Voyage Vietnam MOTOTOURS ASIA | Khau Vai Love Market Tour in 2007 by Motorbike Minsk 125cc

LOVE MARKET IN THE H'MONG VILLAGE OF KHAU VAI 2007

Day 1. Wednesday, April 19^th 2007: Hanoi - Thac Ba (~170 km, ~5 hours)

Follow the Red River and Lo River bank on a dirt road through myriads of beautiful rice fields and villages with friendly people to meet along the way. Arrive at the White Trouser Dao village just before sunset. Walk in the village to see our friends. Alternatively, follow some children to the forest nearby to collect ant-nets (ngat - in local dialect) to get these eggs for the best spring roll in the world for dinner.

Overnight in the village.

Khau Vai Love Market, Vietnam

Day 2. Thursday, April 20^th 2007: Thac Ba - Luc Yen (~80 km, ~3 hours)

In the morning, take a boat trip on Thac Ba Lake past thousands of green islands and visit some ethnic villages. After lunch with our host family we continue our ride lakeside up to the Northwest area where we will have a chance to visit a Red Dao village on the mountain with very friendly people. Then go down hill to spend the night with our host family of Tay people.

Day 3. Friday, April 21^st 2007: Luc Yen - Xin Man (~160 km, ~5 hours)

Ride wildly through numerous beautiful villages and terraced rice fields, this is an opportunity to enjoy the picturesque landscape of Vietnam's countryside. It is not a long distance but a climb up to Xin Man is a must. Vehicles haven't appeared on this tortuous mountain road for a long time. The local ethnic family leaves the travellers with a very impressive experience.

Day 4. Saturday, April 22^nd 2007: Xin Man - Ha Giang (~140 km, ~5 hours)

Ride for 100 km on the mountain pass, up and down, with beautiful scenery of mountains, rice paddies and numerous villages of local people such as H'mong, Dao…then we continue the ride on the Highway No 2 along Lo River. Option of bathing in the hot spring and then ride for an hour through beautiful villages and river beach before arriving in Ha Giang town.

Overnight in Huy Hoan 2-star hotel or similar.

Day 5+6. Sunday and Monday, April 23^rd & 24^th 2007: Ha Giang - Meo Vac - Khau Vai Love Market (~185 km, ~6 hours)

Rise and shine for a few hours trek to many of the Heaven Gates such as Quan Ba, Yen Minh, Dong Van. They are so called because one gets the feeling of touching the sky - heaven's gates. This is the best time and place to enjoy the wonderful vast limestone mountain range and perpendicular rock walls, which brings one a feeling of adventure while being lost in a magical land.

Visiting these remote areas, we see how hard the local people struggle with their environment for their survival and development. Because the living conditions are extremely harsh, there is barely any arable land within the rock mountain, the people who live there survive on a diet of corn, which is about the only crop able to grow in the rocky soil. As reward for this hardship, the local people are simple yet very friendly and develop strong attachments to other people. They are the soul of this remote area.

Day 7. Tuesday, April 25^th 2007: Meo Vac - Lung Phin Market - Bac Me

Ha Giang is a border area, considered to be one of the wildest areas in Northern Vietnam and it has the most stunning landscape of limestone karsts and the most colourful ethnic minority people in Vietnam.

In the morning we will visit Lung Phin Market, the most beautiful and interesting markets in Vietnam. You could spend hours and hours at this market so don't forget to bring with you as many rolls of film as you can to enjoy your time in this extraordinary market.

Anyway, today's road is also famous - about 70 km, all rough, rocky, dusty and muddy - so try your best and use all your energy to enjoy a most thrilling and fun ride.

Overnight in guesthouse in Bac Me.

Day 8. Wednesday, April 26^th 2007: Bac Me - Ba Be (80 km, ~4-7 hours)

Yesterday you had an opportunity to develop your riding skills and again today it's time to muster all your skills, technique and experience for 80 km of difficult forest road. Only with the help of our experienced guides will you not get lost in one of the 16 branching roads. Along the way, we traverse many tall passes and deep river valleys. This road trip will take only 3-4 hours during the dry season, but takes at least 7-8 hours during the rainy season. However, the impression of 'conquering nature' makes the hardship all worthwhile. Upon arrival, we will cross 3 rivers between 20-30m in width and up to 70cm in depth, all managed with the instruction of our experienced guide. The remaining 3kms of the journey is a pleasure to ride and a good time to relax. You will ride along an open hillside road surrounding the Nang River. Catch your breath while you can! We complete our journey with the next destination being Dau Dang waterfall. This is basically an overnight stop to break our long journey and stretch our legs, take the tiredness away and share the day's adventure with the owner of the Nang river restaurant - Mr. Pirate. The next day we canoe our hearts out through the tranquil lakes of Ba Be - renowned for their majesty. Then we have the option to swim or trek to visit the Tay ethnic minorities and talk with the local people. Overnight with our host family.

Day 9. Thursday, April 27^th 2007: Ba Be - Hanoi

The last easy day with 220 km through Thai Nguyen, Bac Kan, and Vinh Yen provinces on small roads starting from Tan Trao - the security zone during the French colonisation - with beautiful replanted forest.

COST

Voyage Vietnam organizes only all-inclusive full package tours. The only exception is at the request of the travellers who wish to upgrade their accommodation for something more luxurious.

* Including:
- Motorbike Minsk, all fuel;
- Tour guide / Translator;
- Motorbiking protective pants, jacket, gloves, helmet, rain gear, and other safety equipments;
- Sleeping bags, mosquito nets, sheets, pillows and accommodation;
- Third party motorbike insurance;
- All food, soft drinks and water;
- All entrance fees, permits, tickets, boat trips, ferries, bamboo rafts, etc;
- Voyage Vietnam assistance throughout your trip;
- We also love to celebrate our guests' birthday ... well any excuse for a celebration on the open road!

* Personal expenses (such as souvenirs), personal insurance, train or flight tickets, drinks, food and accommodation in Hanoi and tips, are not included in our fee.

The price in Euro (Expiry date of April 19th 2007):

Number of travellers in the group	1	2	3-4	5-6
Costs per person	€610	€515	€458	€397

* Note: All our tariff rates are net and in EUR based on twin-share or triple-share accommodation unless stated otherwise. For single occupancy, an extra charge will apply.

Contact us now to book this tour or to know about different itineraries.

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