Sapa is a frontier town and capital of Sa Pa District, Lào Cai province in the northwest of Vietnam. It is one of the main market towns in the area, where many ethnic minority groups such as H'mong, Dao and Tay live.
It is most likely that Sa Pa was first inhabited by highland minorities of the Hmong and Yao groups, as well as by smaller numbers of Tày and Giay, these being the four main minority groups still present in Sa Pa district today. The Kinh (lowland Vietnamese) never originally colonised this highest of Việt Nam’s valleys, which lies in the shadow of Phan-Xi-Pǎng (Fansipan, 3143 meters), the highest peak in the country.
Duration: 6 days, 5 night
Type of Motorcycle: Honda Touring Bike 200cc, 250cc or the small Honda Moped 125cc., Russian Minsk 125cc.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Hanoi - Mai Chau, 160 km, 5 hr ride.
8.00AM meeting at your hotel and transfer by car to the starting point at the outskirt of Hanoi, from here you take the bikes and start your first day ride to Mai Chau.
Leaving Hanoi and breaking out of the delta plains, we pass through endless limestone karst scenery as we travel up to the Northwestern region, the extensive farming lands comprising a sea of paddy fields split by tree-lined roads. Arrive in Mai Chau in late afternoon, night on a stilt house of the Thais Minority peoples, dinner with the family.
Day 2: Mai Chau - Son La, 185 km, 6 hr ride.
We head up today into a forested region populated by H’mong peoples before descending into a mountainous tea-growing region. Soon after we follow a long valley floor covered in a sea of rice surrounded by Black Thai villages all the way to Son La with its bargain-filled market. Dinner and overnight at Hotel.
Day 3: Son La – Than Uyen, 150 km, 7 hr ride.
Continuing the road no.6 to Thuan Giao (the road is now under construction) then take a small paved road to Da River where we will take the ferry boat to get the Hoang Lien Son mountain range. Arrive in Than Uyen in the early afternoon. Sleep in Phuong Nhung Hotel.
Day 4: Than Uyen – Sapa, 120 km, 3 hr ride.
Today we head straight towards the main Fansipan Mountain range. We make a splendid climb up from Binh Lu and up to the top of the highest road pass in Vietnam (Tram Ton Pass). Crossing into Lao Cai Province at over 2000m the views looks out over the main range for miles and miles, before we descend to the mountainous Sa Pa valley. Sleep at Hotel.
Day 5: Sapa - Vu Linh, 200 km, 7 hr ride.
We start from Sapa and ride to Luc Yen for lunch then take a small paved road along Thac Ba Lake to Vu Linh. The welcome is exceptional and we hope you will not be too much tired today. Homestay.
Day 6 : Vu Linh - Hanoi, 180 km, 6 hr ride.
After breakfast we cruise southeast on Highway 2 and then branch off to the sleepy town of Xuan Duong. We follow the edge of the Red River along the dyke, almost to the point where it merges with the Black River after which they flow together to Hanoi. 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. Crossing the Red River by ThangLong bridge, return to Hanoi on the highway.
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