By motorbike - Nghia Lo, Mu Cang Chai, Sapa, 6 days -1159-1

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916$

Ride the roof of Vietnam —

from Ta Xua & Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai & Sapa

Ta Xua – Nghia Lo – Mu Cang Chai – Sapa —

ride the roof of Vietnam

6 Days | Motorbike | 700km+ | Easy / moderate

Guaranteed departure on scheduled dates for 2-4 people or more and at least 5 weeks’ notice – see the Information tab. Traveling solo or want different dates? Contact us!

+84 9 1464 9182 [email protected]

At a glance

Ride the great Western Mountains, the Roof of Vietnam, along fantastic touring roads, from Ta Xua in the south, to Nghia Lo and Mu Cang Chai and finally Sapa in the north, in this fully guided small-group motorbike tour.

Experience the greatest mountain landscapes of Vietnam. Ride the less travelled roads of craggy Ta Xua and trek the amazing Dinosaur Back Ridge, suspended above the famous sea-of-clouds valley. Spectacular!

Discover the broad valleys and rice fields of Nghia Lo, nestled among mountains, and explore its fascinating ethnic minority markets.

Tour the wonderful back roads of the legendary rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai, some of the most beautiful in Vietnam and a mecca for photographers.

Ride great roads to the famous, buzzing hill town of Sapa and the gorgeous valleys, spectacular passes and fascinating ethnic minority villages that surround it.

Enjoy terrific (optional) trekking, off the beaten path and away from the crowds, among the mountains, valleys and villages around Mu Cang Chai and Sapa.

All told, this is some of the best motorbike riding in Vietnam, through amazingly diverse country and roads, from the outskirts of bustling Hanoi and its heavily farmed urban fringes to remote villages on mountain back-roads.

Along the way, enjoy great Vietnamese food, meet some of the friendliest people you will find anywhere, visit ancient temples and remote villages, wander among cascading rice terraces, marvel at the colorful traditional costumes of the ethnic minorities still worn as part of daily life, enjoy an evening bia hoi relaxing with a view, visit a tea plantation, and be awed by the vista from the summit of Mt Fansipan, the highest peak in South East Asia.

For more detailed information see the itinerary below.

There is travel that fits within the expected and then there are journeys that go beyond. At Other Path Travel, we specialize in small group tours that will take you to a Vietnam that most travelers never see, extraordinarily beautiful, amazingly diverse, off the beaten path.

From astounding natural beauty to scooter-packed streets in vibrant cities, we offer a range of experiences to suit your interests and travel style whether that’s exploring extraordinary scenery by private car or motorbike; cruising spectacular islands by boat From astounding natural beauty to scooter-packed streets in vibrant cities, we offer a range of experiences to suit your interests and travel style whether that’s exploring extraordinary scenery by private car or motorbike; cruising spectacular islands by boat From astounding natural beauty to scooter-packed streets in vibrant cities, we offer a range of experiences to suit your interests and travel style whether that’s exploring extraordinary scenery by private car or motorbike;

cruising spectacular islands by boat From astounding natural beauty to scooter-packed streets in vibrant cities, we offer a range of experiences to suit your interests and travel style whether that’s exploring extraordinary scenery by private car or motorbike; cruising spectacular islands by boat

Highlights

Ride fabulous roads among the great peaks of the Roof of Vietnam, some of the best motorbike riding in Vietnam

Wind through lovely Red River country past the outskirts of bustling Hanoi, occasional tea plantations, and then beautiful hills and broad rice covered valleys on the way to Nghia Lo, an unspoilt regional Black Thai town. Visit an ancient temple, and explore fascinating ethnic minority markets.

Trek the awesome and remote Ta Xua Dinosaur Back Ridge, perched high above valleys and clouds

Discover the legendary rice terraces of the Mu Cang Chai region, regarded as among the most beautiful in Vietnam, cascading down the mountain slopes

Explore the vast rice-terraced valleys and towering mountains that surround the buzzing hill town of Sapa. Wander through the cafes and shops – and then escape the crowds to ride on less traveled roads or trek to remote ethnic minority villages

Marvel at the view from the summit of Mt Fansipan, the highest mountain in South East Asia

What our travelers say

“Fabulous riding through amazingly diverse country from Hanoi, and then among the big mountains of the Roof of Vietnam. The mix of traveled and less-traveled roads was terrific. Loved Sapa and Fansipan, but really enjoyed our exploring away from the crowds.”

”Ta Xua was amazing, floating on a sea of clouds. The Dinosaur Back Ridge was awesome!”

“Riding and wandering among the incredible rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai – that was an experience. The hill tribes were fantastic, with their traditional costumes and houses, and people were so friendly.”

Tour Itinerary

Information

Tour Itinerary

Information

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Hanoi & Red River Basin countryside

We wind our way through the bustle of early morning Old Quarter traffic, heading north towards the calmer streets of Tay Ho, bordering West Lake, Hanoi’s largest and arguably most beautiful lake.

Tay Ho – where many Westerners and more affluent Vietnamese live -- is a fascinating neighborhood, mixing old Vietnam and western lifestyles, traditional and modern architecture, shops, food, restaurants, bars and cultures in a blend found nowhere else in South East Asia.

Leaving Tay Ho, we continue north along the banks of the mighty Red River, the ancient birthplace of the Vietnamese people and still a major working river.

We then head west via a series of small roads through typical Hanoi countryside until we reach a beautiful group of pagodas and temples that are among the oldest Buddhist shrines in Vietnam, dating back a thousand years. We stop to explore and take in the extraordinary serenity of the temples and their interiors.

After a coffee, we head west on mostly smaller roads through more pretty countryside, still heavily farmed, rice fields and other crops, until we turn north west through suddenly hillier terrain and cross the Da River.

We leave the Red River Basin and enter the lower foothills at the southern end of the great Hoang Lien Son mountain range which leads north all the way to Vietnam’s highest peaks.

North through the mountains to Ta Xua

We join a slightly larger road as it skirts low ranges until we reach the edges of Xuan Son National Park.

We take a detour to explore some local roads that wind through remarkable green tea plantations, some of the largest in the country. The rows of tea run in circles around dozens of conical hills – it is a strangely beautiful landscape.

We take lunch in a local café on the edge of the Park.

The road now winds into ever more mountainous country, zig-zagging along small valleys before turning south west past Phu Yen towards the broad reaches of one of the upper arms of the Da River.

We ride through the river flats, and then follow a pretty valley dotted with small hamlets climbing slowly into the mountains until we reach the small town of Bac Yen, where we stop for a welcome coffee and a snack.

From Bac Yen, we climb steeply up, traversing across slopes and switchbacks, on occasionally broken dirt road, until we crest the ridge at the top of the great Ta Xua valley. The views are fabulous.

We ride a short distance more before arriving at our basic but friendly homestay, where we enjoy a well-earned beer before a relaxing dinner.

Option to start the riding day in the Hanoi countryside, avoiding city traffic

There is an option to start the morning by traveling by private car and driver (or minibus, depending on the number in the group) to a prearranged location in the Hanoi countryside and to commence the motorbike ride from there.

This avoids riding through Hanoi city traffic, and generally makes for an easier day with fewer kilometers to ride on the bike. You can choose this optional Extra as part of the booking process. Of course, riding through Hanoi’s busy streets is an experience in itself – the choice is yours.

Accommodation: Homestay or nha nghi, Ta Xua
Meals: Lunch, Dinner

Ta Xua vallet ride & the Dinosaur Back Ridge trek

Ta Xua valley has an unusual enclosed horse-shoe shape that seems to encourage cloud formation, especially (but not only) between December and March.

The valley is renowned among ‘cloud chasers’ who come to witness the ethereal beauty of peaks and ridges floating on a sea of clouds, disappearing and reappearing as cloud twists and rises around them. It is just as spectacular on a clear day as well, the serried ridges dropping into the vast valley.

If it is cloud season, or if clouds look likely, we will rise early to witness dawn over the cloud-sea, one of the great mountain sights in north Vietnam. Even if there are no clouds, the sunrise from our vantage point on the ridge is pretty special.

After breakfast, we ride north following the winding road that skirts along the upper slopes of the valley until we get to the Dinosaur’s Back. The trek follows a narrow ridge that juts out into airy space. The hiking is awesome, the slopes falling away steeply from the path. The view from the end is amazing; we are on a promontory and all around is the great Ta Xua valley and the peaks and high ridges that surround it.

North through the mountains to Nghia Lo

We ride back to our homestay and collect our bags, before dropping down the slopes to Bac Yen, and riding down the valley to the Da River flats.

We turn north and climb into mountains again, entering the southern part of the tallest mountain range in Vietnam. We thread our way along winding roads through foothills, crossing over a low pass before dropping into a long valley between folded mountains that eventually open out onto the wide, flat rice fields of the Muong Lo valley leading to Nghia Lo.

This is wonderful riding through very pretty and varied country. In the afternoon, the fields around Nghi Lo are often full of farmers, mostly ethnic Thai and Hmong, tending the rice paddies and corn fields.

Riding slowly along the side roads through the fields and hamlets with stilt houses is a great way to observe some of the culture and rhythms of daily rural life.

Nghia Lo is a bustling regional center and commercial hub set in a spectacular location surrounded by mountains. It has a population of around 30,000, and it is rapidly developing and changing, modern buildings rising next to old.

We drop our bags at our comfortable hotel and then take some time to explore the center of town, before enjoying a relaxing drink and dinner in a local restaurant.

Accommodation: Hotel, Nghia Lo
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Nghia Lo markets

If the trip started on a Saturday, then after breakfast we visit the excellent Muong Lo markets. Ethnic markets in Vietnam’s northern mountains are something special.

The markets are not just a place to buy and sell a bewildering array of household and farming goods, meat, fish, an amazing variety of other foods, flowers, clothing and animals. They are also a place where people can come from distant villages to socialize and catch up with people they might not otherwise see.

The Muong Lo markets were once the largest in the region, before modern transportation changed the old ways, and they are still a wonderful place to wander and see different ethnic minorities engaged in the stuff of mountain life.

The amazing road to Mu Cang Chai

Leaving Nghia Lo, we ride north and west, following one valley after another as they wind between vast green-clad mountains. The landscape here is wonderful, with the valley floors and lower slopes carpeted with rice terraces hundreds of years old and dotted with small villages and hamlets.

At the head of the enormous Lim Mong valley, we stop to admire the view, rice terraces falling away against a distant mountain backdrop.

In harvest season, the terraces are a spellbinding carpet of golden yellows and greens. In the fallow season before the new planting, the terraces are filled with water that reflect the sky like a million mirrors arranged across the valley slopes. It’s one of our favorite places and one of the best views in Vietnam.

The legendary rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai

We ride on, along roads that hug the mountain sides and follow narrow valleys before taking a smaller road into La Pan Tan valley near Mu Cang Chai. Though relatively small in scale, this valley has some of the most famous rice terraces in all of Vietnam, recognized as part of the national heritage for their beauty.

We explore the valley on bike and foot, and time permitting also visit the villages of De Xu Pinh and Che Cu Nha, which are also famous for their rice terraces. The terraced hills are particularly gorgeous in the low angled light at the end of the day.

In late September to early October, depending on the season, the ripe rice turns a golden yellow and the whole village is involved in cutting and processing the grain – it can be a fantastic time to visit.

The terraces are also beautiful from May to August, from when the H’Mong sow the new rice to when the terraces of mature rice are like green waves cascading down the hillsides.

They are equally captivating in fallow season, when the farmers plough using mostly oxen and wooden ploughs, and when the terraces are flooded in preparation for new rice, reflecting the sky in beautiful patterns.

In the late afternoon, we rejoin the main road and ride to our comfortable eco-lodge, set among the hills ands rice fields, where we enjoy a good local meal at the end of an inspiring day.

Accommodation: Eco-lodge, Mu Cang Chai
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

West and north to the great peaks

Setting off after breakfast at our eco-lodge, we follow the long Mu Cang Chai valley, dropping gradually until we turn north into the main valley running just to the west of the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. We ride on towards the Roof of Vietnam and Mt Fansipan, at 3,143 meters the highest peak in Indochina.

The road is good and soon we find ourselves turning east and climbing steeply up via twists and turns to O Quy Ho pass at 2035 meters where we stop to admire the fantastic view back down the valley.

Riding on, we drop from the pass into the cradle of the mountain range, surrounded by the highest peaks.

After a little while we reach Silver Waterfall - spectacular when there is good water flow - before continuing on towards Sapa, with the valley falling away below us and vast mountains rising above.

Sapa, Mt Fansipan and Sapa valley

If people want to take the (optional) cable car ride and walk to the summit of Fansipan, we detour to the cable car base.

The cable car takes you to a point a little below the summit, complete with restaurant and Buddhist temple, and the actual summit is a climb of 600 steps (or a funicular) further on. The cable car is a little controversial, with some people criticizing it as an overly-touristic intrusion that has ruined what was a challenging trek to one of Asia’s significant summits.

Whatever your feelings about the cable car, on a good day the views from the summit are stunning.

We continue on to the buzzing town of Sapa, originally established by the French as a hill town to escape the lowland heat and now a major tourist center, with hotels and stores to suit all tastes.

We stop to explore the town for a while, and indulge in some good coffee and other foodie delights, before riding on to our hotel further down the valley and away from the tourists and touts in Sapa.

We drop our bags and spend the rest of the afternoon exploring by bike and foot the fantastic scenery, trails and ethnic villages of the great Sapa valley. This is magnificent big mountain country and great riding and treking.

In the late afternoon we can return to Sapa for a well-earned drink and dinner amongst the town buzz, or we can choose to relax and enjoy a more peaceful environment at a bar and restaurant near our hotel.

Accommodation: Homestay, Sapa
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

Optional ride to Bac Ha Sunday ethnic minority market

If the start day for tour was a Wednesday then today will be Sunday, and we make an early start (on the bikes by 7:30am) and ride to the fabulous ethnic minority market at Bac Ha.

We ride down the beautiful, winding road from Sapa to Lao Cai, following a lovely valley at the foot of towering mountain slopes.

We cross the Red River at Lao Cai and head inland before turning south east and riding on good roads with moderate traffic through gently rolling countryside and small towns, flanked by taller hills to the north and east.

It’s pleasant riding through typical semi-built up Vietnam, very different to the more remote Western mountains.

We then head north east through increasingly mountainous country, along winding roads until we reach Bac Ha, the capital town for the Hmong people.

The market is one of the very best in North Vietnam, full of the color of ethnic minorities in traditional costumes, mainly different Hmong hill tribes, buying and selling everything from livestock to hats. It’s large, crowded, noisy, fascinating, fantastic. A great place to wander and take it all in.

If time permits, we might also visit the Royal Palace of the Hmong people – Hoang Tuong, a rather splendid if fading building in a European-Asian baroque colonial style, and full of interesting history.

We ride back to Lao Cai, and then begin our journey back to Hanoi – depending on the options we have chosen: see below.

Options for returning to Hanoi

The rest of the itinerary for today depends on whether the party is returning to Hanoi by evening bus (default), overnight train or private car + driver.

If taking the bus, we spend the morning exploring a bit more of the less-travelled Sapa and its valleys, taking lunch in a traditional local house, before riding back down to Lao Cai in the early afternoon via a beautiful, winding road that follows a lovely valley at the foot of towering mountain slopes.

We leave our bikes with Other Path Travel representatives who will take care of their transport to Hanoi, while we get some snacks to eat while travelling, and then get ourselves and our panniers and luggage onto the bus.

These are modern, comfortable buses that take the freeway to Hanoi; the journey is about 4.5 – 5 hrs and we arrive late in the evening, the precise time depending on the Hanoi traffic. We will arrange transport to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

If taking the overnight train, we spend the morning and early afternoon exploring more of the trails, villages and backroads of the Sapa valley and surrounding valleys, as well as Sapa town itself, by motorbike and foot.

After lunch in Sapa, in the second half of the afternoon, we ride down the winding road from Sapa to Lao Cai.

We leave our bikes with Other Path Travel representatives who will take care of their transport to Hanoi, while we have an early dinner in a local restaurant before boarding a private carriage around 8pm.

The overnight train back to Hanoi is a unique glimpse into a Vietnam of older times.

The cabins are reminiscent of steam train days and quite comfortable, even luxe, with wood-paneled walls, decent mattresses, reading lights, AC outlets and air-conditioning on better classes. It makes for quite a journey.

However, the rail tracks are old, the trains do go fairly slowly and there are several stops and starts along the way – many people use ear plugs in order to have a pleasant and restful night.

With a sensible attitude to train travel in developing countries, the trip can be a great experience.

On arrival in Hanoi, typically early in the morning around 5am, we are met at the train station by our prearranged transport to drive you to your hotel.

Accommodation: Overnight train
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner

If going by private car and driver, we ride down to Lao Cai in the morning and catch an early lunch in a local café.

We leave our bikes with Other Path Travel representatives who will take care of their transport back to Hanoi. We get ourselves and our panniers and luggage loaded into our cars and set off a little before noon for Hanoi via the freeway.

Optional Excursion to Duong Lam Ancient Town
If traveling by car, before reaching Hanoi there is an option, time permitting, to visit Duong Lam, a UNESCO-recognized site which has some of North Vietnam’s best-preserved old houses and temples.

Duong Lam has a history dating back more than a thousand years; two of Vietnam’s kings, Phung Hung (761-802) and Ngo Quyen (896-944) were born in Duong Lam, and are famous for leading resistance against invasion from the north.

The village has many traditional houses dating back up to 400 years, which provide a rare window into ancient Vietnamese culture and architecture, as well as some fine communal houses and older temples and pagodas.

We arrive in Hanoi in the early evening and transfer you to your hotel.

Meals: Breakfast, Lunch

Comfortable, clean accommodation everywhere

Accommodation is a mix of 3 - 4 star hotels and village homestays. Traveling in remote Vietnam means complete comfort is not always available, but we always choose places that are clean, friendly and of a good, comfortable standard, that we use ourselves when traveling.

Back to Hanoi

There are four options for returning to Hanoi from Lao Cai, some of which involve different accommodations for the final leg.

The default option, included in this tour, is to ride our motorbikes after lunch on the last day to Loa Cai from Sapa, and to catch the late afternoon bus back to Hanoi (and the bikes onto either the bus or train), arriving late in the evening, generally between 9pm and 11pm depending on precise schedule and traffic.

If we are visiting the Bac Ha market on a Sunday morning, then we ride back to Lao Cai from the market in time to catch the late afternoon bus.

For all the returning options: if you have booked a Hanoi hotel through Other Path Travel we will transfer you and your luggage to your hotel, and help you check in. If you have booked your own accommodation in Hanoi, we will arrange transport to your hotel.

The first alternative, selectable as an Extra at checkout, is to return to Hanoi by private driver + car, which can be scheduled to leave Lao Cai around noon and arrive in Hanoi early evening, around 5pm-6pm, in time for you to have dinner after checking in to your hotel.

For this, we ride our motorbikes down to Lao Cai from Sapa around mid-morning; the bikes are left to be put onto the train or bus back to Hanoi and we transfer to the car for the straightforward drive to Hanoi via the freeway. This is the fastest way to get back to Hanoi.

The second alternative, also selectable as an Extra at checkout, is to take the overnight Sapa – Hanoi train instead of the bus. Traveling by the overnight train, especially in the luxe wood-paneled cabins found in private carriages, is a special experience, one that evokes a former colonial Vietnam. While relatively expensive, this experience is unique in Vietnam. Many people love it as a one-off.

If you choose to return to Hanoi on the overnight train we ride our motorbikes to Lao Cai from Sapa around mid-afternoon on the last day; the bikes are put on the train; we have dinner in Lao Cai and then board the train about 8pm. We sleep in private luxe cabins as the train winds its way (a little noisily!) back to Hanoi.

We arrive in the early morning, around 5am, where transport to your hotel will be available if you need it. See the Itinerary for more details.

The third alternative, for experienced riders and selectable as an optional extension to your tour, is to ride back to Hanoi over two days, passing through lovely country and staying overnight at the half way point in a friendly homestay on the shores of the spectacular Thac Ba Lake. See the Tour Options section at the bottom of this web page.

Riding back via Thac Ba Lake adds a day to the tour and about 300km extra distance, spread over the last two days of the trip. See here for additional details and an itinerary which adds this option to the 9 day Best of Ha Giang plus Sapa base tour.

A great way to go

There is no better way to travel through Vietnam than by motorbike -- the feeling of connection to the landscapes and people is exhilarating. It's how we like to travel ourselves.

Vietnam is a motorbike rider’s paradise. The country has not yet developed to the point where cars and trucks are crowding bikes on rural and back roads: there are cars and trucks of course, but motorbikes are still dominant. On the other hand, the country has developed enough to have (mostly) reasonable sealed roads. In addition, the landscapes and people are fabulous. This all adds up to fantastic back roads riding.

This tour is aimed at people with moderate motorbike riding experience as well as more experienced riders. We modify the daily riding distances and choose roads and side excursions to suit the experience and desires of the group -- from relaxed to demanding.

There is also the possibility of riding pillion behind one of our experienced local riders -- you can select this as part of the booking process.

If you would like to discuss your riding experience and options, please contact us -- we are always keen to help!

'Slow travel' and types of motorbike

In general, we have a ‘slow travel’ philosophy and try and ensure that daily distances are not too large – we take time to enjoy what we are passing through.

Not going too fast is the secret to riding in Vietnam: there are so many fantastic side excursions and so much to experience. In any case, winding back roads make fast riding impractical a lot of the time -- in the mountains, speeds of 30 - 60 kmh are common. Of course if you want to ride harder and cover more distance, we can do that too.

We generally ride modest sized semi-automatic bikes of around 110cc-125cc, or slightly larger manual bikes of 150cc. Both are well suited to the winding roads of Vietnam.

The 110cc - 1225cc bikes are less expensive, are light and easy to manage, and handle dirt roads well. These are what the locals ride everywhere. You'll find them more approachable if you're riding what they're riding. These are the default, included in the price of the tour.

The 150cc bikes are heavier, a bit more expensive and can of course cover long distances more quickly. You can select 150cc bikes for your group as part of the booking process.

Western riders used to larger bikes often want something bigger -- and if you want to ride Vietnam's crowded highways, then a larger bike makes sense (although bikes of more than 175cc involve more stringent driving license requirements) -- but we do not recommend them for our tours.

Off road bikes are also available for those who wish to add some more challenging dirt roads to the mix – we can provide as much challenge as you can handle. However, it's not our key focus and if you want a pure off-roading experience, then you should look elsewhere. Contact us if you are interested in a larger motorbike or mixing in a bit of more serious off-road.

See here for more information on riding a motorbike in Vietnam.

Motorbike licenses

Ideally, you will have a motorbike license in your own country that you can use as the basis to get an International Driving Permit (IDP) before you leave.

Vietnam does not recognize domestic motorcycle licenses by themselves as being a valid license to ride a motorbike in Vietnam, but it does recognize the combination of a domestic license and an IDP from a number of countries: see here for more important information and a link to a list of countries.

If you are from one of the countries where an IDP is not recognized (including USA, Canada, Australia, Japan, Ireland, Spain), then please contact us to discuss options.

Note that the rules for what is required to ride validly in Vietnam are always changing -- we try and keep up to date, but it's always best to contact the Vietnamese embassy in your country to confirm.

Choose Your Style

This tour is aimed at both people who are interested in being active as well as those who want a more relaxing trip instead. We have designed the route and itinerary to accommodate both preferences.

For those who want to be active, we are happy to provide as much additional riding and / or trekking as you desire – and it’s great stuff: fabulous back roads and trails, amazing mountains and gorges, wonderful treks to remote ethnic minority villages, stunning rice terraces and beautiful forests.

For those more interested in a less-active trip, the core riding itinerary provides great, relaxing touring through spectacular and incredibly diverse landscapes and villages. We can adjust the itinerary for each day in accord with the interests of the group.

Tour Options – Add Something Special to Your Tour

Customise Your Tour with Our Optional Activities

Take your tour further and add some extra experiences we think are not to be missed. From landscapes to people watching, trekking to markets, simply choose the option(s) that’s right for you and click ‘Reload your revised tour’ to open a new tab with an amended itinerary.

At this time we don’t have pre-prepared itineraries for every combination, so please contact us if your combination doesn’t load a new itinerary; and we will work with you directly.

Spectacular, remote Ta Xua Dinosaur Back Ridge

6 Days | 700km+ | Easy / moderate

Experience the spectacular Dinosaur Back Ridge in remote and beautiful Ta Xua Nature Reserve.

The ride there is fabulous; the trekking is relatively easy and the views are superb. The ridge forms a narrow promontory suspended above the great valley below and the mountain peaks and ridges all around.

Ta Xua is famous among ‘cloud hunters’ for swirling cloud-views, best from November to March, but its vistas on a clear day at any time of the year are legendary.

Beautiful Thac Ba lake & ancient Duong Lam village

6 Days | 900km+ | Moderate

Return to Hanoi from Sapa via beautiful Thac Ba Lake and the ancient village of Duong Lam.

This is a great off-the-beaten-path alternative to the bus or train from Lao Cai, riding our motorbikes through varied rural country.

We explore a different side of Vietnam as we journey from the northern mountains down through the historic Red River Basin.

Remote, stunning rice terraces & mountains of Y Ty

6 Days | 770km+ | Moderate

Explore the stunning rice terraces and cloud-wreathed peaks surrounding the remote hamlet of Y Ty, in the mountains north of Sapa, close to the Chinese border.

This is a magical place, far from the crowds, where you can discover a landscape barely touched by tourism.

Ride a mix of fabulous sealed and unsealed roads through stunning mountains and then along the banks of the great Red River back to Lao Cai, before traveling on to Hanoi.

Ride the roof of Vietnam —

from Ta Xua & Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai & Sapa

Ta Xua – Nghia Lo – Mu Cang Chai – Sapa —

ride the roof of Vietnam

At a glance

Highlights

What our travelers say

Pretrip - Ha Noi

Pretrip - Ha Noi

Day 1 - Hanoi to Ta Xua

Day 1 - Hanoi to Ta Xua

Day 2 - Ta Xua to Nghia Lo

Day 2 - Ta Xua to Nghia Lo

Day 3 - Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai

Day 3 - Nghia Lo to Mu Cang Chai

Day 4 - Mu Cang Chai to Sapa

Day 4 - Mu Cang Chai to Sapa

Day 5 - Sapa & Sapa valleys

Day 5 - Sapa & Sapa valleys

Day 6 - Sapa to Hanoi

Day 6 - Sapa to Hanoi

Post trip - Hanoi

Post trip - Hanoi

Booking well in advance

Booking well in advance

Minimum number of people & start dates

Minimum number of people & start dates

Accommodation & Hanoi return options

Accommodation & Hanoi return options

Traveling by motorbike

Traveling by motorbike

Weather & roads

Weather & roads

Phones & telecommunications

Phones & telecommunications

Inclusions & exclusions

Inclusions & exclusions

Tour Options – Add Something Special to Your Tour

Customise Your Tour with Our Optional Activities

Spectacular, remote Ta Xua Dinosaur Back Ridge

Beautiful Thac Ba lake & ancient Duong Lam village

Remote, stunning rice terraces & mountains of Y Ty

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