Cycling Ho Chi Minh Trails & Coast of Vietnam

Enjoy an early breakfast, and you'll transfer on the road through Hoa Binh, enjoy spectacular mountain views on winding roads, pass green rice paddy fields, break for tea at a small tribe shop, admire the mountain landscapes, and gaze down the verdurous farmlands. Then continue travel on the road to Mai Chau. Arrives in a Thai tribe hamlet after 3.5 hours traveling on the vehicle from Ha Noi.

After lunch at a local restaurant, we start our first-day ride through Mai Chau valley, exploring ethnic life along the valley, through rice terraces to Poom Coong, to Lac villages, passing Thai's tribe stilt houses, family shops selling tribe custom clothes and souvenirs. The back roads in Mai Chau are almost concrete and smooth, with some still dirt tracks and mostly in removed hamlets. Ride and enjoy watching beautiful rice-terraced fields, see buffalos working on farms, cycle along Ma River, and turn left to Ban Do hamlet, where we have a transfer on Highway 15C to Pu Luong in the late afternoon.

After breakfast at home-stay, check out for a 30-minute transfer to a rural village for a full-day adventure. Before the ride, we walk down the River, see numerous bamboo water wheels of different sizes, and learn the structure and how do bamboo wheels working? These bamboo water wheels will transfer water on bamboo pipelines to terraced rice fields. How much water will move depends on the stream, River's current, and the bamboo water wheel doesn't when the water is still. This is why the tribes make only one rice crop as the yearly crop at the beginning of the rainy season.

Then we pick up the bike, cross the Cham River, and cycle to explore the tiny tribal villages until we reach Ma River. Explore the life of locals along the sleepy River, undulating the minor road, through the jungle, pineapple farm, and senjoy Karst limestone mountain views. Pedal on an impressive floating bamboo bridge. Ride onto removed tribal hamlets on the Ho Chi Minh trails. The sceneries are breathtaking, and the routes are a mix of the gavel, and small concrete and asphalt, allowing support vehicles to always be near us. Explore the life of tribes in remote stilt house hamlets on the Ho Chi Minh trails, with looming karst limestone cliffs and lush vegetation, and explore the most picturesque scenery in the country of today's ride to Cam Thuy. Finally, we have a transfer Yen Cat township.

After breakfast, we'll transfer 45-minute rural village in Nghia Dan to explore lush country farms and ride across the colorful fields of various flowers, most of which are sunflowers. It's a fantastic place for nature lovers and photographers. The routes and rural hamlets we explore today are almost flat, undulating roads through stunning hills with numerous fruit orchards and rice paddies.

Visit old temples and pagodas along the villages. We cross through Thai Hoa township, Hieu River, exploring the spectacular landscapes, beautiful countryside, and tiny towns. Cross the Hieu River, and explore small villages along the hillsides and rivers. Lunch break in a small town and carry on the ride through rustic villages to Tan Ky. We finish the day ride at Milestone 0 HCM trails and hop on the vehicle for 1. hour and transfer to Kim Lien village, the hometown of President Ho Chi Minh. Then continue travel on the vehicle to Vinh city. 

Vinh is a small town, and it's urban Dists are such beautiful countryside with fertile plains and protected dams. Today's ride begins with a short transfer out of the city, and we start riding along the rivers and exploring the rural village outskirts of Vinh City. The ride from Vinh to Huong Khue is pretty close, so we take our time as it's easy to enjoy every moment.

We bike through the idyllic countryside and enjoy large fields of chili pepper, rice paddy fields, and some grassy hills with plenty of photos along the rural. Ride on the old suspension bridges, cross the rivers, stop to admire colonial steel bridges, visit small markets in the countryside that are still busy, and stop at the ancient temples and lined bamboo trees along the country until we reach the Ho Chi trails. Today, we undulate the Ho Chi road, pass rainforest and picturesque hamlets with a lunch break in Dong Phuc small town.

Following lunch, we bike 15 km on gravel roads, through villages, experience the life of locals along the waterways of Ngan Sau River to Huong Khue, see buffaloes on rice paddies, enter the Huong Khe town, and ride directly to the hotel. 

From Huong Hue, we follow a small narrow road, and bike into lush fruit orchards of grapefruits, rustic villages, and some villages along sleepy rivers. The country roads are narrow gravel and small tarmac roads, and less traffic with lush orchards and agricultural farms but fewer rice paddies. Stop to visit some fruit orchards and taste some fresh fruits. Next, we enter the west Ho Chi Minh roads and rainforest.

Lunch en route. The routes are smooth asphalt and undulating mountains, rising up and down along the hillsides, through tropical forest, past many small towns and rice paddy farmlands, limestone mountains, valleys, and lakes with spectacular mountain views of Truong Son Mountain. We'll stop at many Ho Chi Minh historical relics and military cemeteries. Challenge the Da Deo Pass, and stop at Khe Gat, the old U.S military Airport, before a 30-minute transfer to Phong Nha.

After breakfast, we travel by vehicle to Paradise Cave; after exploring the cave, we'll transfer to the west Ho Chi Minh, road 15; it winds through jungles and tiny minority villages of Ban Doong, Xu Bien, and Khe Cat. We'll challenge some big and gentle hills, undulating along the sleepy rivers. It's an opportunity to admire the breathtaking mountain landscape and stunning ethnic villages on spiral roads through the Truong Son mountain ranges. We'll finish the day ride at Zin Zin Bridge, about 65km. Then we hope on the vehicles for a transfer to Dong Ha in the late afternoon.

After breakfast, the short vehicle transfer takes us to a rural village, and we commence adventure biking with a full day of biking. The route scenery is fabulous. Explore many villages to the east coastline with vast rice paddies and, river networks, and lotus fields like the flat land of the Mekong Delta. We stop to explore a lively local market—a chance to walk and meet friendly people where few see foreigners. Visit beautiful pagodas and churches on and backwater. We continue biking inland on some back roads, but minor traffic—past serval small towns and small markets along with villages. Lunch en route. We follow the tracks to fishing villages, pedal along sandy beaches, then along the peninsula and Pha Tam Giang Lagoon on coastal trails. Finally, enjoy the lovely landscape on the back road along the Lagoon to the outskirts of Hue and have a short vehicle transfer to Hue City.

Enjoy a tour of the Imperial City of Hue, Vietnam's former capital of the last Nguyen Dynasty. Constructed in 1804 and the Imperial Palace faced the Perfume River. It had recognized UNESCO Heritage Site in 1993. The Forbidden Purple City is where the eunuchs, concubines, and royal servants are allowed. We will learn about the history of the feudal royal Nguyen Dynasty of 12 Lords and the modern history of Indochina and the Vietnam Wars. Then we have a short vehicle transfer to Thuan An local beach to bike toward Hoi An. This fantastic biking offers fantastic scenery, endless charms of local culture, and a tremendous spectacular mountain photo opportunity. Ride on the undulating back roads, past the colorful temples, pagodas, traditional ground graveyards, and small villages on coast routes, and view the peaceful landscapes of the Lagoon, and tiny fishing sampans alongside the road. Enjoy a delicious seafood lunch at Lang Co Beach and challenge Hai Van Pass and ride down to Da Nang before a transfer to Hoi An.

Your free day to explore Hoi An and stay on beach as you relax your legs for following days explore the stunning coastal roads to Nha Trang

We start from the hotel, ride on the new bridge, cross Thu Bon River to Cam Kim village, cycle through some beautiful villages to the River, enjoy an excellent opportunity to see many un-modernized towns, see thatch houses, buffaloes on rice fields, bamboo bridges, and remote hamlets. Many small markets and local homes make fishing nets on country roads through villages along the small rivers where locals will stop and see how locals do their business. Meet and chat with the friendly and welcoming locals at their homes. There will be many stops at historical sites and colorful pagodas. We have lunch at a local restaurant before continuing our fabulous ride through the farmlands. The road is natural countryside, lush farmlands. Great opportunity to see many un-modernized villages on your cycling routes, pass thatch houses, buffaloes on rice fields, Bamboo bridges, and removed villages. Ride along a small river and then follow the minor road to the Sea mouth, take a ferry to Tam Hai Island, then the second ferry to the mainland, where we ride to Binh Dong.

We commence today's ride with a short transfer to rural villages and visit some highlights, My Lai villages, before we pick up the bike from Co Luy bridge, close to sea month. We explore backwaters, and the area offers incredible views through the river network and stunning scenery along old villages with lined bamboo trees. The varied bike routes also take you through nostalgic villages, ancient temples, and pagodas across the lovely countryside, experience the culture, see the farmers harvesting rice crops, and see tranquil towns. Visit a traditional pagoda, and pass by salt fields. There are many non-tourist areas and natural countryside to explore, past many small local markets, little towns, and lush farmlands. Lunch en route, and we continue the lovey ride toward Sa Huynh.

After breakfast, we start cycling from the hotel through Tam Quan's countryside- a homeland of coconut trees. Enjoy slowly riding on small paths, past kindergarten, a vibrant market, and meeting friendly people in the beautiful rural. We view the rural scenery, cross some narrow bridges, and cross Lai Giang River and have a break before we speed up small hills and down to the coast. We can view some of the country's most picturesque beaches and explore people's lives with their traditional fishing villages from the peak. Tam Quan, Binh Dinh province, has the most beautiful scenery, from tiny towns to the spectacular coastline. Most of it is easily accessible along narrow leafy roads and an extensive network of dirt tracks. We travel through villages among coconut trees, past fishing villages, and rolling small hills in the morning. So you get to see the exciting places only the locals know. Lunch en route, and we carry on cycling, discover people who live along the Lagoon, take a leisurely bicycle ride easily along picturesque country roads, and witness the way of life of the rural area. We make many stops to capture stunning photos that will be a treasure for your lifetime. We carry bicycling to Quy Nhon, past local markets and schools on coastal routes to Cat Tien. Finally, we turn left on an undulating road along Thi Mai Lagoon. Have a short transfer over the Thi Nai bridge to Quy Nhon City.

The morning cycle begins with an hour of vehicle transfer on the coastal road to Xuan Tho, near Song Cau market, for the morning mountain biking - 35 km. The roads are small paved, passing lush fields and country farms, then undulate through mountains, jungles, rolling small hills, and then go along the sleepy River to La Hai. Enjoy a snack and fresh fruits, and look over the French colonial railways running north to south. Next, we turn left and ride down the tarmac road. The road parallels the river and train line. We undulate the road and ride more down than up to Chi Thanh, where is your lunch setting.

The afternoon ride is from Chi Thanh; we follow the country road, through lush farmlands and peaceful rivers, and make an agriculture Dam. We continue to enjoy the ride on the gentle roads through eucalyptus, tiny town, and rice paddy fields to Da Dia reef. Ganh Da Dia is a natural rock reef - a geological wonder of interlocking basalt rocks. The area is about 100 meters wide and 250 meters long, with an estimated 35,000 columns of basalt rocks. The stones are in different sizes and shapes - some are round, and some have sharp angles forming polygons.

Then we get back on the bikes and ride to a local beach nearby to enjoy coffee, get some fresh fruits, and bike on narrow paths to fishing hamlets. View the coastal countryside scene, looking over a hundred floating fish farms, and we will explore the O Loan lagoon. With brackish water all year round, locals farm many oysters, shrimp, seaweed, scallops, and so on. A lagoon is also an excellent place for storks and birds to hunt for food. We end up the ride at Tuy Hoa town and have a transfer to Nha Trang in the late afternoon.

After breakfast, transfer to Cam Ranh airport and fly to HCM OR Hanoi to  connect your international flight to home