The drive from Meo Vac to Ha Giang is some of the best scenery in the country. You go from being so high up in the mountain to being down in the bottom of the valley with sensational views. The roads can be a bit bumpy but you just take it slow and enjoy the amazing scenery. From mountain villages, pigs, cows in the road and tight hair pin bends this drive really has it all. We also went through the famous ‘Ma Pi Leng Pass’ between Meo Vac and Dong Van, which is breathtaking. If you don’t feel comfortable doing this trip by yourself there are many tour providers or even hostels that sell organised tours of this route, or you can take the buses but I don’t think you will get the same feeling as being on the bike. But be warned its super chilly and sometimes you end up in the clouds. Just make sure you have many layers on, hats, scarves and gloves.
Along the way to Ha Giang you also pass through a national park, this is a beautiful drive too and you can stop off for drinks or to visit a cave if you want to. We decided to carry on going and ended up in Ha Giang after about five hours. Our previous homestay from Meo Vac told us they also had a homestay in Ha Giang so we decided to head there as we loved the last place so much. Google maps directed us there but we could only see the tops of the huts. It was on the bank of the river and we couldn’t work out how to get to it. After driving up and down the road a couple of times we decided to turn down a road that said ‘tourist information’ as it looked like it lead near the river bank. To our luck it was the right road and we asked if we could see the rooms. The pods here were piled on top of each other but it was still nice and cosy, in these pods they also had air-conditioning for hot or cold which was a bonus, and this homestay was 200,000 Dong per night too but included breakfast. We took the room, settled in and then headed around the town for dinner. There wasn’t a lot going on, we ate in a local restaurant, Leila had vegetable stir fry noodles which were lovely and Harry had chicken but was not sure what part of the chicken he was served! We walked back towards the homestay and stopped off at a shop to grab some nibbles. To our surprise they had luxury from home like kinder eggs and dairy milk etc. We stocked up and headed back to watch some Netflix before heading to bed. The next morning we had breakfast, checked out and started our route to Sa Pa.
Tip: Take your time to do this ride, its the best scenery in Vietnam and there are many places to stop along the way for pictures, to visit caves and to have a coffee!
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