Tours - Du Gia National Park + River cruise

We start the tour early and either collect you from your homestay near the centre of town. Driving from Ha Giang town to our first call takes is only 45km, but the twisty and steep roads means that it takes us an hour & half to get there. A theme we will soon be getting used to.

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 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.

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 has Hmong, Dao, Nung & Tay people. We stop at local restaurant to enjoy a lovely traditional vietnamese meal. We spend an hour here. After lunch its time to get back on the road for our next waterfall!

To get to the recently discovered Khau Ian Waterfall, we must first do a little trekking. The falls were recently discovered so the access path is small and easy to miss if you don’t know about it! We trek though the dense forest, first descending then later ascending. As we approach the waterfall, we can hear the thunder of the water and also the trail starts to get a little muddy from the overflow from the waterfall. Later we will trek back on the same route.

Khau Ian Waterfall waterfalls are some 30m+ high in total. The flow of water is fantastic though & makes a thunderous noise. Swimming is possible in the warmer months. We make the most of our time here as sadly it is the last sight on the tour. After we have a 45km drive back to Ha Giang.

We drop you off at your location of choice in Ha Giang city, weather that be a homestay, hotel or the bus station. The tour alas has ended but the memories should live on forever. We hope you had a fantastic tour of what Ha Giang has to offer!