Tours - Du Gia National Park + River cruise

We pick you up from your Hanoi hotel or residence. An early start is essential to beat the peak of the rush traffic. We are soon out of Hanoi and on to our first stop, some 1.5hrs away

Son Duong is our rest stop area as well as a place to grab some quick food. Back on the road for another 1.5hrs to our first real sight of the tour.

The tea plantation at Ham Yen. We get to see the tea bushes, eucalyptus trees as well as the orange garden. We stop off at one plantation where have the fresh tea for sale. You could also collect the fresh tea leaves if you would like to try really fresh tea, then back in the car.

Lunchtime! We enter Ham Yen town centre where we find a local restaurant. There are many choices of food - everything from Tay to Kinh food available here! Lunch takes an hour, then back on the road to our destination of Ha Giang.

We arrive at the homestay of Mr Thien in Thon Tha just outside of Ha Giang. We check in, do all the formal greetings and then unpack our trekking gear.

We trek to the waterfall number 6. This beautiful trek takes us up the hill and out of the village, though the forest, along the corn fields, down to the waterfall. You can read more about it on its own page. After the waterfall, we carry on down, across the stream from the waterfall and passing the Tay village of Ha Thanh. We now see rice terraces and people farming against a mountain backdrop as we make our way back to the homestay, having completed one giant loop trek of 6km in total.

The homestay prepares for us a delicious spread of food - Tay style as Mr Thien is Tay. The family is very welcoming and the homestay very comfortable.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do and see. We drive the 45km to our first destination of the day.

Heavens Gate is our 1st catch of the day. And what a show it is. We stop for photos and the beautiful views.

The Fairy Breast Hills are next, just a few minutes away where we can admire the view and hear of local legends.

Lung Tam Workshop is a corporative run by women for local women. Here traditional hemp products are made and we can see them making them. The batik process has been passed down the generations - it takes a steady hand! Our next destination is 30km, this time it’s our lunch date.

Lunchtime! An amazing spread of local food is on offer. We don’t just stop at any place though - we stop off in Yen Minh at a restaurant with incredible views of the mountains on front of us and the valley below. Food is a local selection of pork / chicken dishes with steamed vegetables, rice and more. Lunch is an hour, maybe a little more if you want to walk around a little.

Tham Ma Pass, the winding snake pass that descends down the valley where there are young girls with large baskets of flowers for photo opportunities. The ethnic people here also have a few stalls selling handicrafts. We spend usually around 1/2 hour here for photos and to chat. Then we drive to our next stop near the Chinese border.

Lao Xa village is famous for making jewelry and accessories from silver. We chat with some of the locals while walking in the local area. Then we head to the Sa Phin Valley located in the Dong Van Geopark.

The Hmong King Palace, also known as Vua Meo (King of the Hmong), was built between 1989 and 1903 with 64 rooms set in 3 hectares of land. We spend an hour here learning about the history of the palace while exploring the grounds.

We arrive at our hotel in Dong Van - a nice place with all the modern amenities. We have a chance to freshen up, have a rest or explore the town a little before going out to dinner later.

Supper. Local food and plenty of it. We eat out at a local restaurant close by to where we are staying. The local cuisine is more in tune with Chinese food than Vietnamese because of our proximity to the border.

We get breakfast in the local market square which is close by. The breakfast favourites here are Banh Cuon and a multi-coloured sticky rice. Banh Mi is also available if you prefer.

Lung Cu Flag Tower - the northern most part of Vietnam. You can see China from here. The historic flag tower has been rebuilt many times over the last 150 years. The tower sits atop a hill (Dragon Mountain) that has 400 steps. There is an electric shuttle service that can take us part of the way up - handy to save time as well as some stairs.

We visit the Chai village of the Lo Lo people. It’s only 1km walking from the flag tower. Walking to the village is quite picturesque. There are many preserved classic style buildings to see here as well as new developments of course. We can get food and drinks here but usually in we have that in Dong Van. We get a chance to talk with some of the locals about their lives here - the Lo Lo people only number 4800 in the whole of Vietnam so seeing this ethnic tribe is quite rare. Our next stop is for lunch - 20km away in Dong Van.

Lunchtime! We eat at a local restaurant. The food is traditional vietnamese with the usual selection of food. We have an hour to catch up on the things we have seen so far and the people we met along the way. Next stop is a rather famous trek.

Skypath / Skywalk - this is the trek everyone talks about because of the amazing views. This is also the longer version! We get dropped by a large statue to the builders of the peace road (loop road). As we travel along the path, we have incredible views of the the new que river and the canyon. We pass along the finger pointing rock. On the other side of the rock, we are now descending into the valley into the Hmong village of Pai Lung who farm the area somehow, despite the number of black rocks. We stay high up on the White Cliffs as the trail hugs the mountainside, this part has a safety barrier as the sides are so steep. The views continue to be breathtaking, finally ending with a steep descent to the Panoramic Viewpoint via many steps. We have a rest here and take in the views. Then on to Meo Vac.

We stay at a homestay just 5km outside of Meo Vac town. After such an epic trek, it its the perfect time to relax a little, walk around, shower etc.

Supper. Local food, popular is the hotpot but more Chinese style than Vietnamese. The owner of the homestay is Hmong, so the food reflects this to a degree.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do & see. We drive the 10km to our first destination of the day.

Nho Que River Cruise - To get to the boat, we must first trek 2km to the boat terminal. However there is the option of an electric minibus taxi that can get us there a lot faster. The river cruise will take us along the emerald green river and though the Tu San Canyon where they stop the boat for a short time so people can take photos and admire the views. The boat takes us right up to the Chinese border before turning around and coming back to the boat terminal. The views on this boat trip make it one of the highlights of the tour.

Lunchtime! We eat in Meo Vac as a local restaurant. The food is traditional vietnamese with the usual selection of food. We have an hour to catch up on the things we have seen so far and the people we met along the way. Next destination is 25km.

Mau Due - This amazing viewpoint where we have a lovely backdrop of mountains with zig zig winding road that gets us up here. There is a place to get snacks and refreshments as well as a few moments to stretch the legs.

In the Lung Ho Valley we find an interesting colonial French outpost. We see the lovely views of the valley here, before moving on.

Du Gia - The village of the same name as the National Park, famous for the local waterfall - we take a walk around the village and waterfall of course. The waterfall feels quite private and special even though its not the largest.

Our homestay in Du Gia is a beautiful traditional Tay house located next to the river. We unpack and get ready for supper in an hour and have a little time to relax.

Supper. The food style tonight has a Tay flavour as the owner is Tay and so is most of the village. Menu options rotate daily.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do & see. We drive the 5km to our first destination of the day.

To get to the Lung Khuy Caves, we have to trek a bit from the village of Lung Khuy! There and back is 3km in total. The path takes us around the hillside with glorious views of below as we climb many steps. There are monkeys in this area - if we are lucky we may catch sight of one. We also see people farming along the route. The gradients of their fields are quite something. As we near the summit of this trek the stairs get steeper. Even though many are broken, its not too difficult to get to the top, however - passing people coming the other way with no safety barrier or hand rails is a challenge. This is why we go early. At the top, if we are a bit warm - there is a kiosk selling drinks & ice creams.

Lung Khuy Caves. Opened to the public in 2015 but known about by locals for centuries, these caves have a local spiritual significance. The caves are over 500m long and in places over 30m high. There is a metal walkway inside the caves to walk on as the cave floor is actually quite wet. A tiny part of the cave is roped off for locals to make special ceremonies. The features of the cave are quite lovely and we spend up to 1/2 hour in there before walking back down the path to the village. Our next stop is 20km away.

Quan Ba is our destination for lunch. Local style of course though with a Dao flavour. We take an hour before heading to our homestay.

The homestay is in the village of Nam Dam. Here we unpack and get ready because the day is not over yet! We still have some more trekking to do :)

There are many local paths that are great for trekking. The one that we are interested in is to the Na Waterfall. Along the way we see the rich history of the place with old mud houses (old because they don’t build new ones obviously) as well as rice terraces as we approach the waterfall. There are many ferns lining the path we take as well as pine trees that are popular with the birds which we can hear singing. Total distance 4km.

We have a little time before supper that you can spend as you wish. Either freshing up after the days trekking adventure, a rest or engaging with the homestay family. They are quite chatty.

The menu like many places rotates on food selection availability. As ever everything is home grown in case you wondered. It has a distinctive Dao flavour.

Breakfast is served! Usually crepes (French style pancakes) are on offer along with some fresh tea / coffee. All done in around 3/4 hour as we want to get the day started as there is so much to do and see. We drive the 5km to our first destination of the day for some trekking.

We have time for one last trek! This time Heaven’s Gate is nearby so we set off from the homestay. Rather delightfully we come across the nice bridge exiting Nam Dam* almost straight away. We trek though a sea of green made up of rice terraces, mountain forests and wild grasses. The path continues to take us up hill until we come across the village of Tru Son from the Red Dao and White Hmong. We continue on as Heavens Gate is not far away.

Heavens Gate - Obviously we stop for some photos even though we have been here already, just not coming from this side.

Alas now our time in Ha Giang is at an end and it is time for the driver to take us back to Hanoi with a couple of stops along the way.

Tuen Quang is where we have lunch at a local restaurant. Food is typical Vietnamese. Lunch is an hour, enough time to stretch the legs before getting back in the car.

We stop Ving Phu for a quick pit stop, otherwise the afternoon drive is too much in one go.

Finally back in Hanoi, we drop you at your hotel or residence. We hope you had a memorable tour and a great time with us.