It was with a certain amount of excitement that I got up that morning. Having recovered well from yesterday's rather long day, I was eager to discover the landscapes of the Dong Van karst plateau , a geopark that has been part of the global network (created by UNESCO ) since 2010.
Welcome to Frontier Area (again): direction Dong Van!
But as I mentioned in the previous article, there's just one point to respect in order to travel in the northernmost regions, beyond the provincial capital of Ha Giang . The official reason is that Ha Giang is still under military control and hotel owners are required to notify all foreign visitors.
To travel to Ha Giang province, you therefore need to acquire a “border area entry permit”.
But don't worry, it's not complicated at all. Most hotels and guesthouses in Ha Giang can help you get your permit, but they will obviously take a small commission in the process.
So we went straight to the Ha Giang immigration office since that was the plan…
Round 1: Immigration Office in Ha Giang
Yes, yes, there's still some "round" in the air... Can you feel the day's fail coming? Finding immigration isn't too complicated. I'd already located it, hence the choice of the hotel location, which, in this case, had been booked in advance.
Concretely, it is located at 415a of Tran Phu street shortly before an intersection with Nguyen Thai Hoc street (where our hotel is located).
See the map below , which also shows the location of restaurants spotted and/or tested and other landmarks on Ha Giang.
The opening hours apparently state: daily (except Vietnamese public holidays) from 08:00 until 20:00 and closed for lunch from 13:00 until 13:30.
Apparently… Except, as luck would have it, that day… We arrived to find the doors closed, with a rather dejected-looking couple of travelers on the doorstep. A message on a simple A4 sheet of paper, placed there on the wall, seemed to indicate that it would reopen that afternoon at 13:30 p.m… (that's what we gathered; it was written in Vietnamese, otherwise it would be too easy…)
The fact is, we had a long 150km drive ahead of us that day , and the goal was to arrive before nightfall. So leaving around 14pm would be too late, and staying here all day didn't really fit with our schedule…
Fortunately, I had looked at quite a bit of information on this subject, and after checking again on the net, I confirmed that it is now possible to obtain the permit elsewhere than in Ha Giang , either directly in Dong Van or Meo Vac.
However, we took the time to have breakfast before leaving around 10:30 a.m.
Next stop: Tam Son
After passing through a few small towns with wide, almost empty avenues, some pretty decent scenery, along a road that gets lost in a maze of bumps and mountains of varying shapes, and some viewpoints that literally glued me to my seat for a moment; we arrived at Tam Son.
Located in the Quan Ba district, Tam Son is known for its absolutely superb mountain views, but more specifically for its two humps, nicknamed "Fairy Bosom," which translates more or less as "fairy breasts"... (After the fairy river of Mui Ne , here is another reference to these mystical creatures in Vietnam).
Seeing them side by side like this, it's easy to understand why they were given this sweet nickname.
In addition to this view of this “beautiful pair”, we decided to stop in the city for lunch.
It was then 13 p.m., and we had barely covered 50 km in 2h30 … That's an average of 20 km/h… (Well, I actually go a little faster, but with the numerous stops, it really brings down this average, which is more likely around 40 km/h excluding stops).
The small restaurant where we stopped looked new and clean, which was nice. While we waited for our fried rice, we enjoyed the rest. The streets were quite quiet ; here a woman was moving her buffalo, there people were chatting in front of their doors, and children watched us shyly from a distance.
Tam Son doesn't really have much charm, but we came across a few typical houses which add a certain cachet to the decor.
Karst landscapes of Dong Van Geopark
The landscapes follow but are not alike. This is also what I appreciate in this trip. Although we are essentially surrounded by mountains, they all have different aspects, the nature surrounding them included.
Sometimes it will be rice fields, further away, a wide valley, other times everything becomes narrower, there, it will be rather pine trees, while elsewhere, it will be other types of trees lining the roads, etc.
And all of this made us drag our feet. Besides the necessary breaks to rest our backsides, it's also a shame in my opinion to just keep going to our destination for the day without stopping; after all, we're not just here to ride.
Well OK, there is also a middle ground… Because it was already almost 17:30 pm when we only arrived at the beginning of the geopark, while we still had 40 km to go before reaching Dong Van itself.
And it's safe to say that with these winding roads, 40 km seems a bit endless…
After yet another break to admire this somewhat chaotic landscape, which reminded me of a film set (I don't really know why, but at the moment, I mostly had the impression of walking on the soil of Mordor…), then, further on, for a final fill-up of petrol, it was only shortly after 19pm (arriving at night once again…), that we arrived on the main street of Dong Van, in search of a hotel.
We passed a few Homestays, but it was only when we arrived in front of the facade of the Hoang Ngoc Hotel that we decided to stop and have a look. It is located directly on our right towards the middle of the long main avenue (I will communicate the price when I get my hands on this "famous" notebook where everything was noted down...)
The price and the room were suitable, so we decided to settle in here. It was at this point that, in addition to our passports, they asked us for the infamous permit … Well, yes, that's why I'm writing this article in the first place!
For a moment, I thought we weren't going to be asked, but here we are, confronted with the possession of this famous piece of paper.
I had a moment of panic, wondering if the local immigration service, or in this case here in Dong Van, the police station, would be open since it was after 19pm…
I would quickly be reassured by the young lady at reception, who spoke a minimum of English (it was a bit of a change, given the lack of dialogue up until now...), there was still someone at the station, a few blocks further.
Before we were allowed to settle in, we had to go directly to the station to get our permits.
Final Round: How to get your license
The process for obtaining your permit in Dong Van is extremely simple ! With your foreign appearance, the officers present will normally know immediately why you are there.
We first came across two police officers at the entrance, who didn't speak any English, but asked us to wait a moment.
Then the supervisor who would be handling our case arrived. He was probably one of the best-speaking English speakers in this entire northern part of our motorcycle road trip … And when I say that, I mean a really good level of English! It felt strange.
Getting back to the topic at hand, you will need to hand over your original passport . If, like us, you are traveling by motorcycle, you will also need to hand over a document, usually provided by your rental company before departure (especially if you have informed them of your route), on which your traveling companion's license plate number is written.
Hand over 200,000 Dong per person , the cost of the permit, which is about $10, and that's it!
While he was filling out the documents, he asked us a few standard questions (where are you from, going, etc.), in a warm and curious manner, not like a police interrogation. I was so happy to have arrived at my destination and that everything was working like clockwork with this permit that I almost had a euphoric air…
The deal was done in a few minutes and with a smile!
Is it essential?
Some people might be tempted to say that all this is just a ploy to make money for the state on the "poor" backs of tourists like us...
To be honest, checks as such are rather rare (we were never stopped by the police on the roads for this), but as explained above, hotels will systematically ask you for it.
It's best to avoid any problems and fines or other possible consequences and get the permit; after all, it's only $10.
End of the day and small change of program
To put it simply, we ended the day by eating at the restaurant located right next to the hotel. And it was by seeing one of the photos hanging on the walls that I decided on the program for the next day.
Let's go back a little! Because I realized that Dong Van is not ONLY mountains.
I will of course reveal the rest to you in the next episode!
Have you heard about Dong Van and its region? Still not tempted by a roadtrip in the north of Vietnam 😉?
