This one time in Ha Giang... (Part Two)

I do not recommend this, but I for one am so happy I did.

Continued from Part One.

We took off from our hotel with an overcast sky and hopeful reassurances from our guides that the weather wasn’t going to be like this for the whole three days. We stopped at a gas station to fill up our tanks, and it was in this moment that the rest of our crew, all young adults, most of whom opted for the “Easy Rider” option, learned that I had never driven a motorbike before. One British guy who was riding his own motorbike with a friend on the back (both smaller than us) shook his head and said “you’re crazy.” I didn’t disagree. He had been riding for years and while he felt confident in himself riding the Ha Giang loop, even he didn’t feel completely certain he would make it out unscathed.

We made our way through the city of Ha Giang, the buildings growing few and far between as we drew closer to the mountainside. Smaller sections of farmland delivered us to narrower roads that eventually climbed towards the sky. My heart caught in my throat as the downpour began. Seriously? This is my first day riding a motorbike? I was shocked to find as we floated higher and higher in elevation that the only barriers separating me from the mountainside that dropped off into the abyss were approximately three foot long curbs with wide gaps between them.

And yes, we were on the outside side of the road that entire first day.

Our first stop was a coffee shop built against the mountain, floating above immaculate views and propped up by stilts and concrete. We grabbed coffees as a group and I willed the nerves to be shaken from me. I’ve made it this far without a scratch. This has already been a miracle. I knew from my two psychology degrees that this fear coursing through my body would only make survival and success harder if I allowed it too much space. As we climbed back onto our bikes and started crawling along the mountainside I willed myself to breathe into my belly and coach myself with reassuring words, “I can do this. Fear is not helpful here. Keep going. One stretch of road at a time.”

Much of our view on the first day looked like this.

Fear being unhelpful is not entirely true in this instance. Yes, if I let myself crumble the way my fear wanted me to in these moments, that would not have been very helpful or productive. However the fear was reminding me of the very real truth of the situation which was YOU HAVE NEVER RIDDEN A MOTORCYCLE BEFORE AND THERE IS A VERY STEEP DROP-OFF RIGHT BESIDE YOU. These are helpful things to keep in mind in such a scenario. And yet, as Rohinton Mistry states in his beautifully painful novel A Fine Balance,

We cannot draw lines and compartments and refuse to budge beyond them…you have to maintain a fine balance between hope and despair.…In the end, it’s all a question of balance.

This experience was a masterclass in practicing balance, both physically and emotionally for me for those three days. I only wiped out once, on that first day, and even as it happened I knew it was because I let fear take ahold of me as I made a sharp turn. I had seen the turn coming and couldn’t help but picture myself careening off the edge, falling to my death. I turned too sharply (to avoid said careening), toppled over on my bike, and walked way with a mild scratch on my hand. After it happened I reminded myself you can’t let fear take ahold of you like that.

And I didn’t. The fear did bubble up more strongly in the evenings, as I laid in bed thinking about the next day to come, and I talked to my husband about it. But each morning I woke up willing myself into determination, partially helped by that constant reminder that the further we went I really didn’t have a choice: I have to keep going. Something in me kept wanting to see if I could make this work, to see what I could become.

The trip continued. We slept in homestays, eating beautiful meals prepared for us by our hosts

We drove along roads still under repair from landslides, and through busy mountain villages with people scattered throughout.

Our worst roads were on our second day. I remember asking our guide Minh on our first night after the downpour if the roads were at least good for the second day. He laughed and said “oh no, no they’re worse.” Thankfully our weather cooperated and we had beautiful sunny skies!

We sang karaoke both nights of our trip…

Our second night we stopped into an annual celebration the local village of Dong Van was having.

And saw incredible views and met wonderfully fun and adventurous people…

You can kind of tell the difference between the bikes the Easy Riders had versus our little bikes in this photo.

We stopped at another coffee shop situated on the side of the mountain on our third and final day and had more beautiful views this time.

And as the trip continued, I noticed myself feeling more confident, and able to keep up with the others. I was actually enjoying myself and having fun, being awe-struck by the views the whole way.

As I have mentioned before, no, I don’t necessarily recommend you decide to drive the Ha Giang loop solo if you have never ridden a motorcycle before. I don’t think the people of Vietnam would appreciate an uptick in motorbike accidents along an already precarious section of road. However, I carry this experience with me and it speaks to me in moments when I feel fear and uncertainty about my abilities. Fear can get in the way of so many remarkable experiences if we let it. I’m so, so glad I didn’t let it rob me of this experience. The photos and videos taken along this trip, as well as videos of others adventuring along the loop bring me so much joy, and I can only hope for more similar adventures in the future.

I think we all have experiences like this if we think back, and are capable of so much.

To see more of what motorbiking through Vietnam can be like, here are a couple of my favourite YouTube travellers:

• Paddy Doyle (mentioned in Part One) drove his motorbike north to south: Vietnam by Motorbike Series

• The One Pack Wanderers provide another example of a badass female (eventually) driving a motorbike for the first time in Vietnam, successfully: We are Riding the Length of Vietnam

  • they return a year (ish) later to complete the Ha Giang loop as well, during rainy season: Ha Giang Loop | the Most Beautiful Part of Vietnam. They stop at the same coffee shop we stopped at on our first day right at the beginning of the first video in this series.

Their videos capture what it is truly like to explore this beautiful part of the country.