Sapa
Read →Terraced valleys and Hmong trekking villages threaded through the northern highlands.
Cover Story — Northern Vietnam
Ha Giang Loop Insurance: What Every Policy Actually Covers
Self-drive is mostly uninsured, pillion usually is not, and nobody covers the damage you do. Two insurers' clauses, checked against the wording.
Read the story
Asia Trip Blog — Field GuideVietnam, in priority order
Vietnam · five places to start
Where to go first
Ha Giang
Read →Vietnam's most dramatic road trip, one hairpin at a time.
Ha Long Bay
Read →Thousands of limestone karsts rising straight out of jade-green water.
Hanoi
Read →Old Quarter alleys, egg coffee, and a thousand years of history.
Da Nang
Read →Long beaches and the gateway to Hoi An and the Marble Mountains.
Asia Trip Blog — Farther AfieldLaos, Cambodia, China, Thailand
Farther afield
06 · Laos
07 · Cambodia
08 · China
09 · Thailand
More of the trail, roughly in the order we’re covering it
Laos
Slow river towns and the Banana Pancake Trail's quiet heart.
Cambodia
Angkor's temples and the Mekong's floating villages.
China
Ancient capitals and landscapes that inspired a thousand scrolls.
Thailand
Bangkok's chaos, southern islands, and northern hill country.
Asia Trip Blog — DispatchesFresh off the trail
Latest field notes
Northern Vietnam
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06
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09
Fresh off the trail
Ha Giang Loop Packing List: What Actually Matters
One soft bag, three days on a motorbike. The clothes, rain gear, protection and paperwork you will miss on the plateau, and what to leave in town.
In brief
Asia Trip Blog — ContributorsThree storytellers, one trail
Who’s writing
Northern Vietnam & rail
Adventure & Outdoors Writer
Contributors
Jack Lee
Jack launched AsiaTripBlog after spending years backpacking through Southeast Asia on a shoestring, then returning in style. He specialises in Vietnam — from the northern highlands to the Mekong Delta — and believes the best meal you'll ever eat costs about $2 and involves a plastic stool.
Ken Ng.
Ken is happiest when there's no Wi-Fi and the next destination requires a boat. An avid hiker and diver, he covers the wilder side of Asia — from motorbike loops through Ha Giang to island-hopping in the Philippines and jungle treks in Borneo.
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