3 days · 2 nights
The Classic Loop
Self-drive$190
Easy rider$230
- Nights2 homestays, Dong Van & Du Gia
- BikeHonda XR150 · Yamaha WR155
- Group2–5 guests, never merged
- On the waterNho Que and Ban An boats
Đồng Văn · Hà Giang
These are the mountains I grew up in. Come and see them properly.
Ha Giang is more than a few famous viewpoints and a road full of tour buses.
I keep my groups small — usually no more than five people — so we can take the roads that bigger groups simply can't. We stop when there's something worth seeing, not because it's the next stop on a schedule.
You'll meet local people, pass through small villages, eat where I would eat, and sometimes take a road with no sign telling us where it goes.
Because this is not a place I discovered for tourism. It's home.
Who is Matt
A local who came back home
I'm Matt, a local guide from Ha Giang. This is not just a place I work in — it is where I grew up.
My mother's family is Tày, and my grandmother used to trade goods across the Chinese border and bring them back to sell in the villages around here. Growing up, I spent a lot of time around local markets, villages and mountain communities. I heard different languages, met people from different ethnic groups, and slowly learned how life in these mountains really works.
I started guiding when I was eighteen, helping a local cook take travellers into the forest. Later I left Ha Giang to study and work in Hanoi, building websites for companies. But I missed home — the villages, the food, the people, and having stories worth telling someone.
So I came back. I have now spent years guiding travellers around Ha Giang, and I still live here today.
That matters, because I don't want to show you Ha Giang from the road or from a list of famous viewpoints. I want to show you the Ha Giang I know — the small roads, the villages, the people, the food, the stories, and the places you would otherwise pass by.
That's who I am. A local who came back home, and wants to share it with you.
Four ways to travel
Choose your trip
Two to five people. Never a convoy. The plan bends around the sky, not the other way round.
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3 days · 2 nights
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4 days · 3 nights
Off The Map
Self-drive$245
Easy rider$275
- NightsH'mong villa, Dong Van, Du Gia
- On foot2 trek days to Khau Lan
- Group2–5 guests, never merged
- OptionalCamp on the White Cliff
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5 days · 4 nights
Ha Giang → Cao Bang
Per person$549
- Riding±620 km, one guest per rider
- Nights4 private rooms
- The reasonSunrise at Ban Gioc Waterfall
- IncludedLimousine bus back to Hanoi
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5 days · 4 nights
Forest & Stone
Per person$345
- On foot2 full trek days + the cliff walk
- Nights3 homestays + 1 night camping
- Group2–5 guests, always private
- The reasonSleeping on Ma Pi Leng
Not an ad Where I actually eat and sleep in Ha Giang
Why travel with Matt
What you are actually paying for
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Local knowledge
Born to a Tày family in Đồng Văn. I know which market runs on which day, whose house we can stop at, and which viewpoint is worth the detour in this month's light.
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Small groups
I take a handful of people, not a convoy. If you are the slow one, nobody is waiting for you with the engine running.
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Real experiences
We eat where I eat. We stop where there is something to see, not where a shop pays commission. Some days that means an hour longer on the road.
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Safety
Proper helmets, insured bikes, and a riding speed that makes people behind us impatient. I check the forecast before the itinerary — landslides here are not a rumour.
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Flexibility
The plan is a draft. Rain, a festival, a road closure, or simply a village you do not want to leave yet — all of these are allowed to change the day.
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Honesty
If your dates are wrong for Ha Giang, I will say so before you book. If something is not included, you will read it before you pay, not after.
In their words
Traveller reviews
You are very smart and alert on all the road. You bring me to places that tourist don't go. You know the short cut ways.
Keep it up! You are doing great.
Before you ask
Frequently asked questions
Is it safe for a solo female traveller?
This is the question I am asked most, and it deserves a real answer rather than a reassurance. You will be on the back of my bike or walking beside me the whole time. I ride slowly and I do not overtake on blind corners — most accidents on this loop are caused by riders in a hurry, and I have seen the results. Helmets are proper full-face ones, not the thin plastic kind. Homestays are places I know personally, and I will tell you in advance who else is staying. If at any point you want to stop, change the plan, or go back, you say so and we do it.
Do I need a motorbike licence?
Not if you ride as my passenger, which is what easy rider means — I drive, you look at the mountains. If you want to ride your own bike you need a Vietnamese licence or an International Driving Permit that covers motorcycles, otherwise your travel insurance will not pay if anything happens. I will tell you honestly whether your riding experience is enough for these roads.
When should I not come to Ha Giang?
The rain arrives with the summer and stays into the early autumn, and that is when the landslides happen. They are serious here — roads disappear, sometimes for days. It does not mean the summer is closed, but it does mean the plan bends around the sky rather than the other way round. If your dates fall in a bad window I will say so and suggest you come another time, even though that costs me the booking. Ha Giang is not going anywhere. Tell me your dates and I will tell you what to expect.
How big are the groups?
Small enough that I know everyone's name by the first evening. I do not run convoys of twenty bikes. If you want to travel just the two of us, that is possible too — tell me when you write.
What is included, and what is not?
Every trip page lists this in full before the price, not after it. In short: the riding or trekking, fuel, homestays, meals along the route, permits, and helmets are included. Personal travel insurance, drinks, and anything you buy at the markets are not.
What languages do you speak?
English and Vietnamese. I grew up around Tày and Hmong neighbours, so in the villages I can usually get us further than a phrasebook would.
Contact
Before you write to me
I am not going to tell you this is the best tour in Vietnam. I do not know that, and neither does anyone who says it.
Here is what I will tell you. I read the weather before I read the itinerary — the landslides here are not a rumour. I do not ride fast to save an hour; I have seen what that hour costs. If the mountain says no, we wait, and I will not be annoyed about it.
If that sounds like the kind of trip you want, tell me when you are coming and I will tell you honestly whether it is a good time to come.
Or use the short form — four questions, nothing more.