Vietnam Back Roads 8 days

VIETNAM BACK ROADS

TRIP HIGHLIGHTS
This itinerary takes you over the Tram Tom “Heaven’s Gate” Pass (highest point of Sapa road to Laichau province, around 2,000 m) to explore the other side of Mt. Fansipan (highest mountain in Indochina), where few tourist ever been.
Quite road, big adventure, a lot of fun. So expect plenty of curious faces and smiling children shouting “Hello!”.
Often when Sa Pa is shrouded in cloud and fog, this side is clear and blue. Descend through one of ’s most picturesque and inspiring valleys. The partially rocky road meanders along the base of the mountain range past old growth forest and through the villages of Thai, H’Mong and Lu ethnic minority people.

[schema type=”review” url=”https://bikingvietnam.com/vietnam-back-roads” name=”Rich” description=”.” rev_name=”Vietnam back road” rev_body=”That was a great tour. I have a few shots that I thought turned out pretty well. The smiling kid is from the valley we dipped into after I banged my head—you probably know the name better than I do. And the remote countryside is just a few kilometers before we stopped for lunch on the last day. The rest should be easy to figure out. I’ll send more pictures when I have time to review them” author=”Rich” pubdate=”2009-02-05″ user_review=”5″ ]

Itinerary

Day 1:  Hanoi- Yen Bai : ( riding 90km)

Meet in hotel ( 7: 00AM), driving out of Hanoi city. Start riding ,It’s a fascinating ride past many minority villages as we climb onto a higher plateau. We ride pass of rice field and tea plantations before arriving in the Doan Hung for lunch, continue biking to Yen Bai city. Dinner and  overnight in Hotel in Yen bai.

Day2: (B) YenBai-LaoCai ( riding 105 km)

After breakfast we start riding on bank of Red river o Lao Cai. About 40 km off road track (pretty wide) start climbing on the left. After many villages and a beautiful narrow suspension bridge, we enjoy a long single track section, starting on terraces by long climb, leading to an off road pass (about 300m of elevation) and finishing on a long downhill through waterfalls and rain forest. Lunch with noodle soup and breads, fruits, tea coffee.Then we get to the asphalt where the minibus is waiting at BaoHa , take  long transfer (35’) to LaoCai. Night in Hotel in Lao Cai

Day 3:(B): Laocai- Sapa  (+-60km)

After breakfast ride to Batxat and  Muong Hum . Lunch on road, end of cycling in Sapa. Chek in hotel, free time as leisure. Overnight in Sapa

Day 4: (B):  Sapa – ThanUyen (+-90km)

Ride down 80km of occasionally rocky road to Than  Uyen . We cycle up to the Tram Ton Pass (2,019 m; 6,230 ft) the highest mountain pass in Vietnam  and  riding down a charming little tea town where you’ll spend the night in Than Uyen local  Hotel .

Day 5:(B):  Than Uyen -Tu le (+- 90 Km)

Breakfast in hotel and starting ride down to Mu Cang Chai –  Tu Le  through valleys of old growth forest, tea plantations and rice paddies.  After 90 km we arrived Tu le . Overnight in Tu Le  local Hotel

Day 6: (B):  Tu le – Nghia Lo (+-55km )

We will cycle through undulating road before we finally end the day in Nghia Lo. It sits on a mountain ridge overlooking the Red and Black River and is home to the Thai, Nung, H’mong, La Ha and Ma peoples.  Overnight in Nghia Lo

Day 7: (B): Nghia Lo – BacYen (+-95km)

A 90 km ride up and down other side of the spectacular black river. Valley provides plenty of time to stop and take pictures of the local sights. Arrive in  BacYen .Overnight in Bac yen hotel.

Day8: Bac Yen-Hanoi (B ) ( 72 km)

Virtually we go through an active back road biking  to Thanh Son,lunch, then continue riding. End of cycling . Drive back to Hanoi ( 3hours )

Tour overview

Best time to go: Year Around

 WHAT’S INCLUDED

• Accommodations in hotels 2* with breakfast
• Drink as water bottler
• Luggage transfer, bike, biker by pick up truck
  
• Bike rental as Surly Cross or Trek 520