Ha Giang – Dong Van

March 1st and 2nd – Day 7 & 8: When we left the Bac Ha market we headed to Ha Giang – a 4 hour drive. We stayed at the Phoenix Hotel which was a brand new North American style hotel and was fancier than any place on the loop that we had stayed thus far. It seemed out of place in such a small town and we wondered how long they would last with so few tourists. They had obviously laid off staff due to the lack of tourists as the front desk clerk also brought our bags to our room and took our food order in the dining room (there were only 8 of us in the whole large dining room).

Ha Giang is the beginning of the scenic motorbike loop which I had read about. It would be an exciting ride as the road winds around the mountain, with many hairpin turns plus there were many spots where the road was not in good shape. We were glad we were in a car and thanks to Hung, our driver, we were able to stop at the same lookouts that the bikers stopped. We kept seeing the same young people en route and it was nice to chat with them.

As we walked up the path to the Road of Happiness Lookout, we could hear noise in the rocky mountain above us. A grandmother appeared with her grandchildren (Josie said they were H’Mong living in the mountains). The youngsters were carrying their siblings down the steep rock – they were shy, but curious. Just watching them come down made me nervous but Josie said the mountain is their home and they learn how to climb as soon as they can walk. The grandmother watched as Josie talked with the youngsters. When we got back to the bottom of the lookout, Josie went back with food for the children. The parents would be working so we often saw grandmothers taking care of the children.

On March 2nd after the first part of the loop, we arrived in Dong Van and stayed at Lam Tung “hotel”. By this point in the trip we were use to rock hard beds and very small rooms but our room at the Lam Tung had an unusual smell and I woke up with bug bites. It was not a good night’s sleep and we were glad it was only 1 night. We had no problem getting up and out of the hotel early for the next leg of the Ha Giang Pass.