How I Spent Christmas Riding a Motorbike in Northern Vietnam - Hà Giang Loop Part I.

Growing up a Christian-catholic, Christmas are THE moment of the year. The moment when an entire family & friends come back to their hometowns and celebrate. When I started travelling, I had to spend my first Christmas outside of the home. As I came to Asia to escape the cold, flying back to Slovakia from Thailand was not an option.

Coming Up With an Adventure Plan

A good friend of mine, Lukas, had similar plans. He was in Thailand, so a few months prior, we started putting together a backlog of ideas of what could be the most interesting Christmas adventure. Many smart, and less smart ideas crossed our minds. From partying and surfing in the Philippines to visiting monasteries in Himalayas. The idea was to spend Christmas somewhere warm and bright. The exact opposite of what we were both used to.

As time went by, November came and we were both still in Thailand, we had to make a decision. We then decided on a natural step for many travellers who want to move on from Thailand. We decided to go to Vietnam, a neighbouring country. Logistically, it made perfect sense and we have both been wanting to visit Vietnam for a long time.

Flying to Vietnam

My visa in Thailand was due on the 10th of December, so I had my flight booked earlier. I initially booked a flight to Da Nang, thinking I would work on my non-existent surfing skills and cherish the beach town vibes. Sadly I have not checked the monsoon conditions and have not realized that it was raining all day at that time of the year. So I booked another flight to Hanoi.

As I came into Hanoi, after 2 months of a peaceful and quiet sawasdee in northern Thailand, I was flabbergasted. Suddenly the chaotic traffic brings another perk - honking. As I landed I took a taxi and drove towards Hanoi, I got to witness a beautifully mystical sunset. The sun set a bit earlier due to pollution and you could not have seen it set. Then, my 2-weeks stint of preparation for Lukas's arrival started. Lukas, in a romance with a local girl from Bangkok, had his arrival postponed to the latest possible date.

I have opted to stay in the Tay Ho area. An area known for expats. A home to all the teachers, diplomats, and corporate workers who somehow ended up in Hanoi. I made such a decision because of the easiness of living. You could easily find a plethora of restaurants, and cafes. In Hanoi, during the time of my visit, there was no operating coworking space for nomads. Working from cafes/Airbnb was my only option. The nomadic feeling was very different to Thailand. Most of the expats I've encountered were English teachers in Vietnam. Some of them have been there for years. They all had an interesting story to be told. I contemplated staying in the city centre. After reading about Hanoi's traffic I decided not to do it - and my first Old Town visit confirmed that I had made a great decision. In the end, I ended up being completely sick due to the pollution and stayed a whole week in bed.

By then - I have had plenty of time to research what we want to do during Christmas. I came across this interesting article describing someone's experience on Hà Giang Loop. Ha Giang is a northern province, with stunning mountainous landscapes. As we both enjoyed riding our scooters around in Thailand, it was an easy choice. The only problem was that one can not complete this loop on a scooter. And none of us knew how to ride a motorcycle and use a gearbox? Anyway, we decided we would figure it out on the spot.

As you are aware, we planned on spending Christmas somewhere warm. Well as we found out, Northern Vietnam, gets pretty cold in December. We realised we did not possess sufficient layers of clothes for such a trip. We could not have been more gracious that out of all places in the world, we were in Hanoi. During Christmas time. All it took was a stroll through the Old Town and shop for outdoor clothes. The streets of Old Town Hanoi are full of local vendors selling knock-off North Face. As learned later on on the loop - we were not the only ones who came from a warm country and had to drip themselves. This Christmas shopping spree also presented a fantastic opportunity to practise our bargaining skills. Which, quite frankly, are pathetic to this day.

While I do not want to get too much into detail and discuss the real vs knock-off brand quality. Know that the hiking pants(8$) and puff jacket(12$) I purchased in Hanoi have travelled with me for 18 months. In those months I've used them for a moto trip in Vietnam, ski touring in Japan, and trekking in Nepal. It lasted.

Getting To Hà Giang

By December 23rd, we would have embarked on our journey. After a thoughtful discussion, we decided that Christmas is not a time to be lonely. Both of us agreed to join an organized tour. This tour invites people to sign up with a designated driver, so they can enjoy the beautiful views from the back seat of a motorcycle.

Ha Giang loop is also a challenging road trip. We would have learned that only later. We have decided to politely decline the option of getting driven around. As young, Slavic men we were adamant that we were going to ride the motorbikes ourselves. Luckily these motorcycles were semi-automatic, meaning you won't have to deal with clutch but gearbox only. Using your left foot to change the gears. I've only ever seen these types of motorcycles used in Vietnam - but I guess it may be common in some other Asian countries, too. An interesting stat that I came across before starting Hà Giang. Hà Giang's crude death rate was at the level of 7.6 deaths per 1,000 people in 2020. I thought that seemed a bit too high. Yet, we remained calm.

After getting to know our fellow travellers in the hostel lounges, we realized it was going to be fun for 4 days. An interesting bunch from all over the world, spending Christmas time together while exploring Northern Vietnam on a motorbike. These are the random moments that I love travelling for. December 23rd we hopped on a sleeper bus, (almost) stretched ourselves for a nice nap and drove up north.

Following a long, and for a 188cm (6'2') tall guy not-so-comfortable night spent on a bus. We have reached our destination roughly around 2 AM. We checked into our lodge(hostel) and were told to be ready early in the morning - 6 or 7 AM. So I woke up, washed my face, packed all the necessary stuff, put on my NortFace drip and walked down for breakfast. Me and Lukas are having dry toast with eggs looking at each other nervously. We saw our tour guides preparing the bikes outside and decided to go have a look. As we were checking the bikes out, our guides asked us if we were driving ourselves. "Would you like to try them out?" This offer was impossible to turn down. We were thankful we both got the chance to sit on the bikes without anyone else noticing we had never ridden one.

After a shaky start, I pushed my engine revs to its absolute heights on gear 1. I realised I have to use my left foot now. Got up to gear for and back to gear 1. Lukas tried it after me and we both thought "We got this". So we fixed our backpacks on the back seats. Put on shin & arm pads, and gloves and set off for an adventure with 10 other adventurers from all parts of the world. Exciting.

Lukas was driving in front of me. We had been on a road for 200 meters and we had to turn left to get onto a main road. Let's say it takes some time until you get used to the fact that you now have to use the gearbox. He takes a turn left and (not-so) effortlessly avoids a massive Vietnamese truck. I thought this was the closest to a collision we were going to get. Oh boy, was I wrong...