7 Day Stunning Guided Off-Road Motorbike Tour to Pu Luong, Mu Cang Chai, and Sapa

Overview

This North Vietnam motorbike tour from Hanoi to Pu Luong Nature Reserve, Mu Cang Chai, and Sapa is the ideal way to see the stunning landscape of Vietnam. You will also visit the ancient capital Hoa Lu. Boat trips to see Tam Coc and Thac Ba Lake are also the highlights you should experience. Mu Cang Chai is a district of Yen Bai province, about some 300 kilometers north of Hanoi, in the northeastern region of Vietnam. The place is home to the Hmong and Thai community.

Highlights

• Starts and ends in Hanoi
• Visit the ancient capital Hoa Lu
• Have a great ride on forgotten French road
• Ride on a beautiful winding road until Phu Yen
• Take a ride on the side of the biggest man-made lake in Vietnam
• A splendid climb up to the top of the highest Tram Ton Pass
• Boat trips to see Tam Coc and Thac Ba Lake
• 6 nights' accommodation

Itinerary

1. Day 1: Hanoi to Hoa Lu, Tam Coc (Ninh Binh), 150 kilometers / 94 miles

   At 07:00, you'll start your motorbike tour by riding through the city following the Highway 1 via some suburb districts of Hanoi like Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, and Hanam province to get to Ninh Binh. At around 10:30, you arrive at Hoa Lu ancient capital. In 968, Dinh Bo Linh declared himself as the king. Since then, Hoa Lu existed as the capital for the next 41 years (968-1009), of which 12 years was under the Dinh dynasty - King Dinh Tien Hoang, the country named Dai Co Viet, and 29 years later was under the Le dynasty - King Le Dai Hanh. In 1010, King Ly Thai To moved the capital from Hoa Lu to

2. Day 2: Ninh Binh to Pu Luong Nature Reserve (Thanh Hoa) via Cuc Phuong National Park, 170 kilometers / 106 miles

   You ride your motorcycle to the southwest of an area of the beautiful landscape. You'll be at leisure a bit to experience the fresh and quiet atmosphere and daily life of the locals here, then jump on the bikes to go straight to Pu Luong. En route, you'll have chances to stop by visiting a plenty of authentic villages of the hill tribes and viewing stunning natural landscapes of streams, forests, and mountains. After lunch, you will have a great motorcycle tour on forgotten French road No. 6, passing extensive farming lands comprising a sea of paddy fields split by tree-lined roads punctuated

3. Day 3: Pu Luong to Phu Yen via Mai Chau and Moc Chau, 160 kilometers / 100 miles

   Today, you will have an easy and relaxing Vietnam motorbike tour in the northwest mountainous area. It offers many stopovers for pictures of amazing mountain view. You can start the day with an easy walk around the village or be lazy with a waking up café. After saying goodbye to the Thai people, you ride to the direction of Moc Chau. You ride around Mai Chau village and take a look around the amazing valley. After lunch, turn to the less traveled Road 43 leading to the Da River. After crossing the reservoir of Da River at Van Yen ferry, you ride on a beautiful winding road until Phu Yen where

4. Day 4: Phu Yen to Mu Cang Chai (Yen Bai), 210 kilometers / 131 miles

   In the morning, you keep motorbiking across Lung Lo Pass before head up on Road 32. During the First Indochina War, the 15-kilometer 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 recognized as a national heritage by the ministry. After lunch, you ride through the Mu Cang Chai massif, almost as high as the Fansipan. From the top, it offers one of the mos

5. Day 5: Mu Cang Chai to Sa Pa (Lao Cai), 110 kilometers / 69 miles

   You ride your motorbike straight toward the main Fansipan mountain range. There is also the option for a very challenging back route which takes you through several river crossings. The massive mountain range dominates the road until finally, you must make a splendid climb up from Binh Lu and up to the top of the highest road pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass). Crossing into Lao Cai province at over 2,000 meters, the views look out over the main range for miles and miles, before you descend to the mountainous Sa Pa valley. Sa Pa is located in Lao Cai province, northwest Vietnam, and 350 kilometer

6. Day 6: Sa Pa to Thac Ba Lake, Vu Linh (Yen Bai), 200 kilometers / 125 miles

   Take your motorbikes down from Sa Pa to Lao Cai city and then have a coffee stop on the bank of Nam Tha River, which is Vietnam-China border. Enjoy your coffee while taking the view to China. Get on the road, take a ride to Vietnam Motorbike Tour's Dao friends' village of Vu Linh, which by the side of Thac Ba Lake, the biggest man-made lake in Vietnam. This artificial lake has an area of 23,400 hectares, 1,331 islands, and hills with diverse ecological environments. The water in the lake is blue, clear, and imprinted with the reflections of the surrounding ancient forest. The thousands of hill

7. Day 7: Vu Linh village (Thac Ba Lake) to Hanoi, 180 kilometers / 112 miles

   After breakfast, you ride southeast on Highway 2 and then branch off to the sleepy town of Phu Tho. You follow the edge of the Red River along the dike, almost to the point where it merges with the Black River after which they flow together to Hanoi. By now, you are very much in the lowlands of the delta plains and the north's main agricultural areas. Harvest time here is a sea of activity. Crossing the Black River by the bridge, you pass Vu Linh to Hanoi through Son Tay and then return to Hanoi on the highway. You should be back to Hanoi before the rush hour (16:00) because the traffic's gett

Ride Details

Terrain

mixed of trail and off-road

Bike

rental bike

Mileage

1,180 kilometers / 734 miles

Daily rides

110 - 210 kilometers / 69 - 131 miles

Riding gear

included: helmets, elbow and knee pads, gloves, bungee cords and nylon plastic bag for luggage water/dust cover

Meals

6 breakfasts, 7 lunches, and 6 dinners

Accommodation

Your accommodation will be standard hotels and homestays in single, twin, double, or triple rooms. Your trip will stay in a range of hotels / guesthouses with standardized quality. Vietnam Motorbike Tour endeavors to select a combination of good quality hotels that reflect the character of the local area as well as being as centrally located as possible, all the while striving to keep the cost affordable. Please be aware that some hotel rooms, especially those in major urban centers or older cities, may be smaller than what you are used to in other parts of the world. Standards and ratings may also be different to your home country. Rooms are en-suite and either twin or triple-share, dependi

Food

Breakfasts are included every day in the hotel (except on the first morning). They are usually 'continental breakfasts', which is typical in most countries. A typical breakfast may consist of cereals with milk or yogurt, bread, croissants, cold meats, cheese and a range of spreads, with fruit juice, tea, or coffee to drink. It is rare to get a hot breakfast in Asia, though on some occasions there may be some hot food available as well. Included evening meals are in local restaurants or accommodation places and are either two or three courses. In most cases, table water is provided with the meals and if you wish to purchase additional drinks, you can do so at your own expense. If you have any

Getting There

This tour will take place in North Vietnam, from Hanoi to Hoa Lu, Ninh Binh, Pu Luong, Phu Yen, Mu Cang Chai, Sa Pa, Thac Ba Lake, and back to Hanoi. In Mu Cang Chai, as the place is about 1,000 meters above sea level, the steep hills make it almost impossible to grow rice fields like those in the delta. Thus local residences grow their own rice on the terraced fields, for the purpose of preventin