Matt Ha Giang

On the bike and on foot · 4 days

Off The Map

4 days · 3 nights · max 5 guests

Dirt roads, a hidden waterfall, and the villages the Ha Giang Loop drives straight past.

Ask about this trip See the price

The experience

Most Ha Giang tours are the same tour: thirty bikes in a line, six photo stops, a bus back to Hanoi. This one starts somewhere else.

Day one never touches the main Loop. We ride dirt tracks west to a cave and to Khau Lan — a waterfall with no ticket booth and usually nobody in it. Lunch is on the floor of a Dao family home. Sunset is from a H'mong villa.

Then the famous road, properly: Lung Cu on the Chinese border, Dong Van old quarter, silver hammered by hand in Lao Xa, hemp stripped and indigo-dyed the way it always has been. A kayak on green water. A night on the White Cliff, if you want it.

Two trekkers with packs climbing a narrow overgrown forest trail in the hills of Ha Giang

Duration

4 days

3 nights

On foot

2 trek days

Khau Lan + the villages

Group

2–5

always private

You travel by

150cc

your bike or your rider

Why this one

What makes it different

  • A full off-road day before the Loop starts

    Dirt tracks, a cave, a trek to Khau Lan. No tour bus in sight.

  • You eat where people actually live

    Dao kitchens, H'mong villas, homestay tables. Never a tour menu.

  • Craft villages, not craft shops

    Lao Xa silver and hand-dyed hemp — and you get to try both.

  • You know who is guiding you

    Not a call centre. Matthew runs these trips himself, and he is from here.

The route

Day by day

Day 1 · Off-road and trekking

Ha Giang City → Khau Lan → H'mong villa

3–4 hours on foot · the hardest day, taken while your legs are fresh

  1. Off the tarmac by mid-morning

    Night bus in, shower, eat, meet your bike. Then west on dirt tracks the Loop never turns onto.

  2. A cave, then the trek to Khau Lan

    Leave the bikes and walk down through forest to a wild waterfall — cold, deep, swimmable. No gate, no crowd.

  3. Lunch with a Dao family

    Cooked over fire in their kitchen, eaten on the floor with them. Whatever the hillside gave that morning.

  4. Sunset at the villa

    Ride out to a H'mong villa for the light, then dinner and the night there.

Day 2 · The border and the craft villages

→ Lung Cu → Dong Van

A full riding day · night in Dong Van

  1. North to the border

    Can Ty pass in early light, the Tham Ma switchbacks, then the flag tower at Lung Cu, looking into China.

  2. Hemp and silver, by hand

    An hour with a family stripping, pounding and indigo-dyeing hemp. Then Lao Xa, where silver is still hammered in a courtyard. You try both.

  3. Dong Van old quarter

    Hundred-year-old shophouses, a coffee, dinner wherever smells best. Our own homestay — or upgrade if you'd rather.

Day 3 · The big one

Dong Van → Ma Pi Leng → Du Gia

Kayak · camp on the White Cliff, or a homestay in Du Gia

  1. Ma Pi Leng, slowly

    The pass everyone comes for — ridden with the stops your guide knows, not the ones on the map.

  2. Kayak on the green water

    Between limestone walls, five hundred metres below the road. No engine, no queue.

  3. Your choice for the night

    Standard: a family homestay in Du Gia. Or sleep in a tent on the White Cliff itself — our camp, gear carried up, dinner cooked on the ledge.

Day 4 · The quiet road home

Du Gia → Thuan Hoa → Thon Tha

2–3 hours on foot · tour ends 7:00pm · night bus 9:00pm

  1. The Thuan Hoa road

    Back the long, empty way. Terraces, small hamlets, almost no traffic — the best last ride in the province.

  2. Thon Tha, on foot

    A Tay village minutes from the city that every Loop tour drives past on the way to the bus station. Stilt houses, water wheels, rice terraces.

  3. Waterfall No. 6

    One last swim, and a proper meal to finish.

  4. 7:00pm — the end

    Hot shower, somewhere to repack. We drive you to the night bus or call your car.

Before you book

Honest numbers

What each day asks of you
DayWhat it involvesEffort
13–4 hours on footHard — the big one
2Under 1 hourEasy
31–2 hours + kayakModerate
42–3 hoursModerate

Is this the right trip for me?

Day 1 is a real hill day on forest trails. If you walk or hike now and then, you'll love it. You never carry more than a day pack. Age 14 and over.

When to come

  • Sep–Nov and Mar–May — The best months. Clear light, dry roads, comfortable temperatures.
  • Dec–Feb — Spectacular, and genuinely cold at altitude. Bring more layers than you think.
  • Jun–Aug — Green and wet, with the waterfalls at their best — and the months when landslides happen. I will tell you honestly if your dates are a bad window.

Good to know

Trip essentials

Included

  • Your guide, all four days
  • Border area permit, arranged before you arrive
  • 3 nights: H'mong villa, Dong Van, Du Gia
  • All meals and drinking water
  • 150cc bike — self-drive or your own rider
  • Petrol for the whole route
  • Kayak and safety equipment
  • Helmet, pads, raincoat, dry bag
  • Pick-up and drop-off in Ha Giang City
  • Every entrance and parking fee
  • Hot shower before your night bus
  • My phone, 24/7

Not included

  • Sleeper bus to and from Hanoi — booked at cost
  • Travel insurance — required
  • Drinks and personal expenses
  • Tips — never expected

What to bring

  • A small backpack — the only bag you carry
  • Walking shoes — two trek days, not sandals
  • Swimwear — you'll swim twice
  • Warm layer, rain jacket, sun cream
  • Power bank and some cash

The price

Everything in, one number

Permit, bike, petrol, every night, every meal, every entrance fee. You will not be asked for cash on the road.

Easy rider · 2 guests

$310

per person

Easy rider · 3–5 guests

$275

per person

Self-drive · 2 guests

$275

per person

Self-drive · 3–5 guests

$245

per person

Sleep on the White Cliff — add 1,200,000₫ (about $46) per person. Tent, all camping gear carried up for you, and dinner cooked on the ledge. Refunded in full if the weather moves us indoors.

Minimum two guests. Private trip — I never merge groups. Travelling solo? Message me anyway.

To reserve: your passport photo page, your dates and your group size. That is all I need to start the permit.

Free cancellation up to seven days before. If I cancel for weather, you get everything back or a free date change — your call.

Next step

Tell me your dates

I will tell you honestly whether it is a good time to come, and which trip fits you.