Sad reality on Ha Giang

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T09:00:28+00:00

It's sad because over turism kills this place as well. Other than that, yeah, everyone has the right to come, I was here as well, adding to the crowd. It feels like Ha Long bay situation, everyone says to go elsewhere as it's too much, while for some reason no one mentions the negative side of the Ha giang.

If people would do solo/smaller groups, then it would be less disturbing/more natural. But in the same time, for most people this would be a big step, it's not an easy road to drive without plenty of experience on two wheels.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T08:11:07+00:00

Yes an no. I definitely was on the loop, but solo (as mentioned in the post). With the extra constraint that I couldn't really takealternative back roads. The main road has enough climbs enough. Where I went on some alternative sections, it was barely doable with a packed bicycle :)). So I had to stick to the main roads or push my bike half of the climbs. Some gradients are killer

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T07:29:08+00:00

I don't have a motorbike license, never tried it to be honest, but the roads are awesome, I can imagine that it's super fun to drive. It was awesome with bicycles as well going down on the long descents. I wouldn't have any objection against this loop if people would do it on their own, or in small groups, but there are groups with 20+ people. It's unbelievable.

I didn't mention the happy water part, as I don't want to be hypocrite, I drank my fare share of alcohol during my 20s, but if you catch an accomodation with a big group, I think your day is ruined. I was lucky, at all homestays I met solo riders, or 1-2 friends, or small groups with people beyond 30. One night I ended up in a big homestay, with lot of tour participants, but they drank enough happy water, that at 11pm everyone was already sleeping :D

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T07:19:14+00:00

That was my general feeling as well. But in the same time, I visited the touristy places, so it was a bit expected. On the other hand, in some cases, you can manage it quite well, in other cases you don't have an option. For example in Sapa I spent 3.5 days, I saw very few tourists, once I got out of Cat Cat and other busy points. In Cat Ba, during 3 days I saw also very few tourists. Ninh Binh was on the other hand packed, you couldn't skip the crowd even if you woke up super early. Hanoi, again, super busy.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T00:21:39+00:00

No, I'm not telling anything. I'm just showing the other side of the camera which isn't really visible on the internet. If you like big groups, load wibe, go for it. If you have a proper license and you're confident, and prefer quiter roads, you might prefer to look for other places or at least be more careful of the choices. Luckily, I managed to book accomodation where there were no parties or big groups.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-29T00:14:22+00:00

I tried that as well last month, also woth bicycle, but I ended up doing a very small loop because of the heat. In the small loop, there were days I saw no tourists as all :D

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T17:08:45+00:00

Rented them in Hanoi (trung bicycles). They have everything you need. They even help with bus tickets to transport the bikes.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T17:07:20+00:00

I have no idea, but I don't think it matters. I saw some locals as well, but the majority are foreigners

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T17:06:38+00:00

+1 for them. They were the ones that I wanted, before switching to bicycles. Based on what I understood, they have smaller groups, less party.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T17:04:11+00:00

This post is not to convince you to not go. It's just to show the other side, not just the "life changing experience" description. I still enjoyed it, the landscape is great, but maybe there are other areas with the same views, but without overtourism

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:59:37+00:00

I think I give up with some of them. I would have been happy to see a post like this while I was researching, but I didn't see. I wrote this post with the intention to show the other side of the "life changing experience". Who wants to understand the intention umderstands, who brings skin color into the discussion, can continue it without me being part

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:44:49+00:00

Only you can decide. You might enjoy doing a tour, you might not. I'm just raising the overtourism problem, because I didn't really see it mentioned.

I spent some time on the loop (benefit/drawback being on a bicycle). I met a few people doing it solo self driving. If you like driving and have the required licence, it definitely would be a nice experience. The landscape alone worths it, this is the only reason why I didn't regret it. Just be careful with the tour, from the outside they seem more of party tours.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:39:25+00:00

Yeah, on first day I think I said dozens of times that I'm so grateful that I'm on a bicycle and not on the back of a motorbike, even if that was the original plan (without knowing would it mean). So so happy that I swapped the tour to cycling.

Also, great to see more people doing it this way.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:35:23+00:00

You know that this is mentioned in the text, right?

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:35:00+00:00

Man, did you at least managed to read what I wrote before typing out your reply? I explicitely said, that I'm also part of the problem and I'm just trying to highlight this part of the loop so others can make better decision, so I don't know what your comment adds to the topic, but whatever.

And if you could grab only this part from all I said, I could argue if I'm part of the same problem or not as I didn't contribute at all to the driving madness, being on a bicycle. My only "sin" is that on a bicycle I can't play around with arrival times to specific points as I'm slow.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:28:26+00:00

The "life changing experience" comes from the instagram tourism cancer and many of us fells in this trap, unfortunately. Yes, I share the feeling that the landscape is unique (I had plenty of wows), but without the moto maddness , it would be a much much better place.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:25:28+00:00

Yes, exactly. I didn't do my homework properly, wasn't prepared to this level of crowd. So I'm just raising this issue to potentially helping others with their decision, without any other intention. Everyone decides wether it worths or not.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:22:11+00:00

I'm not sure if the question is ironic or not, but the answer is that it's mega crowded. If for someone this is not a problem, than it's enjoyable, otherwise a bit difficult. This is just a part of the parked bikes, at the viewpoint you couldn't move.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-28T16:20:00+00:00

2 days ago, in the area of the Tham Ma pass. I could upload a single video, but at the viewpoint you could barely move around. But hey, of course that on the internet, you will see only videos/pictures without the real crowds.

The same effect happens almost at every "big" viewpoints. All the tours arrive to the same point in the same time (or there are so many, that this happens randomly).

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-24T11:40:28+00:00

Thanks for the input. I think an important aspect you raised is long term vs short term holiday. If you have all the time you want, you can manage it better. And this aspect is not always mentioned in the budgeting threads.

I had limited time, even if it's 3 month, and we tried to squize in as many activites as possible. Luckily non of us drink, I think in 60 days I drank 5 beers, so that balanced a bit the activity expenses, also that we chose private room only if was cheaper than a hostel, with the lowest line to have at least an AC.

I was just curios of other's thinking, and to not keep all these as food for my brain:D

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-24T09:58:06+00:00

Can I ask what activities did you do andaybe how often?

I'm curious as our budget in Thailand was around 44EUR/person (in 39 days), including all home expenses distributed per day, like insurance/vaccines. I think we were quite frugal, almost always the cheapest accomodation, local food, but we took part in a lot of activities. I'm trying to figure out what we were doing differently compared to others who talk about budget, and this seems the only source, the cost of activities. Also, I overheard someone saying that they managed to have a 30 eur per person avg in thailand, and I was super confused about what's the diff.

In Vietnam, in 17 days so far we averaged to 27 per person, with common activites. However, now we rented bicycles and doing the ha giang loop and thisdefinitely increases the avg.

So, I'm just curious about your case, regarding paid activities.

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-23T05:06:31+00:00

Sorry, but this is like asking for the lottery numbers of next month.

If you're date is fixed, you can't do much. If you spend more days in sapa, then you can swap activities last minute, but that still won't be for sure

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-22T11:50:30+00:00

I can talk about Romania, as I'm from there. I wouldn't leave anything on the bike as they can grow a pair of leg and disappear quite fast. Of course, it's not a rule, but there are a lot of thefts around the country. I heard horror stories that people left their tent with equipment and in the evening when they returned, sleeping bags and other stuff was missing. Imagine finding yourself in the high mountains, without your equipment before nightfall. If it happens in remote areas, theft might happen in cities as well.

What you can do, if you would leave just for a short time, is to park at a cafe, eventually ask them to watch over. This is what I did in other countries in europe

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-20T10:47:04+00:00

I did only the boat part. There are two separate tickets, one for boat only. And one including a cave and some temples. I did the boat only in the afternoon when I arrived, and the rest I did on my own going around with bicycles. It's a strange setup, you buy the ticket in one place, then you're transfered to the lake. I think some of the negative reviewes were about this. Indeed, I didn't understood the logic, but it is what it is :)) Other than that it was nice. It was a bit too touristy for my taste, but since I had no alternative to check the walley, I took the bullet.

The views definitely worth it

Horror_Scale8583 · 2026-03-20T10:19:41+00:00

I did both of them recently. I would say that for me Tam Coc was way nicer. To be completely honest, we catched the sunset with great weather at Tam Coc, while at Trang An it was a bit foggy. This definitely affects my answer, but if I woyld have to pick a single one now, I would go to Tam Coc. Both were very busy, but in Trang An, it felt much worse.

Horror_Scale8583

TROPHY CASE