AWESOME SAPA DIRT MOTORBIKE LOOP TOUR VIA SIN HO – LAI CHAU – 2 DAYS

* Brief Itinerary:

Day 1: Sapa Motorbike Tour to Binh Lu – Lai Chau city – Phong Tho town – Chan Nua Junction – Sin Ho town – 195km.

Day 2: Sin Ho Motorbike Tour back to Lai chau city – Binh Lu Juntion – Sapa town 135km.

Day 1: Sapa Dirt Motorbike Loop Tour to Binh Lu, Phong Tho, Sin Ho, Chan Nua: Sapa Motorbike Tour to Binh Lu – Lai Chau city – Phong Tho town – Chan Nua Junction – Sin Ho town – 195km.

Head west on Road 4D from the town of Sapa. The road passes a couple of pretty waterfalls before reaching the top of Tram Ton Pass, Vietnam’s highest mountain road at 1,900m (6,230ft), about 15km from Sapa. You will know when you get here because, if the weather is clear, you will see the pass snaking around the mountains below you, the pass is both a climatic divide and a provincial one, marking the border of Lao Cai and Lai Chau provinces.

The impressive, crenelated ridge to the south is Mount Fansipan, Indochina’s highest peak at 3,143m. Its looming presence bears down on the pass, casting a cold shadow over the road. Deep down in the valley below indigo rivers forge paths over large boulders. Fansipan is so big that it dominates the scenery all the way to Lai Chau. Tram Ton Pass winds down through more pristine alpine scenery to Tam Duong town. Continue northwest on Road 4D for 40km to Lai Chau.

If you’re visiting during September or October look out for some absurdly pretty valleys of terraced rice fields, about 10km before descending into Lai Chau. This is the kind of scenery that brochures promise Sapa will offer, but in reality you have to travel a little further afield to find sights like this.

From Lai Chau continue northwest on Road 4D toward the town of Phong Tho. After Phong Tho the road turns back on itself, heading south along the Da River valley. The road is in good condition but deteriorates when it becomes Road 12. The last 30km to Nam Cay/Chan Nua it’s a quiet stretch through a majestic river valley. At the junction turn left on Road 128 for the impossibly scenic and steep ride to Sin Ho. In good weather this route is exceptional. Cutting a path in the mountainside, the single lane road zig-zags up for 40km to the isolated mountaintop town of Sin Ho. The views over ridges, farmland, ethnic minority villages and clear rivers are superb.

Like Sapa, Sin Ho is often engulfed in mist and drizzling rain. The town is scruffy, run-down and feels very remote. Built on a small plateau at an altitude of over 1,000m (3,300ft) Sin Ho is very cool, especially in the evenings. Ringed by limestone pinnacles and surrounded by minority villages scattered over the mountainside.

Try to time your visit to catch the Sunday market. Busiest between 8-10am Sin Ho market receives hundreds of minority women dressed in their various colourful clothing. They make the journey by foot – sometimes starting before dawn – to the market in order to buy (not sell) supplies for the week ahead. Unlike Sapa market, where minority people are more likely to be seen selling to foreign and Vietnamese tourists, Sin Ho market is the real deal. This means there’s no hassling to buy trinkets and garments; most of what’s for sale is fresh meat, vegetables, fruit and practical equipment for use in the villages.

Day 2: Sapa Dirt Motorbike Loop Tour to Binh Lu, Phong Tho, Sin Ho, Chan Nua: Sin Ho Motorbike Tour back to Lai chau city – Binh Lu Juntion – Sapa town 135km.

The 60km descent on Road 128 from Sin Ho back down to Lai Chau is just as beautiful as the drive up. A vast landscape of endless mountains stretches into the distance, dotted with stilt-home villages clustered around clear streams.

In the meantime you can take a back-road ride (turn left 30km north of Sin Ho) which cuts out the last 30km of the descent and rejoins Road 4D just south of Phong Tho, from where you turn right (due north) and take the road back to Lai Chau.

Once in Lai Chau retrace your route on Road 4D back to Sapa.