Wandergliding: Ha Giang Loop

November 29^th, 2024

This morning the sun was out and the sky was blue! The weather has continually improved as our journey on the Ha Giang Loop has progressed. Today was our last day on the road. It’s been an amazing trip, but later both Naomi and I talked about it and feel that the three-day tour was plenty, so we weren’t disappointed for not signing up for the four day one as that would have cut into other travel plans.

After breakfast and a few photos with the picturesque, sunny back drop by our guesthouse, we backtracked a little ways from yesterday to go for our final hike.

Enjoying another banana pancake breakfast.

Wow, the sun is out!

And it is Naomi approved.

They are ready to ride.

So am I and my rider Yuan.

Our group with our riders.

Starting the first climb of the day.

What a difference a blue sky makes.

It was about 2 kilometres long with a bit of elevation gain. We had some interaction with some Hmong kids (lots of high fives) who were hanging out by the narrow road which later turned into a trail. They were super cute.

Cute kids on our hike.

Naomi giving out some high fives.

Kids enjoying their sidewalk slide.

There's a buffalo in that shed...high up on the mountain.

This house has a million dollar view.

The group on the hike.

Cute girl. The way she's pinching her fingers together symbolizes "love".

A mom going about her chores with her baby on her back.

On our way down from the hike.

Great views were everywhere.

It was fun high-fiving many kids.

No, I'm not choking the puppy...just petting it.

Near the end of our hike.

Let's get back on the road Yuan!

We rode for another hour or so, passing through some nice valleys and climbing over some amazing passes before we stopped for lunch.

You can just make out Naomi and Hanh in the mirror.

Riding through a valley.

Passing by a market in a small town.

Climbing up a pass.

We stopped at yet another beautiful viewpoint.

Passing by the lead bike of another group who is flying the Vietnamese flag.

The busy lunchtime spot.

Fueled up with food...ready to ride.

After lunch, we bid good-bye to Pablo, Lucia and Mads as they had a bus to catch at 4 pm in order to hopefully catch a flight that evening to Ho Chi Minh City. Their vacation was coming to an end, and they had to be back at work in Amsterdam, in financial risk management (hence we called them the “Risk Management Team” over the past few days). Ironically it was going to be touch and go if their bus was going to get them to the airport in time for their flight. They later messaged us that they did catch the plane…whew.

With our smaller group of only six bikes, we enjoyed a few more riding sessions for the afternoon and on one of the breaks we hiked about 150 meters on a path into the jungle to check out a nice waterfall.

The last major viewpoint of the ride.

Can't remember the name of the waterfalls...but pretty nice ones.

Down to our 6 bikes after the Risk Management Team of Pablo, Lucia and Mads had to leave early after lunch to catch a bus.

We finished off with one last break at a coffee shop/bar by a river and enjoyed a drink before our last twenty-minute ride to arrive back at the hostel.

The final rest stop at the end of our trip.