11 Days Northern Vietnam CRF300 Off-road Tour with Ha Long Bay Cruise

11-day Northern Vietnam CRF300 off-road motorbike tour covering Ha Giang, Cao Bang, Ba Be National Park, ethnic homestays, and an overnight Ha Long Bay cruise from Hanoi with daly ride of 4-5 hours

The route follows winding mountain roads toward the Chinese border, crossing limestone passes, river valleys, and isolated villages inhabited by Dao, Hmong, Tay, and other ethnic mountain communities. To experience local life beyond the tourist routes, we stay with local families on several nights and sleep in their traditional wooden houses. The adventure comes to an end with an overnight cruise through the limestone islands of Ha Long Bay before returning to Hanoi.

11 Days Northern Vietnam CRF300 Off-road Tour with Ha Long Bay Cruise

Day 1: Welcome to Hanoi

After your visa has been stamped in your passport, you can exchange money at the airport. You will instantly become a millionaire, as 1 euro is approximately 30,000 Vietnamese Dong.

The first thing you notice when entering Hanoi is the busy traffic and the constant honking. Hanoi has over 6 million inhabitants, and there are 4 million motorbikes and scooters driving around. A helmet is mandatory, and one thing you noice, the local girls with long hair wear helmets with a hole in the back so that the ponytail stays in place.

Take a private transfer to the charming old quarter with beautiful colonial buildings and plenty of activity. Wide boulevards with chic shops and restaurants. In between, narrow streets lined with colorful shops, cafes, and eateries.

You can hardly walk on the sidewalks because they are used as workspaces, display areas, terraces where you can eat noodles, or as motorbike parking spots. In the heart of the old city lies Hoan Kiem Lake, a favorite spot for the Vietnamese to stroll, enjoy a drink on a terrace, jog, or practice Tai Chi.

Despite all the hustle and bustle, there is a very relaxed atmosphere in the city. This is because the population is extremely friendly and gentle.

Day 3: Hanoi to Ngoi Tha (180km / 110 miles)

The traffic really comes at you from all sides, but after half an hour it becomes quieter as we ride out of the capital city. We leave the main road and follow the Red River. Flat landscape with fields and the occasional village. At Son Tay we return to the main road, which has now become a lot quieter. Fairly wide road that still follows the Red River.

In several places the asphalt is gone and we drive through dusty sand or gravel. After lunch you can already see the first hills in the distance. After an hour we arrived there and we meandered into the hills. The road becomes narrower and the surroundings become greener. Rice terraces, tea and banana plantations. We arrive at Thac Ba and drive to the village where we spend the night in a comfortable homestay.

It is a Dzao (mountain people) village with a total of 36 houses. The houses are built on stilts between which there are tools and water buffalos. The traditional houses are made of wood and bamboo with a roof of coconut leaves. From the house you look out over a pond with ducks, with rice terraces and palm trees behind it. A few fish from the pond serve as part of dinner, i.e. if we catch them first.

Day 3: Ha Giang (180km / 110 miles)

After being woken by the quacking of ducks, we are served breakfast by our hostess. We drive further north, following the twisting backroads with an hour of off-road along the forests paralleled the Thac Ba. The hilltops have turned into small islands following the construction of the dam.

The hills become increasingly steep and are densely covered with tropical plants and trees. Along the narrow road, sheets of veneer wood are drying, and at every village, we are enthusiastically waved at by cycling children in school uniforms. For the final leg, we take the main road to Ha Giang. We spend the night in a hotel.

Day 4: Dong Van (130km / 80 miles)

From Ha Giang, the road follows the river, and soon the narrow road winds its way up Mount Cong Troi (the Gate of Heaven) with a number of hairpin bends. The climb becomes increasingly steep. At the top, you have a magnificent view. To the south are the green rolling hills, and to the north, the characteristic steep, almost vertical rock faces of the karst mountains loom.

After the descent, we cross the river. We follow the gorge and drive through farming villages where Flower Hmong, in their black clothing with fluorescent decorations, are threshing. Then the road winds upwards again between pointed mountain peaks until we reach Yen Minh. Here we see the White Hmong, in their brightly colored clothing, working in the rice fields.

During the next climb, the landscape changes dramatically once more. The road twists upwards past black, razor-sharp rocks. There you have breathtaking views, looking hundreds of meters straight down onto a mosaic of rice terraces. We spend the night in Dong Van, the northernmost town in Vietnam, just a few kilometers from the Chinese border.

Day 5: Tinh Tuc (180km / 110 miles)

A few kilometers after Dong Van, we head back up into the mountains. We arrive at the most impressive part of the karst mountains. It is a monumental landscape with gaping gorges and hundreds of steep, bare mountains. Some are shrouded in mist, creating a mystical atmosphere.

In these mountains, too, you see houses and fields in the most impossible places in our opinion. There is a viewpoint overlooking the valley lying hundreds of meters below, bordered by a dizzyingly high, steep cliff face.

The road, appropriately named Happiness Road, which we descend seems plastered against this wall. After that, it becomes greener and warmer. After lunch, we follow several rivers and some amazing trails to off-road. The road is a succession of bends and leads past rice terraces, banana plantations, and Black Hmong villages.

Day 6: Ba Be National Park (80km / 50 miles)

A short but a very thrilling day Off-roading across the gorges and rice fields. The outbacks winds through a dry landscape up the mountain and then zigzags through an exotic landscape.

We follow a number of rivers and see views of valleys completely covered with rice terraces. Early in the afternoon we arrive at Ba-Be National Park. The park has a lake surrounded by hills with impenetrable tropical rainforest. We spend the night in a resort with a beautiful location between the rice fields and the lake. In the afternoon we can take a boat trip and there will be time for a cooling dip.

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Day 7: Ban Gioc (120km / 75 miles)

After getting up, we have breakfast. The food in the homestays is fantastic. Local dishes mainly sourced from their own land, but there are also pancakes and fries. We continue toward Quang Uyen, then god eye mountain for some off-road through the meadows and wet surfaces before arriving to Ban Gioc at the point with border pin with China.

Arrive, check in, relax, then visit waterfall and enjoy a boat ride through the border gate.

Day 8: Lang son (180km / 110 miles)

The road still winds south through the green karst mountains. Alongside piglets, water buffaloes, and chickens, we share the road with cycling schoolchildren who wave and smile at us. In some sections, it is dusty due to potholes or the asphalt turning into gravel.

The locals skillfully maneuver around these obstacles here with ox carts and mopeds loaded with long bamboo poles. So, that shouldn’t be a problem for our off-road motorcycles either. We arrive early in Lang Son, a somewhat larger town. There is plenty of time to wander around the markets and through the shopping streets.

Day 9 & 10: Halong, overnight stay aboard the cruise (170km / 105 miles)

We take the backroads and dusty trails to reach Halong. At Ha Long we cross the estuary over a high bridge and drive onto the boulevard. This is tourist hub of Vietnam with chic hotels, restaurants, beach bars, coaches and shops with lots of kitsch.

Large boats and cruises are anchored in the bay and behind them you can already see the karst islands, or Ha Long Bay.

Arrive, check in and board the cruise at around 11.45 to 12. The coast off Ha Long was declared one of the seven natural wonders of the world in 2011. The heart of the bay covers more than 300 square kilometers. The karst mountains extend here into the sea. The result is thousands of limestone islands that rise perpendicularly from the sea, sometimes hundreds of meters high.

Because they emerge steeply from the sea, there are no beaches and they cannot be inhabited. If you want, you can swim or canoe to one of the islands’ caves. As the sun sets in this special landscape, we anchor in the middle of the bay and the local fishermen come alongside in round boats woven from reeds to sell all kinds of things. After the extensive dinner you can have a drink on deck or try to hook an octopus. We sleep on the boat in comfortable luxury cabins with all facilities.

Day 11: Hanoi (160km / 100 miles)

Wake up to the lapping of water against the boat. You look out the window of your cabin and see the sun rise between the thousands of small islands. A dip in the sea and you are wide awake.

There are worse morning rituals. After breakfast, the tour through Ha Long Bay continues, and the top deck is a good spot to watch this unique panorama pass by in the sun. After lunch, we dock in the harbor and start our engines for the last time. It is only a few hours’ drive to Hanoi.

After the past few days, it takes some getting used to the ever-increasing traffic, culminating in Hanoi’s rush hour. Slalomming between tens of thousands of motorbikes, we make our way to a refreshing drink.

Here we end the 10 days off-road around the Northern Vietnam with Halong Bay on a CRF300.