Motorcycle trip and meeting of ethnic groups from the North

Motorcycle trip and meeting of ethnic groups from the North

The meeting with the ethnic minorities of North Vietnam reserves you many surprises and offers you a new eye on the world. Representing 30 to 40% of the population of mountain regions, they live in small remote or even isolated villages. They each have their own dialect, their own customs and way of life, thus contributing to the cultural richness of the country. Off the beaten track, you share this treasure through a few slices of life with the locals and by getting to know your hosts: the Muong, the black and white Thai, the Tay, the Dao, the Hmong ... A journey motorcycle in Vietnam unforgettable!

Itinerary

Day 1: Hanoi, Ngoc Son Ngo Luong

Stop At: Ngoc Son Ngo Luong Nature Reserve, Tu Do, Lac Son Vietnam
First day of your motorcycle trip to Vietnam! Departure for the Ngoc Son Ngo Luong nature reserve, located 120 kilometers southwest of Hanoi. Country roads, valleys, passes, villages follow one another. We then take dirt tracks through still wild landscapes, in the heart of the mountainous territory of Muong.

At the entrance to Mu village, a river and a turquoise waterfall present us with several pools inviting us to swim.

Multiple rice terraces follow one another before reaching Sat, the Muong village with houses on stilts, where we spend the night. Dinner shared with the family.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 2: Ngoc Son Ngo Luong, Pu Luong

Stop At: Pu Luong Nature Reserve, Pho Doan, Thanh Hoa 448100 Vietnam
Early in the morning, the waterfall invites us for a swim! Then, with the motorbike, this peaceful valley offers itself to us, through villages and rice fields, and the daily life of the Khai, Mon, Coi Gao ethnic groups.

From the south, we reach the Ho Chi Minh road by a track with the possibility, depending on the timing, of crossing other waterfalls, then we go up the Pu Luong reserve. One of the highlights of the day is the small Thai hamlets and their characteristic and ingenious bamboo irrigation wheels.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 3: Pu Luong, Moc Chau

Stop At: Moc Chau, Moc Chau, Son La Province
Program of the day of your motorcycle trip to Vietnam: crossing the reserve to Hoa Binh lake, to join the road leading to the plateau of Moc Chau. Special spectacle of huge boulders, endless expanses of fruit trees, tea plantations.

Dinner and overnight in a house on stilts, in Ban Doi, a small white Thai village.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 4: Moc Chau, Son La

Stop At: Son La, Son La, Son La Province
National road 6 is joined by small roads to visit a tea plantation. We cross Hmong villages and their peach and plum orchards.

The town of Son La is reached after crossing three passes. The remains of the old colonial penitentiary and a museum of ethnic groups in the region are visited.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night at the hotel.

Day 5: Son La, Dien Bien Phu

Stop At: Dien Bien Phu, Dien Bien Phu, Dien Bien Province
Long and beautiful road to Dien Bien Phu. Along the way, the Thuan Chau market, frequented by black Thai and Hmong is a curiosity.

Arrival at Dien Bien Phu, then direction Muong Phang forest a few kilometers away, where the PC of General Giap and his staff were buried. This is where the outcome of the famous battle was decided.

Descend by road 279 and visit the Vietminh "hills" from where the artillery tirelessly pounded the no less famous "bowl"!
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night at the hotel.

Day 6: Dien Bien Phu, Muong Lay

Stop At: Muong Lay, Muong Lay, Dien Bien Province
Some vestiges of the terrible battle of spring 1954 which opposed the French colonial troops to the vietminh battalions of the famous general Giap, are still offered to the visitor: the HQ of De Castries, the memorial dedicated to the French soldiers, the hill A1 (Eliane 4) . Our knowledge is completed thanks to the museum rich in documents, information or other relics.

We leave Dien Bien Phu, northbound, towards Muong Lay (Lai Chau), on a road along the river in a steep valley. Hanging bridges over the Da River lead us to ethnic villages.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night at the hotel.

Day 7: Muong Lay, Sin Ho, Lai Chau

Stop At: Lai Chau, Lai Chau, Lai Chau Province
Resumption of the vehicle for a trip to the Sin Ho plateau surrounded by limestone hills at an altitude of 1,500 meters. On the small winding roads on the mountainside, we meet the black Dao, Lao, Hmong white ethnic groups in many villages. Arrival at Tam Duong - city dominated by impressive karst peaks.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night at the hotel.

Day 8: Lai Chau, Sapa

Stop At: Sapa, Sapa, Lao Cai Province
This new day of motorcycle travel in Vietnam leads us to Sapa via a magnificent mountain road, punctuated by ethnic villages. After crossing the highest pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass) at an altitude of 1900 meters, stop at the Argent waterfall (weather permitting).

Discovery of Sapa with its market, its church, Mount Ham Rong with a panoramic view of the city.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night at the hotel.

Day 9: Sapa, Muong Hum

Stop At: Muong Hum, Muong Hum, Lao Cai Province
Hiking (and motorbike) through the Hmong, Giay and Red Dao villages in the wide Muong Hoa Valley, with a mix of road and trail. The territory of the Giay is our next step, then passage to Muong Hum to continue on the track until the village Y Ty of the small ethnic group Ha Nhi, where we settle for the night in their traditional house in clay of square shape.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 10: Muong Hum, Bac Ha

Stop At: Bac Ha, Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province
Morning immersion in the life of the inhabitants of the village before heading to Lao Cai along the Chinese border.

Continue to Bac Ha and stroll through the Hmong villages of Ban Pho. In a Tay home, sharing a dinner with some homemade rice liquor and a dance performance is an opportunity to chat with the hosts and learn more about their culture.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 11: Bac Ha

Stop At: Bac Ha, Bac Ha, Lao Cai Province
Meet many ethnic groups from the surrounding hills (Hmong flower, black Dao, Phu La, Tay, black Dao, Nung and the Giay) who come to stock up and sell their handicrafts on the largest market in the region.

Walk (or motorbike) between the Hmong, Dao and Tay villages of Pu Ngai Cho, Lan Gi Thang, or Thai Giang Pho.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 12: Bac Ha, Xuan Giang

Stop At: Xuân Giang, Quảng Bình District, Ha Giang, Vietnam
Road to Xuan Giang via mountain trails and the few tracks dotted with ethnic villages. We cross a first massif via Ban Lien to reach the Tay village of Na Chi.

Crossing hills and valleys with a few village visits to reach the small town of Yen Binh. Overnight in Tay village.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 13: Xuan Giang, Than Uyen

Stop At: Than Uyên, h. Than Uyên, Lai Châu, Vietnam
A busy day of this motorcycle trip to Vietnam, with the scenes of forests and mountains in succession: the Hoang Lien mountain range, the Chay river, the Hong river, the Khan Co pass, a huge forest park.

Visit one of the many red Dao villages around Than Uyen.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 14: Than Uyen, Nghia Lo

Stop At: Nghia Lo, Nghia Lo, Yen Bai Province
We cross the regions of Mu Cang Chai and Nghia Lo. This passage (classified national natural heritage) is one of the most beautiful in Vietnam with the Khau Pha pass, the superb rice terraces and many villages.

Nghia Lo sits in a 10 km long basin surrounded by mountains rising 1,500 meters above sea level. Discovery on foot (or by bike) of some Thai villages. We pass a suspension bridge and a small village with traditional houses almost joined together forming small alleys crossed by canals with fresh waters.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
• Dinner
Accommodation included: Night with the locals.

Day 15: Nghia Lo, Hanoi

Stop At: Nghia Lo, Nghia Lo, Yen Bai Province
Walk through the rice fields of the village. Visit the Noong Long village of the Tho ethnic group. Passage through mountains covered with dense forests, vast rice fields, tea plants, orange trees, a small forest of lataniers, houses and gardens planted with market garden produce.

By the winding road of the Khe pass and along the Song Da river (with a view of Mount Ba Vi and its rice fields in the foreground), we return to the Red River, the fertile plains and Hanoi. Arrival in the capital with debriefing and free time to prepare for your return.
Duration: 8 hours

Meals included:
• Breakfast
• Lunch
No accommodation included on this day.