This time back to Ha Giang, Ngoc Thao chose a combined journey from the rocky plateau to Cao Bang.
Tran Thi Ngoc Thao, 23 years old, from Vung Tau, currently lives and works in marketing in Ho Chi Minh City. She and her brother’s trip just took place at the end of March, which is also the end of the rice flower season in the North.
The two brothers booked a flight ticket to Ho Chi Minh City – Hanoi in the evening, landed at 20:15, then took a bus to Ha Giang from 21:30. Flying in the evening to continue the bus trip makes you move a lot but saves time. Below are Thao’s experiences and detailed schedule.
Transport
The ticket price from Ho Chi Minh City to Hanoi is about 1.7 million VND per person. From Noi Bai, the two brothers rented an electric car to move to the place to wait for the bus for 50,000 VND for two people. Trams are convenient and cheaper than taxis but have to wait a bit longer.
Going to Hanoi – Ha Giang by sleeper bus costs 300,000 VND per person.
From Ha Giang, rent a motorbike for 180,000 VND a day to move around. Because renting a car in Ha Giang and paying at Cao Bang , Thao costs an extra 500,000 VND to transport the car.
From Cao Bang back to Hanoi, the two brothers went on Limousine for 370,000 VND per person.
Detailed schedule
Day 1: Ha Giang City – Dong Van (120 km)
4h: Thao is in Ha Giang city and rents a motorbike, rests in the motel room.
6h: Have to breakfast and start on the road. The first destination is the lonely tree. Thao went to Thuan Hoa commune, Vi Xuyen district, without going through Quan Ba heaven gate. The two sides of the road are wild scenes with many hills and mountains, and especially there are many rice trees in bloom and over the Can Ty suspension bridge.
12h: Show up and have lunch at Yen Minh, rest for about an hour, then continue until 3pm to Tham Ma slope and 4pm to Pho Cao. Due to a lot of traveling, she had to skip the house points of Pao , the H’Mong ethnic village to run straight to Pho Bang.
16h30: Visit Pho Bang. She found this to be a fairly modern town, but the deeper she went, the more ancient and unspoiled features gradually appeared. The short-walled houses next to each other look more attractive.
17h15: Check in Sung La valley and moon rock beach.
19h: Arrive at Dong Van , have dinner with black chicken hot pot at Ms. Thu Bo 2’s restaurant, then walk around Dong Van old town and stay overnight at Men’s homestay.
Day 2: Dong Van – Bao Lac, Cao Bang (80 km)
7:00: After breakfast of Ba Ha rolls in the old town, the two brothers walk around the Dong Van Market, which takes place only on Sunday mornings. Ngoc Thao is most impressed with the cattle market when dogs, pigs, buffaloes and cows are tied around the market to find a new owner.
8:00am: Depart for white cliffs. You search for “God’s Cliff” on Google Maps to get to the place where the motorbike is parked and then walk about 3 km to the cliff. “From here, everyone will see the most beautiful pass of Ma Pi Leng, below is the green Nho Que river flowing through. Everything in my sight at that time was so great that I don’t know how to describe it because it was beautiful. not enough,” Thao said.
13h: Have lunch, check out, and at 14h00 depart for Cao Bang by road Dong Van – Meo Vac – Bao Lac. The distance has many twists and turns to challenge the driver. If stopping at Ma Pi Leng pass and Yen Ngua cliff is also dangerous, so everyone taking pictures should be careful.
18h: Arrive at Bao Lac and rest at Bao Lac Homestay & Cao Bang Loop. The road from Meo Vac to Bao Lac has a lot of rice flowers blooming along the roadside, but Thao goes at the end of the season, so only a few trees are in bloom.
Day 3: Bao Lac – Le Lin Stream – Cao Bang City (140 km)
6h: Have to breakfast and walk around town. Thao shared, that in Bao Lac, there are delicious duck pho and sausage noodle soups, especially sausages that you don’t get bored with.
7:30: Departure to Khau Coc Cha pass . To get to the top of the pass to enjoy the panoramic view of 14 floors from above, you have to trek through the forest to get to the top, go along the mountainside and follow the red-painted markings for directions. Climbing time is about 45 minutes to an hour depending on your fitness. The first half of the road is not very steep and easy to go but the second half is called a real challenge with high and slippery rocky slopes.
13h: Departure to Lenin stream. The entrance ticket is 45,000 VND per person, including the tram, because the Thao brothers arrived late, so they skipped the monument and went straight to the stream. The deeper you go upstream, the greener and clearer the water is with a lot of fish. Around the stream, there are trees, the lawn is very poetic, and the air is clean and fresh.
17h: Depart for Cao Bang city.
19h: Arrive in the city, check-in at Jodevi homestay.
Day 4: Cao Bang City – Thang Hen Lake – Ban Gioc Waterfall – Cao Bang City (160 km)
7:30 am: Depart for Thang Hen lake. The lake is about 35 km from the city center, the road is easy to go and there are signs. The entrance ticket is 30,000 VND per person.
11h: Departing to Ban Gioc waterfall, the two brothers did not have lunch and ran to the waterfall because of the long distance. Tickets to the waterfall are 45,000 VND per person. With Thao, Ban Gioc is different from the waterfalls she has visited because of many floors but not too high, it looks “gentle and charming”.
When she arrived in the Trung Khanh district, she felt the characteristics that she had imagined about the land of Cao Bang. Bamboo groves grow along with the fields, in the distance are buffaloes grazing, and next to the old house is a row of mustard flowers still wet with dew, lying neatly below the towering mountain. These scenes have the strongest attraction to Vung Tau girls.
16h: Back to Cao Bang city.
Day 5: Cao Bang City – Ho Chi Minh City
7:30 am: After having breakfast, we go to Thung Mountain . Thao went on a rainy day, but not because of that, the landscape was less beautiful. She was able to admire the view of the puncture mountain and the surrounding hills peeking out among the floating clouds, below is a calm blue lake. According to her, if you go on a rainy day, you should bring boots to avoid slipping and falling.
11h: Return to homestay and check out.
14h: Get on the bus back to Hanoi to arrive at 20:00.
22h: Arrive at the airport to catch the plane to Ho Chi Minh City and end the trip.
Stay
In Dong Van: Two brothers rest at the Men’s homestay for 400,000 VND a night. Homestay in the center, clean, spacious, lovely owner.
In Bao Lac town: stay at Bao Lac Homestay & Cao Bang Loop for 700,000 VND per night including dinner and breakfast. That said, the two brothers had dinner here, the menu has very delicious kitchen meat, sip a few sips of specialty corn wine, and listen to the owner share about the land of Cao Bang. It was a cozy dinner she would never forget.
Two nights in Cao Bang City: Overnight at Jodevi homestay with room price of 350,000 VND per night. The advantage is that it is located right in the city center, convenient to travel and around many restaurants. The downside is that the bathroom’s drainage is a bit poor.
Places to eat
In Ha Giang, you should eat Ba Ha rolls in Dong Van old town, Co Thu black chicken hot pot. In Cao Bang, try Cao Bang sausage, different from the sausage in the South. There is also a 7-seater Roast Duck in the center of Cao Bang city. Note, roasted duck is only sold for take-out and sold out very soon, you should come before 19:00. For the rest of the meal, Thao eats rice at popular restaurants to gain strength.
Expense
The 5-day trip costs 6 million VND per person, including expenses:
– VND 1,700,000 for round trip ticket
– VND 1,500,000 for a bus tickets and motorbike rental
– VND 900,000 for 4 nights of homestay
– VND 2,000,000 for gas, meals, sightseeing tickets
Note
The attractions are far from each other, the roads are empty and there are many dangerous crab passes, it is necessary to take advantage of the homestay before dark.
The weather at the beginning of the year is quite cold, so you should bring clothes to keep your body warm. Prioritize choosing a closed helmet to prevent wind from entering the ears.
Female guests should bring moisturizer and drink plenty of water. Thao finds that in any season, the mountain air is a bit dry, making the skin easy to peel when returning to the South.
Going for a long day, you should minimize your luggage as much as possible to be safer when moving.
During this trip, Thao changed her clothes quite a lot, so she often changed at the restaurant for lunch and some attractions will have a place to change. You should wear bright colors such as orange, red, and white to take pictures without being submerged in the midst of nature.
Put garbage in the right place.