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TOO LATE TO TURN BACK NOW – CORNELIUS BROTHERS AND SISTER ROSE
Day 39 – Travelling to Ha Giang Province
Ha Giang is the Northernmost province in Vietnam, it boarders China and is absolutely huge. The Ha Giang Loop is a backpacker must, you basically go in a group and get ridden on a motorbike around the province. The landscape is breathtaking but the social aspect is also a big part of it because you spend so much time with these people, often all sleeping in one room.
I woke up bright and early to claim my free breakfast and then complained to reception about the pool situation. After trying to be a bit cheeky and offering just to give me my drinks for free (not the room), they agreed to not make me pay. The bus picked me up from the hostel and took us to the sleeper bus headed to Ha Giang.
TOES OUT IN THE SLEEPER BUS
After 8 hours, we arrived at the Buffalo Hostel. On the way up to the hostel the car driver ran over a dog and killed it, not the greatest foreshadowing for the journey. The girls in the car were vegetarian as well so they were really upset and it didn’t help when the people who joined after us mentioned seeing blood on the road.
My group and I were all happy to meet each other and we bonded over the bed bugs we found (in hind sight they could’ve been dead fleas). In true teacher style, I spearheaded the movement to move to another hostel, because the woman was surprised to find out that her wiping the beds with a broom was not going to get rid of the bed bugs. After moving to the hostel down the mountain, Will, Hannah, Aaron and I bonded further over 30p beers.
DAY 39 – First Day of the Loop
We ate a fairly average breakfast, we jumped on the bikes at 8.30am. My driver had taken quite a liking to me and was telling me that he would like to build me a house in Ha Giang for us to live in, this was a reoccurring topic throughout the loop. He also taught me the chorus of a Vietnamese song which loosely translates to ‘Vietnam I love you, Vietnam I am proud of you’ and he would replace the word Vietnam with my name, a serious serenade. He absolutely LOVES Ha Giang, it is his home province and he just wants to show everyone its beauty so he was telling me how much he enjoys his job (even though the pay is shit) and how much he loves Vietnam in general. Marco was also the leader of the pack not only meaning that he spoke very good English, but we were always at the front of the tour. At times I forgot there was anyone behind us, it was very cool.
After seeing some amazing landscapes, we stopped for lunch at a place where there was a pool. We got chatting to some other groups also doing the loop through Buffalo and in the afternoon we trekked up to a really cool cave and went to see how clothes are made in a small village.
When we got back to the hostel we all went swimming and the night spiralled into an evening of karaoke and a quiz (the happy waters and beers were flowing). It was full of laughs, I actually couldn’t stand up at one point because Hannah and I were laughing so hysterically.
DAY 41 – SECOND DAY OF THE LOOP
We continued driving to some magnificent viewpoints and then stopped off at a wood crafting shop. We then went to a ‘palace’ which was actually more of a communal house for the H’mong people hundreds of years ago. I wandered off in the palace when I heard the familiar ring of ‘Lottie! Lottie! Lottieee!’ which was my driver boyfriend looking for me. He would always put my helmet on for me and do up the clasp which was very sweet, and then he gave me the bracelet he had bought me.
I was feeling so tired in the afternoon, so while the group went up the largest flag in Vietnam (located on the Chinese boarder), I had a quick power nap.
We then ventured to the Chinese boarder gate which was actually one of my highlights of the trip. BIG a fan of geo-politics. There was no barrier between the two states prior to Covid, and there was a market in the area, people used to marry between the 2 areas and they could also understand each others dialects. There now stood a huge blockade with barbed wire lining, as well as guards preventing any movement. We said Ni Hao to the guard who was very friendly, and it made me ponder the mass impacts the pandemic had on so many people.
TOWN WE STOPPED IN FOR NIGHT 2
We rocked into the evening with some more karaoke, and I snuck off early to go to bed (sorry guys).
DAY 42 – Final Day of the Loop
They call the three day tour of the loop the ‘hurry hurry’ tour, and my god did we hurry. It got to the point we were having to stretch on the side of the road, we paced it. We did manage to catch some unbelievable sights and actually this was one of my favourite days. We went through miles of the ‘danger road’ which unsurprisingly felt very dangerous. At one point I had to get off the bike and let my man get out of a pothole, but we are all here to tell the tale.
Aaron and Will climbed the rock of death, I could barely make it up the mountain let alone climb up to the rock of death. There were some local kids just jumping around while I stayed on the edge of the path having palpatations.
AARON ON THE CLIFF OF DEATH
We returned back to the hostel feeling nackered and dirty but so grateful to have done the tour together. Hannah, Aaron, Will and I sat together for one last time and had a horrible pizza. I ALMOST didn’t eat it because it was so horrible, but I did persevere (unsurprisingly).
Hannah and Aaron were also heading to Cat Ba (an island near Ha Long Bay, about 4 hrs from Hanoi), so we stepped onto the sleeper bus ready for a nice 12 hour overnight journey. I managed to sleep the whole time so I was rather pleased.
The Ha Giang Loop definitely lived up to the hype. When I was in Hoi An I was considering missing to stay there, but I am so happy I made the journey. I actually got a lot of sleep, the food was good, the people were sensational so there are no complaints here. Although the drivers said the 4 day tour is better, I don’t know if I would’ve been able to sit on a bike for another full day so I was ready to leave and go back to my life of quiet luxury (having clean pants and some shampoo). I even got a little tan while being on the bike, so that was a bonus for me. Next stop, Cat Ba!