HANOI DIRT MOTORCYLE TOUR TO MAI CHAU, PHU YEN AND THAC BA LAKE

Day 2: Mai Chau Motorcycle Tours to Phu Yen (Son La) – Offroad Motorbike Tours to Remote Tribal Villages

Day 3: Phu Yen Motorbike Tours to Vu Linh village (Thac Ba lake, Yen Bai)

Day 4: Thac Ba Motorbike Tours back to Hanoi

We begin the tour at about 9 o’clock, after somewhere 40 minutes in the busy streets of Hanoi you will hit Highway No8, from here, the traffic is much better as we head straight to the countryside. Stop for a quick coffee and we keep rolling on some backroads through rice fields to Hoa Binh province where the terrain becomes mountainous, from here the sceneries are much greener and decorated with charismatic karst mountains. After a nice lunch in Ky Son town, we will have chance to do some challenging offroad via local farms in the mountains. In the afternoon, from National road 6 we take a turn to Road 450 for a backroad ride to a spectacular view to the majestic Hoa Binh lake, one of the largest man-made lakes in Vietnam, formed when the dam blocked the water to build the Hoa Binh hydroelectric power station. We arrive Mai Chau – our destination at about 4 or 5 o’clock.

Nestled in a peaceful valley, Mai Chau is an ideal escape place for nature lovers. Here, small ethnic minority villages sit among a patchwork of paddy fields surrounded by green mountains. Mai Chau is a village of ethnic Thai people, one of 54 different tribes in Vietnam. The Thai women are masterful weavers who ensure that there is plenty of traditional-style clothing to buy in the village centre.You will see women weaving on looms under or inside their houses in the village, we can buy some souvenirs here such as handmade traditional-style clothings, knife or cross-bow. We spend a night here immersing in Vietnam’s rural culture, dining on delicious home-cooked cuisine, and learning about the traditions of the local Thai people.

Summary:
Distance:  160 km
Meals: Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay in village

The ride today will begin from 8 to 8:30 o’clock, before leaving, we can have a little walk around to enjoy the peaceful vibe of the village, breath some fresh air on the beautiful rice fields near our homestay. After saying goodbye to the homestay hosts, we hop on the bikes to continue our adventure, in the morning we will explore some ethnic villages on the forgotten Old Road No6. This road used to be the most important main road of the North West Vietnam, now it lies silently along mountains and some small farms of local people, you will see almost no truck or car here, just a remarkable silent vibe and peaceful sceneries of nature. This route ends when we hit National road 43 in Moc Chau district, where we stop for lunch. Moc Chau boasts a pioneering dairy industry that started in the late 1970s with Australian (and, later, UN) assistance, we can see several milk cow farms on the way.

After lunch in Moc Chau, we keep riding 40 kilometers more to Van Yen ferry terminal where we cross the epic Da river, from here we will have a beautiful ride along Da river heading to Phu Yen. We stay in a hotel for this night.

Summary:
Distance:  160 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner
Accommodation: Guest-house

In the morning, we motorcycle across Lung Lo pass before head up on Road 32. During the First Indochina War, the 15km-long Lung Lo Pass, used by the Vietnamese resistance force to transport weapons, goods and food during the Dien Bien Phu campaign of 1954, was heavily bombed by the French in order to sever the front lines from the rear. Lung Lo Pass, situated in the northern province of Yen Bai, was also recognised as a national heritage by the ministry.Head up to Ba Khe T-junction, we continue our motorbike tour on sealed road through renowned tea growing areas, where the hillsides are literally covered in plantations, all the way to the city of Yen Bai which sits on the Red River. From here it’s a short ride to the Thac Ba Lake, also formed by the construction of hydroelectricity dam in the 1970s. We keep riding to the Dao village of Vu Linh where we stay for the night, enjoying Dao hospitality.

We will have an unforgettable dinner with the hosts, whose are really big drinkers and they party every day. The welcome is exceptional and we hope you will survive.
Overnight in homestay.

Summary:
Distance:  150 km
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch,Dinner
Accommodation: Home-stay

After breakfast we roll on National road 37 to Ha Hoa bridge and then branch off to the peaceful province of Phu Tho. From here, we keep riding along the mighty Red river via pretty rice fields and corn farms. By now we are very much in the lowlands of the delta plains and the North’s main agricultural areas. Harvest time here is a sea of activity. We pass through Son Tay and then return to Hanoi on a highway.