HO CHI MINH TRAIL MOTORCYCLE TOUR 11 DAYS 10 NIGHTS

OVERVIEW:

Plenty of motorcycle tours on the historical Ho Chi Minh trail were designed by all motorbike tour organizers in Vietnam, However this 11 day motorbike ride on Ho Chi Minh trail from Hanoi via Northern Vietnam to Hoi An is our favourite because this motorcycle tour covers the North Vietnam including Sapa where you can see a different Vietnam with amazing scenery and colourful culture of ethnic people and also take you on best part of the Ho Chi Minh trail which offers most beautiful view of mountain. The text can be copied but nobody can copy our well-researched route. Just do it with us to experience the hidden charm of Vietnam!

 ITINERARY IN BRIEF:

Day 1: Hanoi – Thac Ba Lake: 180 km – Home stay (L, D)

Day 2: Thac Ba – Sapa: 210 km – Hotel stay (B, L, D)

Day 3: Sapa – Than Uyen: 110 km – Hotel stay (B, L, D)

Day 4: Than Uyen – Phu Yen: 220 km – Hotel stay (B, L, D)

Day 5: Phu Yen – Mai Chau: 150 km – Home stay (B, L, D)

Day 6: Mai Chau – Tan Ky: 270 km – Hotel stay (B, L, D)

Day 7: Tan Ky – Phong Nha: 280 km – Hotel stay(B, L, D)

Day 8: Phong Nha – Khe Sanh: 220 km – Hotel stay(B, L, D)

Day 9: Khe Sanh – Vinh Moc – Hue: 180 km – Hotel(B, L, D)

Day 10: Tour around Hue – Hotel stay (B, L, D)

Day 11: Hue – Hoi An (B, L)

FULL ITINERARY: 

Day 1: Hanoi – Thac Ba lake: 180 Km (L, D)

Unlike the other Vietnam motorcycle tour organizers who take you to Thac Ba lake on almost big and busy roads (highway No 2 and Rd No 70…), local team of Red Lotus Travel promise to take you to Thac Ba lake with safety and fun by riding motorbike on our own route that offers 80% of back-roads and off-road. We will arrive at Thac Ba lake around 4:00 pm then we can spend an hour to have enjoyable boat tour around the beautiful Thac Ba lake. We will stay overnight on a stilt-house of the Dzao people, the hosts are very welcome, friendly, they’re also very good cooks and masters of rice wine.

Day 2: Thac Ba Lake – Sapa: 210 Km (B, L, D)

After breakfast with the family, we will great motorbike ride along the Thac Ba lake, this ride promises to be one of the best motorcycle tours in North Vietnam, it offers a great view of mountain, green lake and rice fields. After lunch in Pho Rang town, we continue the motorbike tour to Sapa, we will have a stop to visit the border to China, just to have a look at China from Vietnam. The last 40 km of motorbike ride to Sapa must be a highlight of the Vietnam motorbike tour today because we will hit the road up and up to the level of 1600 meters above the sea where the Sapa town located. This gives us plenty of chances to take amazing pictures of terrace rice fields and colorful hill tribes. We will be in Sapa at about 5:00 pm.

Day 3: Sapa – Than Uyen: 110 Km (B, L, D)

After breakfast in the hotel, we will have short motorcycle tour around Sapa to visit some rustic villages of the local ethnic people to learn more about Vietnamese culture and also enjoy great scenery of the beautiful Muong Hoa valley. We’ll get back to Sapa town for lunch before having another beautiful motorbike ride down to Than Uyen town. The motorbike ride to Than Uyen from Sapa is another highlight of this Vietnam Motorbike Tour because we will cross the O Qui Ho pass – one of the longest and most beautiful passes in Northern Vietnam. After the mountain pass, we will motorbike on smooth sealed road through green tea fields, then arrive at Than Uyen town at 5:00 pm.

Day 4: Than Uyen – Mu Cang Chai – Phu Yen: 220 Km (B, L, D)

Start the ride at 8:30 am. Today we will have one of best motorbike ride in north Vietnam, it is almost on mountain road with amazing view of terrace fields and cross a lot of rustic villages of hill tribes. This is a typical motorcycle tour Northern Vietnam, we are just winding with the mountain back-roads and stop every half an hour to take pictures or chat with colorful local people. We will be in Phu Yen at 5 pm.

Day 5: Phu Yen – Mai Chau: 150 Km (B, L, D)

This is a short motorbike tour North Vietnam but it promises to be one of the best parts of the trip. After getting out of the town, we’ll have beautiful motorbike ride along the Da river lake, this ride remind you of the motorcycle tour on coastal roads. The route is almost empty in the middle of mountain and the river lake. After the motorcycle ride along the river, we will motorbike up and up to Moc Chau plateau where is famous for green tea and cool temperature. After lunch, we’ll make a turn to a small mountain pass to ride down to Mai Chau valley. We will end the great Northern Vietnam motorbike tour in Mai Chau at 4:30 pm then we can spend the rest time of the day to have a short walk around the peaceful village of the Thai people.

Day 6: Mai Chau – Tan Ky: 270 Km (B, L, D)

From today we will start to ride all the way down to central Vietnam on the Ho Chi Minh trail. After breakfast and saying good bye to the host, we will have very interesting Mai Chau motorbike tour through rustic villages of the Thai people and green rice fields. When we get out of the valley, we will keep riding on a small, spectacular and paved trail along the Ma river until Cam Thuy town where we stop for lunch. After lunch, just enjoy a relaxing motorcycle tour Ho Chi Minh trail to Tan Ky. We arrive Tan Ky town at about 5:00 pm.

Tan Ky is known as the starting point of the Ho Chi Minh trail during the war. At that time, all the troops with foods and staffs gather in Tan Ky and start to matching to the south of Vietnam on the trail to join the war in DMZ. Tan ky now is a little town located by the sides of the Ho Chi Minh trail, it’s peaceful town surrounded mountains.

Day 7: Tan Ky – Phong Nha: 280 Km (B, L, D)

We continue the Vietnam Motorbike tour on Ho Chi Minh trail to Phong Nha and Ke Bang National Park. The ride offers some stops to see the green tea farm, villages of hill tribes…Especially, the Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike ride in the afternoon offers amazing view of mountain, it reminds you again of lime stone mountains in Halong bay. The karst formation of Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park has evolved since the Paleozoic (some 400 million years ago) and so is the oldest major karst area in Asia. Subject to massive tectonic changes, the park’s karst landscape is extremely complex with many geographic features of considerable significance. We will arrive Phong Nha at around 4:30 pm, and if time and weather permit, we can have a short boat trip along the green river to go through some famous caves.

Day 8: Phong Nha – Khe Sanh 220 Km (B, L, D)

Unlike many other Vietnam motorcycle tour organizers, Vietnam Motorbike Tour Expert will take you to Khe Sanh on the western Ho Chi Minh trail. The western trail is known as the hidden trail that the Us Army did never know to bomb, the trail runs through the National park of Phong Nha – Ke Bang, in more than 200 km, you will just see few other motorbikes but a lot of beautiful and beautiful mountain view. The ride on this trail could be one the best motorcycle tours Vietnam; Especially, after getting out of the Phong Nha National park, we will get chance to visit the former US Merine Base with tunnels, Air base and a interesting museum of Khe Sanh. We will finish the great western Ho Chi Minh trail motorbike tour at about 5:00 pm.

Day 9: Khe Sanh – Vinh Moc tunnel – Hue: 180 Km (B, L, D)

This is another busy day of war stories and visits famous attraction, we will leave the Ho Chi Minh trail to ride on another historical road No 9 to the east and get closer to the coast of Vietnam. It is short Vietnam motorbike tour but we should pay a lot of visits to some interesting historical sites such as: Hien Luong bridge – known as the symbol of border between the north and the south of Vietnam, museum of the 17th parallel and the famous Vinh Moc tunnel. After lunch nearby the tunnels, we will have short motorcycle tour to Hue. Arrive beautiful city of Hue at around 5:00 pm.

Vinh Moc (Vịnh Mốc) is a tunnel complex in Quang Tri, Vietnam. During the Vietnam War it was strategically located on the border of North Vietnam and South Vietnam. The tunnels were built to shelter people from the intense bombing of Son Trung and Son Ha communes in Vinh Linh county of Quang Tri Province in the Vietnamese Demilitarized Zone. The American forces believed the villagers of Vinh Moc were supplying food and armaments to the North Vietnemese garrison on the island of Con Co which was in turn hindering the American bombers on their way to bomb Hanoi. The idea was to force the villagers of Vinh Moc to leave the area but as is typical in Vietnam there was nowhere else to go. The villagers initially dug the tunnels to move their village 10 metres underground but the American forces designed bombs that burrowed down 10 metres. Eventually against these odds, the villagers moved the village to a depth of 30 metres. It was constructed in several stages beginning in 1966 and used until early 1972. The complex grew to include wells, kitchens, rooms for each family and spaces for healthcare. Around 60 families lived in the tunnels; as many as 17 children were born inside the tunnels

Day 10: Tour around Hue (B, L, D)

After breakfast in Hotel, we will have enjoyable time to discover the charm of Hue city. Base on your mood, we can take a motorcycle tour around Hue to see some tombs of the kings along the Huong river or have an easy bus tour around the city. We will be back to city to have lunch at one of the famous food streets in Hue. In the afternoon, take your free time to relax at the beach or have more walk around Hue or do some shopping. Diner is on your own, just fell free to enjoy your favorite food in Hue.

Hue is one of 3 capital cities of Vietnam during thousand years of history, but unlike the others, Hue remains a lot of originally historical vestiges as in this ancient Capital City.

On the Northern bank of Perfume River has relics consisting of palaces, which were constructed as arc defensive ramparts with 11km length. This valuable construction includes more than 100 architectural works which were extremely reflected the life of Emperors and mandarins under Nguyen’ reign. Situated in the middle of hills on the Southern bank of Perfume River are very beautiful tombs of Nguyen Kings. Among these tombs are the four famous ones with the name and the arrangements of the tomb reflected each Emperor’s points of view, personality, and tastes. This is majestic Gia Long tomb, imposing Minh Mang tomb, poetic Tu Duc tomb and magnificent Khai Dinh tomb.

Hue is also an important center of Buddhism. In Hue and its surrounding still exist tens of pagodas constructed more 300 years ago, and a hundred of temples and pagodas built in the early century. They take an important role in making Hue more attractive.

Day 11: Hue – Hoi An: 170 km (B, L)

The last day of this motorbike tour Vietnam is completely different from the days before. Right after getting out of Hue city we will have great motorbike ride along the coast through some fishing villages and colorful fields of tombs. The view is quite different from the view of mountain along the Ho Chi Minh trail; especially the motorbike ride cross the Hai Van pass must be one of the best motorcycle tours on coastline Vietnam. We will be in Da Nang city at around 2: 00 pm. You can choose to stay in coastal city of Da Nang or keep riding around 30 km more to Hoi An ancient town before ending up and say good bye to the helpful team of Red Lotus Travel.

Inclusions:

+ Motorbike(s) (Honda or Yamaha)

+ Helmet(s)

+ Driving gears

+ Gasoline on tour

+ English speaking guide

+ Mechanic (only for group from 6 passengers)

+ Accommodation as indicated in the itinerary (based on twin or/and triple shared)

+ Homestay permission

+ Meals as indicated in the itinerary

+ Entrance fees & Sightseeing fees

+ Bottled water, coffee and fruits on tour

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