14 Day Northern Vietnam and Laos Motorcycle Tour

The ride out of Hanoi heads southwest through Hoa Binh province on roads that get quieter the further you go. Lunch is at a local restaurant along the route before the road drops into the Mai Chau valley. The valley floor is flat, green, and open, with White Thai villages and rice fields on both sides. This is an easy first day to settle into the pace of the trip.

After breakfast the group rides north toward the Na Meo border crossing into Laos, one of the quieter land crossings in the region. The roads through this stretch pass ethnic minority villages and forested hills with very little traffic. Lunch is taken en route before continuing into Hua Phan Province. Sam Neua is a small, unhurried town with a good local food scene and a strong sense of being well off the tourist trail.

Route 6 south from Sam Neua is one of the better riding roads in northern Laos, a steady mix of curves and elevation through forested hills and farming villages. The group stops for lunch at a local restaurant midway. Phonsavan sits on the Xieng Khouang plateau at around 1,100 meters and is the base for visiting the Plain of Jars. Site 1 is close to town and worth a walk before dinner.

The ride west out of Phonsavan crosses the Nam Ngum river valley before joining  north to Luang Prabang. The road has good tarmac, steady corners, and views across river plains and limestone ridges. Lunch is taken in a town along the route. Luang Prabang is a UNESCO listed city at the confluence of the Mekong and Nam Khan rivers, compact enough to explore on foot once the bikes are parked.

The day is free to move at your own pace through one of the best preserved cities in Southeast Asia. The Royal Palace Museum and Wat Xieng Thong are both within walking distance of the main street. Kuang Si Waterfalls is ~30 kilometers south of town and worth the ride out, a series of turquoise pools fed by a 50-meter cascade. The night market along Sisavangvong Road opens at sundown with local textiles, food, and Lao coffee.

The morning starts with a short ride down to the Mekong where the bikes and riders cross by ferry, one of the better moments of the trip. The road south into Xayaboury runs through forested hills and small farming communities with almost no traffic. Lunch is at a local eatery along the route. Xayaboury is a relaxed provincial town and is known as Laos’ elephant country, home to more Asian elephants than anywhere else in the region.

From Xayaboury we follow the natural contours of the land through river valleys and low hills, with good tarmac and very little other traffic on the road. Villages along this stretch are small and traditional, mostly subsistence farming communities. Lunch is taken at a roadside stop en route. Pak Lay sits on the east bank of the Mekong and is a quiet river town, a good place to watch the boats go past before dinner.

This is the longest day of the Laos section, heading south along the Mekong toward the capital. The road is well-surfaced and moves through open farmland and riverside towns. Lunch is in Pak Kading or nearby, roughly halfway through the day. Vientiane is one of the smallest and most low-key capital cities in Asia, easy to navigate and worth a proper walk once the gear is off.

Vientiane is compact enough to cover most of the main sites in a single day on foot. Patuxai Monument is a concrete victory arch built in 1968 with views across the city from the top. That Luang Stupa, a few kilometers northeast, is the most important national monument in Laos and dates to the 16th century. The COPE Visitor Centre documents the impact of unexploded ordnance left from the Vietnam War era, one of the more important stops on the whole trip. The night market along the Mekong is a good way to end the day.

The ride east from Vientiane picks up toward the north before cutting across on  Khammouane Province. The dirt roads get progressively quieter and the landscape shifts into dramatic karst limestone terrain. Lunch is at a local eatery along Route 8. Kong Lor Cave is 7.5 kilometers long and is navigated by longboat through a mountain, one of the most unusual natural sites in Southeast Asia. Arriving in the late afternoon leaves enough time for the first cave run before dark.

The morning ride out of Kong Lor moves through the karst interior of Khammouane, where limestone towers rise out of flat river plains in every direction. We ride west toward Thakhek passes through some of the least-visited scenery in central Laos. Lunch is taken at a local stop along the way. Thakhek is a quiet Mekong town with French colonial architecture and good food, sitting directly across the river from Nakhon Phanom in Thailand.

The group rides north from Thakhek to the Cha Lo border crossing, re-entering Vietnam into Phong Nha national park. The crossing is straightforward and the road east toward Phong Nha runs through dense jungle and karst hills. Lunch is taken en route after the border. Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage site covering over 800 square kilometers of primary forest and cave systems, with Son Doong, the world’s largest cave, located inside the park boundary.

The ride south follows sections of the historic Ho Chi Minh Road through forested hills before climbing the Hai Van Pass, a 496-meter coastal mountain crossing with views across Da Nang Bay to the south and Lang Co lagoon to the north. Stops including the Vinh Moc, the DMZ, later we arrive in Hue, if time permits, we visit the old citadel.

The last day follows the coast south from Hue, dropping back over the Hai Van Pass, en-route we stop to visit the ghost city. The route passes through Da Nang and stops at the Marble Mountains, a cluster of five limestone hills with caves, temples, and views over the South China Sea. Lunch is at a local restaurant before the final push into Hoi An. The Ancient Town is a well-preserved trading port dating to the 15th century and a proper place to close out 14 days Vietnam Laos motorbike adventure, chao and thanks for choosing IRTouring and Hamid.