By Mike Huber
In December 2019 I spent a month motorcycling central Vietnam, but due to poor weather I missed riding the Ha Giang Loop. The Ha Giang Loop is a 240-mile loop through northern Vietnam. It has spectacular mountain views and roads that go up to Vietnam’s North Pole, the northern-most point in Vietnam. This loop is the best road I have motorcycled in Asia. It may be the best road I have ridden anywhere.
I started the 10-day journey from where I had previously left Hanoi. I rented my moto from the same place I had six years earlier (Tigit Motorcycles). I was familiar with the company and felt comfortable renting from them again.
Upon arriving and securing my motorcycle, a Honda XR150, the representative went over the usual rules and a few route suggestions. He informed me that my International Driver’s License was not valid. What this meant was that I would be expected at some point to pay the police “a fee.” This was news to me as I had previously ridden for four weeks through central Vietnam, and I of course had been pulled over. The police then never really seemed to care; however, now the Ha Giang Loop has become so popular that you are expected to pay the police this fee. The representative stated the amount in Dong (Vietnamese currency) I would have to pay, but my ADD kicked in and I didn’t hear the amount.
It took me two days just to get to Ha Giang, where this epic road began. During this time there was one moment that really stood out. It was getting late and I was about 30 kilometers south of the city of Ha Giang when I decided to stop in a restaurant to get some Wi-Fi and book a place for the evening. As I sat down, I noticed a group of four Vietnamese men a bit older than I was. Within a few moments they invited me over and we began passing my phone around using Google Translate as beers, a bamboo tobacco pipe (which looked similar to an Australian Digeridoo), and food begin to arrive at the table. A dish of food and a beer suddenly appeared in front of me. The conversation eventually got deeply serious about the Vietnam War and about the history surrounding the United States and Vietnam.
After an hour or so, I went to pay the waitress. I tried to be slick and ensured she knew I was paying for the entire table. She quickly waved me off. As I turned around, the men from the table all gave me hugs and nudged me towards the door. They texted on my phone “Your money is no good here.” It was probably one of the nicest gestures I encountered in all my travels, especially knowing they don’t make much money and for them it was a substantial amount.
After drying my eyes, I got on the Honda and continued to my hotel. Carefully parking my bike in the hotel’s garage, it was now time to get some local food and retire for the evening. Tomorrow was the day I was to begin the Ha Giang loop and I wanted to ensure I was fresh as it would be a long day.
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What an exciting trip!! I eagerly read this Part One, and I’m happily anticipating the following installments. Clicking on Part 2 now!
Thanks Ren! Go easy on me in part 2 and 3. I am pretty open on when i screw up and have NO ego and problems in saying “boy that was stupid of me!” LOL. Thank you for your service, Semper Fi sir! (I was US Army).