Vietnam Part 2: THE Ha Giang Loop
After gravving a coconut coffee at the famous Notes Café, we took the mini an to Ha Giang, met the team at Flipside Adventures at their base resort. It was a beautiful villa with a massive swimming pool - which unfortunately we did not get to enjoy as it was raining very heavily. Instead, we met briefly with the outbound group who were sharing many a 'happy waters' with their easy drivers.
The Flipside Resort
Linh (an absolute badass of a woman) founded the company with her partner Tom. They told us the Ha Giang Loop is fast to get massively commercialised but promised that we'd spend most of our time off the beaten track. Even if you were a confident driver, they still recommended getting an easy driver because it was 1) a great way to contribute to the local economy 2) a chance to get to know a a very passionate Ha Giang local and 3) enjoy the most magnificent scenery the entire time instead of having your eyes on the road.
My driver Quan and me
Said views:
We stopped for a coffee in the middle of a beautiful pass with only maybe one other tourist in sight, before hiking to small waterfall, of which the trail head is non existent to anyone passing by. Later that afternoon, we arrived at our accommodation, and we met this one British girl who, thanks of a mixture of her tight travel plans and miscommunication, had somehow ended up with a private Ha Giang Loop tour with her easy driver. It meant one-on-one waterfall and cave adventures, with sign language as their only form of communication.
We played with puppies, had dinner with the drivers, and, of course, started our một, hai, ba, vô! chants, followed by shots of happy water, Vietnamese karaoke, and dancing well past midnight. I lucked out and got a private room that night, avoiding the misery some of the girls endured when squeaky rats started chewing through their bum bags in the early hours of the morning.
Without a hangover in sight, we continued driving the next day through rolling green hills, winding roads, black limestone cliffs, and rice terraces. We stopped for lunch at a riverside restaurant, where the drivers kindly took all our belongings and rode downstream to meet us while we floated with the current. There is footage somewhere on Andrew's GoPro, but you'll just have to trust me that those were twenty very happy minutes.
A group selfie by Ming, who I practiced my basic Mandarin with
We continued our drive to the most touristy part of the itinerary - Mã Pí Lèng Pass, large tour buses in sight with selfie sticks around. The views did make up for it though:
We drove further north (I think) to where the Chinese border was, and was reunited with Linh and her friends who was already there. We stayed in little glamping teepees whilst watching the beautiful sunset. Delicious dinner was served on a long table, followed by rounds of more happy water, playing with even more puppies, and dancing around a bonfire. With yet another clear head due to the magic of the happy water - I woke up early and enjoyed the sunrise above the clouds.
We went to visit the Chinese border the next morning, followed by another cave. This time, it was fenced off with barbed wire, as it has been shut since the pandemic. Gorgeous huge cave with a giant golden buddha statue inside - lovely time except I took a little misstep in climbing the fence and my arm went straight into the barbed wires. This may have been the first time I have seen my.. actual.. muscle layer.
Mildly panicking but also knowing at least I am covered for tetanus, we (I - the tour guide looked slightly pale at the sight of my blood dripping on the ground) flushed my wound with as much saline as they have brought in what looks like a slightly out of date first aid kit, wrapped it with some bandage and continued with the tour. We somehow even managed to get some amoxicillin in a pharmacy during lunch which I Googled doses for and then started myself on (sorry doctors).
There are more impressive pictures of the cave, but I don't love the look of portrait pictures on here
We stopped for another coffee a coffee, where we sadly said goodbye to the two Aussie youngsters who have booked themselves a longer tour. The skies had turned much darker by then, and we spent most of the drive back in our ponchos. It's amazing what adrenaline does to your body - I did not feel my arm was in pain until our 6 hour mini van drive back to Hanoi, where it started to throb and mildly swell up.
It was then time for me to Grab to the Korean International Hospital and get a few stitches (following a rather painful lidocaine injection). I found it quite strange having sutures put inside me - I'm normally on the other side of the interaction. The young doctor at the ER banned me from any water activities for the next week, after being a slightly pesky patient asking what would happen if I was to jump in the ocean, the nurse sneaked me in some waterproof plasters knowing that I was heading for Ha Long Bay next.
I don't think I have expressed it very well, but it was a lot of happy laughter, dancing, and talking these three days. As a group I think we collectively agreed how surreal this whole experience was. Looking back, I'm still not sure how much of that feeling came from the happy water, and how much came from having drivers whose job seemed to be part tour guide, part hype man, and part friend. I'm still unsure about our little mid trip charity visit, where we brought basic groceries to local families. Given how popular the Loop has become, I do hope companies like Flipside are giving something meaningful back to the communities that make the experience possible.
Barbed wire and all, this trip left a mark on me in more ways than one.