The roads on this day are super dusty so wear your silly looking rain covers that they give out at the beginning of the tour! On the journey, you will see many villages in the middle of nowhere as children walk to and from school on the dirt roads. There were so many children who all looked under the age of 10 walking alone without any parent supervision which broke my heart. My easy driver pulled over to one of the stops where we saw 2 children who both looked under the age of 5 playing with rocks on the edge of the dirt roads. We tried talking to the children in Vietnamese and asking where their parents were but it seemed like these children were unable to communicate which made me sad because their parents probably could not give these kids an education, let alone have time to look after them.
You will then have lunch which serves the same food as the previous days. The views for the remainder of the day are again mostly valleys and mountains. Be ready to take many group pictures. Our guide leader was very passionate about constantly taking group photos at every viewpoint stop where he would even get on his bike to get the perfect shot… only for our photo to end up like this because we got distracted by something and half of us weren’t even looking at the camera (me included).
You will then finish your last night at 4:30 PM again at a homestay in Du Gia Village. This place was extremely far from the city and there are just remote villages surrounding which means the closest bar is like a 45 min walk if you’re interested in kickons after 10 PM. It’s the last night of the tour so you know you have to send it with the happy water and karaoke! This was the first and last night that I drank so much happy water that I got completely wasted and blacked out.
Day 4: Du Gia-Ha Giang
Up at 8 AM again for the final day with the same breakfast 4 days in a row – not going to lie, I was so hungover that I knew I could not stomach a banh mi so I asked if I could have pho like the drivers and they catered for me (not sure if it was because I was Vietnamese so I got special treatment).
You will leave at 9 AM and visit the Du Gia waterfall where you will have a chance to dive into the water and have a swim. However it was raining and super cold that day so I didn’t dare set foot near the water, the people who swam there that day must have been psychopaths!
You will then stop for lunch in Lung Tam. I was too hungover and sick of the food at this point so all I was able to stomach were the fruits given. You then continue on the road for the remaining day, stopping at a few stops to rest to get some drinks and snacks, and by 4 PM you will have returned to Mama’s Homestay in Ha Giang. The buses to destinations such as Hanoi, Sapa, Ha Long and such weren’t until at least 7 pm so you will have time to wash up and have dinner before taking the bus to the next destination. I knew a few people who became close with their Easy Driver during this tour where they even invited them to their villages to meet their families and share a final dinner together.
Conclusion
This tour was definitely the highlight of my Vietnam trip. The stunning views on the Ha Giang Loop are unbeatable and you must visit before it gets too touristy! Not only will it be the best 3-4 days of your life, the relationship you form with the Easy Drivers, new connections with other travelers, and surreal views you see are a once in a lifetime opportunity. I swear on my life, my phone camera doesn’t so any justice to its beauty, the views everyday were so surreal in person. What are you waiting for?
