Sapa
Read →Terraced valleys and Hmong trekking villages threaded through the northern highlands.
Cover Story — Northern Vietnam
Where to Stay on the Ha Giang Loop: Dong Van, Meo Vac or Du Gia
You do not pick a town on this route, you pick which nights you sleep where. Four overnight stops, and the different morning each one buys.
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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Fresh off the trail
Best Time to Do Ha Giang Loop: Month by Month
Late September to November, and March to May. What each month does to the road, the light and the two short flower windows people plan around.
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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