Muong Te four Day Loop
“Every journey is personal. Every journey is spiritual. You can’t compare them, can’t replace, can’t repeat".
Road trip details:
- Total Distance: 503 km
- Duration: 4 days
- Route: a round-trip between Sapa & Muong Te (via Sin Ho) on mountain passes [MAP]
- Road Conditions: good mountain back roads, some highways & loose surface back-roads.
- Travel Style: Cultural immersion and active adventure
- Scenery: highland valleys, mountains, rice paddies, tea plantations, caves forests & rivers.
Background:
Our Muong Te experience is a great way to visit the most untouched corner of Vietnam. As you drop more than a vertical kilometre, expect your eyes to feast on a landscape of rice terraces cut into the hillside and of lush vegetation. The route passes through some of the highest peaks and most ethnically diverse areas in Vietnam.
Muong Te is a mountainous district of Lai Chau province in the northwest Vietnam. It covers an area of 2,679 square kilometres and is one of Vietnam’s most remote outposts
Other minority groups found in the area include the Lahu (Khau Xung), Xi la and Ha Nhi. To meet these people is to move away from the increasingly homogeneous world in which we live and to enter a place where different peoples retain their age old traditions. The men stay in the hills, farming the paddy fields with buffalo and plough, while the women tend to children and weave.
Our Muong Te experience is a great way to visit the most untouched corner of Vietnam. As you drop more than a vertical kilometre, expect your eyes to feast on a landscape of rice terraces cut into the hillside and of lush vegetation. The route passes through some of the highest peaks and most ethnically diverse areas in Vietnam.
Muong Te is a mountainous district of Lai Chau province in the northwest Vietnam. It covers an area of 2,679 square kilometres and is one of Vietnam’s most remote outposts
Other minority groups found in the area include the Lahu (Khau Xung), Xi la and Ha Nhi. To meet these people is to move away from the increasingly homogeneous world in which we live and to enter a place where different peoples retain their age old traditions. The men stay in the hills, farming the paddy fields with buffalo and plough, while the women tend to children and weave.
Culture and Landscape:
The impressive, looming presence of Mount Fansipan, Indochina’s highest peak at 3,143 m dominates the scenery all the way to Lai Chau. The Tram Ton Pass winds down through pristine alpine scenery and past the Dong Tien Son cave system.
As we drop down into Lai Chau Province, we travel through a numbers of villages home to the Lao Lu and Thai and Dao ethnic minority groups. The scenery is very mountainous, heavily farmed with terraces of rice and corn, and dotted with minority hamlets. Next comes the impossibly scenic and steep ride to Sin Ho. In good weather this route is exceptional. Cutting a path in the mountainside, the single-lane road zig-zags up for 40km to the isolated mountaintop town of Sin Ho. The views over ridges, farmland, ethnic minority villages and clear rivers are superb.
About this route:
A mix of sealed surfaced good roads and single track loose gravel. This adventure begins by driving up past the Silver Waterfall, through the forest of the Hoang Lien Son National park to Heaven's Gate and Tram Ton Pass (the highest road in Vietnam). The route includes some of the most spectacular scenery Northern Vietnam has to offer.
The impressive, looming presence of Mount Fansipan, Indochina’s highest peak at 3,143 m dominates the scenery all the way to Lai Chau. The Tram Ton Pass winds down through pristine alpine scenery and past the Dong Tien Son cave system.
As we drop down into Lai Chau Province, we travel through a numbers of villages home to the Lao Lu and Thai and Dao ethnic minority groups. The scenery is very mountainous, heavily farmed with terraces of rice and corn, and dotted with minority hamlets. Next comes the impossibly scenic and steep ride to Sin Ho. In good weather this route is exceptional. Cutting a path in the mountainside, the single-lane road zig-zags up for 40km to the isolated mountaintop town of Sin Ho. The views over ridges, farmland, ethnic minority villages and clear rivers are superb.
About this route:
A mix of sealed surfaced good roads and single track loose gravel. This adventure begins by driving up past the Silver Waterfall, through the forest of the Hoang Lien Son National park to Heaven's Gate and Tram Ton Pass (the highest road in Vietnam). The route includes some of the most spectacular scenery Northern Vietnam has to offer.
Itinerary:
As with all ETHOS adventures, this motorbike loop contains much more than riding. There is a strong cultural emphasis with food on day one shared together with an hill tribe family.
There are a number of variations available within the schedule, with two nights in a local guesthouse possible, as well as combining one night in a guesthouse and another in a traditional homestay. The homestay is a working farm, so the host family will no doubt be tending to seasonal domestic chores while you stay. The homestay is a bustling household and has beds, good blankets and there are mosquito nets available. However, the homestay does not have a toilet or shower. There is an open fire for cooking, which is both cosy and ambient, but also smoky when food is being prepared.
As a contrast to the cultural element of this trip, there is also some incredible natural ecosystems, including two spectacular caves that are both the largest and most interesting in North West Vietnam.
There is also the option to include some trekking on day two should you wish. There are good walks and more challenging treks available depending on your preferences. Day three includes a boat ride along the spectacular Da River, while day four will involve lunching with the vibrant Pink Ha Nhi ethnic group.
You will have an English speaking ethnic minority guide for the duration of your three day trip. This allows for plenty of flexibility within the trip meaning that elements can be changed throughout depending on how you feel, the weather and on what you want to see and experience.
As with all ETHOS adventures, this motorbike loop contains much more than riding. There is a strong cultural emphasis with food on day one shared together with an hill tribe family.
There are a number of variations available within the schedule, with two nights in a local guesthouse possible, as well as combining one night in a guesthouse and another in a traditional homestay. The homestay is a working farm, so the host family will no doubt be tending to seasonal domestic chores while you stay. The homestay is a bustling household and has beds, good blankets and there are mosquito nets available. However, the homestay does not have a toilet or shower. There is an open fire for cooking, which is both cosy and ambient, but also smoky when food is being prepared.
As a contrast to the cultural element of this trip, there is also some incredible natural ecosystems, including two spectacular caves that are both the largest and most interesting in North West Vietnam.
There is also the option to include some trekking on day two should you wish. There are good walks and more challenging treks available depending on your preferences. Day three includes a boat ride along the spectacular Da River, while day four will involve lunching with the vibrant Pink Ha Nhi ethnic group.
You will have an English speaking ethnic minority guide for the duration of your three day trip. This allows for plenty of flexibility within the trip meaning that elements can be changed throughout depending on how you feel, the weather and on what you want to see and experience.
Notes:
Whilst Sapa is a famous mountain retreat, enormously popular with Vietnamese and foreign tourists. Sin Ho and Muong Te on the other hand, are hardly ever visited by travellers. As a result, hotel accommodation is comfortable, but basic. Rooms are en suite with reasonable sized beds, firm mattresses and mosquito nets.
Food options are limited but fresh local ingredients ensures that quality is high. Expect rice and noodle based meals for the duration of the trip. Sin Ho also has a small bakery of this is more to your taste.
Whilst Sapa is a famous mountain retreat, enormously popular with Vietnamese and foreign tourists. Sin Ho and Muong Te on the other hand, are hardly ever visited by travellers. As a result, hotel accommodation is comfortable, but basic. Rooms are en suite with reasonable sized beds, firm mattresses and mosquito nets.
Food options are limited but fresh local ingredients ensures that quality is high. Expect rice and noodle based meals for the duration of the trip. Sin Ho also has a small bakery of this is more to your taste.
Tour Prices:
