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Vietnam Bicycle Tours: Cycle Lao Cai Sapa Bac Ha Can Cau Si Ma Kai Muong Khuong (5 days)
The 5-day mountain bike tour is arranged in Lao Cai province, northern Vietnam taking to such travel places as Sapa, Bac Ha, Can Cau, Si Ma Kai, Muong Khuong. Begin the 5-day cycling adventure with an overnight train trip from Hanoi to Lao Cai. Arriving in Lao cai, you start the tour cycling uphill until you reach Sapa town. After spending one night in Sapa, you continue your bicycle holidays biking downhill to Laocai, using offroad, single dirt biking trails. The next days you cycle to Bac Ha and Can Cau where you may have the opportunity to visit either the Bac Ha market, open on Sunday, the Can Cau market on Saturday. The biking trail from Can Cau to Si mai kai offers great views with lots of stops en route to visit hill tribe villages. The last day you cycling from Muong Khuong back to Laocai where you take the overnight train to get back to Hanoi. Travel this 5-day cycling adventure, you mostly cycle on paved roads with up and downhill ride. The tour is ideal for individual travelers, small group tours and those seeking a challenging bicycle tour to the northern Vietnam.

Itinerary:

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Day 1: Arrive Laocai early this morning. Travel to Sapa. Full day cycling in Sapa. Arrive Laocai early this morning. You will be greeted by Lotussia local team and transferred uphill to Sapa. Breakfast will be provided in a local restaurant in town. Enjoy a day biking through the Sapa valley. At first on a paved road for 7km, but then on single-track paths gradually ascend to the Hmong village of Sa Seng and then onto Hang. Then bike fast on high elevation for an hour before descend along a narrow single dirt track to the heart of Muong Hoa Valley. Get to the center of Hau Thao Commune in mid afternoon. You will be picked up by our car for a 20 minutes road transfer back to Sapa. Dinner and overnight in Sapa. Day 2: Continue biking Sapa Laocai. Begin the ride directly from Sapa and straight away flying along on a 6 kilometer stretch of single-track which gets through villages and paddy fields. Then a quiet country lane leads to another long section of single-track, at first involving a challenging climb and then a fast flowing downhill to join a remote jeep track. The jeep track climbs gently at first, but then provides an enormous, fast descent of over 1500 meters, before hitting tarmac for the final 30 kilometer stretch to Lao Cai City. This final 30 kilometer road section is a lot of fun as there is the opportunity for engaging conversation and sign language with curious locals! This is a long and challenging day with around 8 hours on the trail. Dinner and overnight in Laocai. Day 3: Continue biking Laocai Bac Ha. After breakfast, load all the bikes onto support vehicles for a 45-minute transfer to the small village of Phong Nien. The riding begins on a good hard pack track along the side of a quiet road. Climbing gently for the first 10 kilometers, we will be able to watch the local villagers working in the fields, dressed in their traditional costumes. We then descend steeply for another 7 kilometers to a small village and footbridge that crosses the Song Chay River. Here, we board one of the traditional Vietnamese longboats and transfer for half an hour along a stunning Yangtse style river ride to a Tay village of Trung Do and lunch at a local home. The afternoon ride featured with a tough alpine switchback road that climbs 1000 meters over 17 kilometers, before a final 5 kilometer descent into the highland market town of Bac Ha. Check in the Sao Mai Hotel and the rest of the afternoon is at leisure. Day 4: Continue biking. Bac Ha - Can Cau - Si Ma Cai. Breakfast and then bike straightly from Bac Ha. The first 12 kilometers on tarmac is a steady climb of 650 meters to a pass (1508m.), followed by a single dirt track through an untouched region over 16 km kilometers into Can Cau village.

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Lunch break in a Flower Hmong homes. In the afternoon, we will take an ascend for nearly 2 hours along another single track from Can Cau to Quan Than San Commune, then follow a single path for 14 km slightly downhill to Si Ma Cai town, situated amongst mountains and hills near the Chinese border. Dinner and overnight in a simple hotel in Simakai. Day 5: Biking to Muong Khuong. Travel to Lao Cai station. Overnight train back to Hanoi. Breakfast and load all bikes and luggage on the support vehicle for 20km transfer Ta Gia Khau Commune. Then biking along a newly build tarmac which runs along a branch of the Chay River for 52km with three ascending and descending. It is great challenge but support vehicle always follow the group to support at any time. Arriving to Muong Khuong Town in mid afternoon, load bikes on supporting van and transfer 55km to Lao Cai. Freshen up, relax and dinner before boarding the night train for Hanoi. End of Lotussia Travel service. For more details either visit www.vietnamcycling.com or www.lotussiatravel.com