Ha Giang Loop —> RATED. I returned from the legendary 4 day three night Ha Giang loop two days ago and it was absolutely incredible. I thought it would be over rated since so many people talked about it throughout SE Asia, but it was well worth the hype. I have been motorbiking Vietnam for 2.5 weeks and the Ha Giang Loop is for sure some of the greatest scenes I have seen all trip.
I did the Ha Giang Loop with a famous company called "Jasmine Tours" per the recommendations of my good friends Max and Kyle. I did the loop with a company for two reasons: 1. Police - The police have checkpoints throughout the loop and if you do not have an international drivers license they fine you a lot of money 2. More fun - It is more fun to do it with a group to meet people and have fun activities at night.
There are over 100 companies which do the Ha Giang Loop tour and Jasmine is known for being on the "younger and party side". I was skeptical about this at first but it turned out to be not too young or party for me! Also different companies drive the loop at different speeds. My group was zooming up and down the curvy roads of the mountain side. I drive fast and I could barely keep up!
On the tour through Jasmine there were about 15 groups with 10 people each. My group was the last out of all the groups. They space out when each group goes to different sites so it doesn't get too crowded. I honestly was so happy and lucky we were the last group because at each site it was completely empty. Some people complain the loop was too crowded, but for me it felt like I was all alone at some times.
Another note was that Jasmine gave me a really good discount for driving myself and bringing my own bike.
Another important thing to know about the Ha Giang Loop is that >99% of people use an "easy driver". This means that they do not drive the loop themselves, they sit on the back of a Vietnamese man's bike the whole time. Some people say it is better to take pictures and enjoy the views. I think if you do not drive the loop yourself you are soft and weak. I was looking at all these men in their early 20s doing dick in ass with their Vietnamese driver all day and just thought how emasculating that is!
Also whenever you are on a group trip you always learn about the group dynamic and where you lie within it. In my group there were: two Canadian female friends, an Irish couple, two young British girls, a cool older British guy, a Dutch girl and myself.
Some takeaways from the group dynamic within my small group and the greater 150 person tour. I am still so amazed by how much Europeans smoke, specifically UK, French, and Spanish. They smoke for breakfast, lunch and dinner. They are smoking cigarettes nonstop.
My favorite people I met from the group were from Norway and South Africa. As I mentioned before I do not connect well with most mainland Europeans and this trip reaffirmed this fact. I realized I believe in Peninsula supremacy, I think people raised on peninsulas are superior species. That is just a joke but I do believe people raised near the water and beaches are typically more adventurous, outgoing, cool and down to earth. That is why I liked the Norwegians and South Africans I met.
I also met a 28 year old guy from Lao who is a tech startup founder. We had a long and nice technical conversation.
Next another big takeaway from the trip was how I was always late, the last person to return to the group after our activities. For example, the leader of our 9 person group would say "40 minutes to explore the waterfall" and I would come back 1.5 hrs later. This happened at every stop.
It is an interesting phenomena I will dissect now. I have been in a lot of group dynamics, mostly due to attending Camp Coleman summer camp for 5+ years growing up. As a kid I always feared and respected authority. I was always the guy who wanted to be back on time and not anger the adults. My friends were more rebellious than me and laughed in authorities face. I learned from them and took some of their energy and learned the benefits and drawbacks of this approach over time.
Now that I am an adult, traveling the world on my own dime, I do not want someone telling me when or where you have to be. Of course I understand going on a group trip you have to respect other's time and this is what I signed up for, however I still did everything on my own and own time. It was interesting seeing how my friends when I was 11 years old could teach me so much at 25.
This also means you always must keep childish energy alive. Don't be too serious and have fun in life! Some people just follow authority blindly and are so serious. This is also why I hope to never work for someone else again or at least have a sense of real freedom of expression and fun within the work environment.
People tell so many white lies, including myself, just to be politically correct or make someone feel better. I am committed to an era of unfiltered honesty. I think you can see that and understand that from this blog.
Well that was a really fun post. Today I drove over 200 km from Ha Giang to lake Ba Be. I have been motorbiking for 20 days and will keep on kicking!
