CUSTOMER CENTER

TRAVEL TOOL

Day 1: Hanoi - Mai Chau. ~150 km, ~5 h.
Once out of the Red River Delta, which brims with traditional farming activity, we pass through limestone monoliths and into foothills populated by Muong people. We head straight at the main range before breaching a high and beautiful forested pass, which descends into the hidden valley of Mai Chau where we spend the night with friends in a traditional Thai stilt house.

Day 2: Mai Chau - Song Thao. ~180 km, ~8 h.
Beautiful landscape. Valley of wax-tree, native land of lacquer makers in Vietnam.
Song Thao is a very small village lost in the hills on west bank of Black river. The particular thing is that this is the place where we grow lacquer trees to collect the precious substance called lacquer.
We are welcome in the house of our friends. You meet Kinh (ethnic Vietnamese). We propose to stay in the house of the two "uncles", direct descendant of the ancestor who discovered the property of this tree and the way to use it, about four hundreds years ago (quite recently compared to China who knew about lacquer few thousands years ago).

Day 3: Song Thao - Luc Yen - Vu Linh. ~150 km, ~6 h.
Ride from Song Thao to Vu Linh, we will ride through limestone and palm trees, on asphalted road and dirt roads, then reach Thac Ba lake where a boat will be waiting for us. Then we will cruise on the lake from west to east, until the Dao village of Vu Linh. The welcome is exceptional.

Day 4: Vu Linh - Na Khan. ~250 km, ~9 h.
You ride from Vu Linh to Na Khan through Thai Nguyen (over 200 km). The road is sealed all the way until Bac Kan and the last part from Bac Kan to Na Khan is wild and little bumpy. Na Khan is a Tay village, lost in the middle of the primitive forest. Mr. Lo, chef of the village will welcome us in his house.

Day 5: Na Khan - Ba Be. ~50 km, ~2 h.
Short drive from Na Khan to Ba Be on bumpy road. Lunch at our captain's house (Mr. Dang, we call him Zi Dang). Easy boating on the lake and river. Go to market (if it is the day you arrive). Stop at waterfall, beautiful swim…Ong pirate, the chef of Dau Dang waterfall where we enjoy dinner. Down the waterfall, we could visit the village and a small school (only few pupils during the summer). We propose to stay in the stilt house of forest guards.

Day 6: Ba Be - Quang Hoa. ~170 km, ~8 h.
Cross Ba Be lake to come back to our captain's house. Beautiful ride up to Cao Bang province. Few passes from where you can dominate the area. The road is easy but many curves. We can stop a lot. All together, stop for drinks and food it should be an 8-hour journey. Then ride 1 more hour to reach the beautiful village of Quang Hoa, in the middle of a mountain cirque. This is the territory of Nung An people. Spend the night in our friend's house.

Day 7: Quang Hoa. ~100 km, ~2 h (or ~30 km, ~1 h).
Option 1
Having obtained permission from the border police, we make our way through spectacular scenery to Vietnam's most impressive waterfalls. Weather permitting we can swim right up to where the 50 m high falls hit the river.
Option 2
Na Tau is a completely unknown area that we propose to discover it by raft and motorbike. Rivers and waterfalls everywhere are extremely beautiful and wild. It is only 15 km from Quang Hoa.

Day 8: Quang Hoa - An Chau. ~210 km, ~7 h.
Ride from Quang Hoa to An Chau. An Chau is an ecologic zone, 80 km from Lang Son, the road from the turning to An Chau is bumpy. We propose to stay overnight in a guesthouse in town.

Day 9: An Chau - Bai Chay - Halong. ~80 km, ~3 h.
Ride to Bai Chay in 3 hours on the mountain road, passing many coalmines along the road. We hope you are not covered in coal dust when we arrive in Halong City.
Promenade along the coast in Halong City. A 50-seat boat is waiting to take us and our bikes to cruise in Halong Bay. Lunch with seafood on the boat. Boating to Thien Cung cave, fishing village and then through myriads of limestone to Ba Trai Dao (Three Peach Fruit Islet). Swimming and sleep here.

Day 10: Halong Bay - Cat Ba. Boating.
Cruise to Cat Ba. Cat Ba is the far end of Halong Bay. Cat Ba still live from the resource that the sea offers. The tourism is developed and of high quality. The Cat Ba Bay is a condensed of Halong Bay, its labyrinth of limestone so dense that it is difficult to imagine we are on the sea.
We created this itinerary - the floating village Van Gia. They are our personal friends and the relation with them is intimate, even knowing that some companies now also pass through there.
Finally yet importantly, Monkey Island (Cat Dua Islet) was totally ignored by mass tourism when we propose to stop there. It has got nothing special beside the fact that there is nobody except monkeys and one family who takes care of their security.

Day 11: Cat Ba - Hai Phong - Hanoi. ~120 km, ~3 h + 2½ h ferry.
Promenade in Cat Ba and ride to Cat Ba National park (18 km from town). The ferry from Cat Ba to Hai Phong is at 13.30 and takes 2 and half hours. Then ride on the nice asphalted road on Highway 5 to Hanoi. We estimate that you arrive in Hanoi around 7 pm.