Climb into the hills, cross into new provinces and follow a dramatic loop through the mountainous north of Vietnam. This two day motorbike journey connects the peaks of Hoang Lien Son National Park with the tea growing lowlands of Lai Chau, it weaves a figure of eight route through winding passes, rice terraces and quiet ethnic minority villages. With every curve of the road, the landscapes shift: steep forest trails give way to vast plains, sun drenched tea fields and hidden waterfalls tucked beneath the canopy.

Travelling with an experienced local driver, you’ll meet members of three different ethnic communities: the Lao, known for their fine weaving and spiritual embroidery, the Black Hmong, who bring the highlands to life with bold, expressive textiles and stories, and the lesser known Dao Tuyen, with their delicate silver jewellery and quiet riverside hamlets.

This is a road trip that embraces contrasts: between ancient craft and modern road, high mountain and open valley, silence and engine hum. Nights are spent in traditional homes where dinner is shared by firelight and mornings begin with mountain mist. With long rides, rich encounters and ever changing terrain, this is not just a ride through the hills, it’s an experience of Vietnam’s cultural depth on two wheels.

​Creating a scenic figure of eight loop, starting and ending in Sapa via Tam Duong, this two day road trip is a great way to explore the north western highlands. Hilltops are lined with elfin forest, steep sided karst outcrops and mountains.  Either bathed in a warm, sharp highland light, shimmering over the ripe rice terraces like a halo, or covered in a cold, haunting fog, so thick it induces feelings of claustrophobia, this loop is a rewarding way to spend two days riding.

Weather is always difficult to predict in this region, but spring (March-May) and autumn (September-October) are probably the best months for warmth, light, and colour.

This unique two day loop from Sapa offers cultural immersion with three ethnic groups, the Lao, Hmong and Dao Tuyen.

Culture and Landscape:

Day one (85km)
The beginning of the day involves 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) before winding down the sweeping bends of the famous Highway 4 towards a hidden waterfall nestled in the forests and foothills of the Hoang Lien Son National Park. We continue along lowland back roads and into beautiful valleys home to the Lào, a Tay-Tai language ethnic minority group living in traditional wooden stilt houses amongst the rice paddies.

Lào women can often be seen weaving and wearing their traditional costumes on a daily basis throughout the year. Weaving has always been an important means of expression for the Lào. Their manual crafts are correspondingly artful, intricate and ornate, and the meaning of the textiles is deeply entwined with their cultural life. For the Lào, their textiles always have a spiritual significance as well, as they are closely connected to their animistic beliefs.

It’s with the Lào that we will have lunch. Sharing food and drink will create lots of opportunities to interact with the community in a safe and friendly setting before we head on through vast green tea plantations and up mountainsides towards our overnight stay in a beautiful flower Hmong village.

Living a subsistence farming lifestyle, the Hmong live in small village communities cultivating rice, maize and keeping a variety of livestock.

Expert foragers, many Hmong collect roots, ferns and bamboo shoots in the lush forests high above the rice terraces.
Homes are self built wooden structures, while clothes are produced each year and are rich in elaborate and colourful embroidery .

Day two (85km) 
Day two will see us heading down through countless steps of rice terraces to a stunning cave accessed via a small walk through corn plantations. The next leg of the ride will pass through stunning green tea plantations, and loop round to our lunch stop with the Dao Tuyển (Iu Mien). Lunch will be a simple wooden hut surrounded by fruit trees, set within a forest clearing.
 
Dao Tuyển women wear hand loomed, plain black trousers together with black jackets decorated at the sleeves and collars with thin bands of embroidery, coins and beads. The hair is worn distinctively and kept in place by a large silver frame which sits on top of the head. It is then wrapped in thick black cord and finally covered by a black scarf decorated with beads and tassels.
 
With a rich culture of weaving and embroidery, Dao Tuyển clothing is distinct in design and appealing in its simplicity. The thick cotton weave gives their jackets a weight and finish quality unlike that of any of the other tribal groups in Vietnam.
 
Perhaps most unique is the unusual design of their headdress. This is the accessory that most impresses in the Dao Tuyển costume. According to custom, a girl typically begins wearing a headdress from 16 years of age. This symbolises that she is mature and able to marry.
 
After lunch, we will loop round with a short stop off at a cave farmed out by an underground stream. The two day trip will be completed after the final great accent up to Sapa. The climb includes a 2000 metre elevation gain over 24 sweeping kilometres.

About this route:
Recommended for experienced riders.

Owing to our motorcycles being small capacity engines, a combined weight of no more than 140kg is recommomended for driver and pillion passenger. 

If you’re lucky and the weather is good, then the scenery is fabulous. The grandeur and scale of the mountains and valleys of the northwest is unmatched anywhere in Vietnam. The rice terraces are higher, steeper, more dramatic, and less busy than other areas of Vietnam. However, such is the weather in this region, that you may find it difficult to see more than a few metres in front of you when navigating the higest passes. Even in the mist, cold and rain, there’s still a sublime bleakness and majesty up on the high mountains.  The lowland areas are usually significantly warmer and drier.