Motorbiking adrenaline rush, Heaven's Gate, Dao Homestay, Chopsticks failure

After the night bus adventure, we started our day at Mama's House in Ha Giang. They gave us advice about the motorbiking route, rented us motorbikes for about $4.50 per day (we bought the insurance - $20 extra for 5 days) and then brought us to the most delicious banh mi street food. Soooo good! Navigating the streets of a small city on a motorbike got my adrenaline flowing. Then they sent us on our way. I can't believe that they trusted me to ride their motorbike through the mountains for 5 days without any paperwork - so different from the US. So I went for having my motorbiking privileges being revoked in Tam Coc to being trusted to navigate a city and then challenging mountain roads for 5 days.

Ly Ta, a Dao woman, carrying a heavy load 

Mama's House let us rest for a few hours for free when we arrived at 3:00am

The BEST banh mi (according to Mama's House)

The people from Mama's House 

So good!

Ha Giang

Count the legs - there are 3 people on this motorbike, but only 1 head

After navigating the streets of Ha Giang, I could say that I had "learned" to drive on the wrong side of the road into traffic, to run a red light, and ride on a sidewalk. Little did I know that still I needed to be able to go across a long one lane bridge (with a raging river below) with a car honking going to other direction and pass massive trucks on narrow winding mountain roads. This would be interesting.

The beginning of the Ha Giang loop in Ha Giang 

Still a notice, but managed to navigate the streets of Ha Giang 

Our new ponchos because it rains a lot

Dragon fruit plant

Terraced rice fields in a rural area

After motorbiking up up up on narrow winding roads, we reached "Heaven's Gate" with incredible views on both sides of the pass. It is the highest point between Ha Giang and Quan Ba. This large area is part of the Dong Van Karst Plateau UNESCO Global Geopark. It was established in 2010 and is 2,345 m2 and covers the entire Ha Giang province. It is famous for its deep canyons, steep cliffs, and sharp summits.

Heaven's Gate

Should we be concerned about the road conditions?

Trying to look like I know what I am doing 

The Quan Ba side of Heaven's Gate 

This is a UNESCO area - here is one of the signs.

When we arrived in Quan Ba, it was raining and we were hungry so we stopped into a small restaurant and got some tasty food. The "vegetarian" chicken soup (pho) was particularly yummy. Fallon thought that the container with mayonnaise was sweetened condensed milk so she proceeded to put it in her coffee. That was a fail.

Quan Ba, just outside of our restaurant for lunch 

Lunch - the vegetarian "chicken" soup (pho) was excellent 

If you look closely, you can see people working in the rice fields 

Our next stop was our homestay for the night. It was located in Dao village close to Quan Ba. The Dao ethnic group is one of 54 ethnic minority groups in VietNam who live in mostly the northern provinces. The Dao community we stayed in is considered a commune, with its own school, community garden, and a cultural heritage Museum.

The "phone book" in a rural Dao town with everyone's names, home, and phone number 

Our room at Don Dao Homestay 

The mattress was very "firm"

Don Dao Homestay 

Ly Ta carrying a heavy load

Mosquito netting for our bed

View from Don Dao's of the rice fields and mountains

We offered to help cook dinner and the family said we could. I am pretty sure that we were more of a hinderance than help. Ly Ta just whipped up plate after plate while she put me in charge of frying the potatoes. I was a hot mess trying to cook with chopsticks. We laughed a lot about our incompetency. It seems that we were so bad that she thought we were TikTok worthy.

The kitchen sink

Their 4 year old daughter helping in the kitchen 

Ly Ta cooking pumpkin soup 

Ly Ta making spring rolls 

Spring rolls with mushrooms, egg, herbs

Ly Ta making some greens

Fallon showing her chopsticks skills 

Ly Ta cooking an omelette type dish with lots of flavorful 

Fallon and I "helping" in the kitchen 

Dinner is served 

We brought all of the food into the room where we ate. The table was taken down from hanging on the wall and the benches were unstacked and set around the table. Everyone sat down for the meal and happy water was poured for toasting before we ate. They will keep trying to refill your drink and food bowl until you really insist that you don't want any more. Even their 4 year old daughter knew this art when she spooned out rice into our bowls. Breaking bread with this family was a special moment. The food and company were outstanding. I have so much respect for them and feel honored to have spent time with them.

Their daughter helping to serve the rice

All eating together 

Ly Ta wearing a traditional necklace that she wore for her wedding with her daughter. Don't be fooled by her beauty - this 22 year old woman is a badass.