Mountain and DMZ Adventure Loop

approx. 200km

We’ll follow the Cam Le river out of the City into open countryside and visit Hill 55 Sniper Training School from the wartime. Today, there will be an option to visit the My Son Temples – a UNESCO world heritage site with beautiful temples set amongst the jungle. We’ll ride on the historic Ho Chi Minh Trail, taking sweeping bends through jungle-covered valleys and high mountains before enjoying local style lunch in a quiet town.

From there we can go swimming at the bottom of the waterfalls.

Finally, a short ride into the sleepy town of Thanh My brings us to our hotel, where we can get a cold beer.

Approx. 280km

The day starts with a ride north on the historic Ho Chi Minh Trail with sweeping bends through jungle-covered valleys and high mountains.

Next, we’ll have a local style lunch in the A Shau Valley near the notorious Hamburger Hill, and then follow the curves and mountain passes down towards the coast.

Still following the Ho Chi Minh Trail, we’ll pass by reservoirs and rivers and small stilt house villages of the local tribespeople. As we enter the former DMZ area we can follow the historic Route 9 further up the mountains and towards the Laos border gate where we’ll have a quick stop for a photo on an abandoned tank and then continue to Lao Bao.

You can visit the local market in Lao Bao where all sorts of ‘questionable’ items are to be found making their way across the border.

A cold beer awaits us at the hotel!

Approx. 240km

We’ll start the day with a visit to the Khe Sanh combat base. The longest battle of all the wars in Vietnam took place here and we can see tanks, helicopters, and planes still sitting on the runway as well as a small museum.

Next, we’ll follow Route 9 past the remains of many US Bases and out of the mountains and start to cross the DMZ itself, now covered in rubber plantations and pine trees. From there you can visit the 17th Parallel marker and see the famous Hien Luong bridge.

Then it’s down to the coast to find the incredible underground tunnel network at Vinh Moc village. The entire village lived underground for 8 years to escape the American bombing! A truly amazing place. We’ll have a local style lunch at Vinh Moc before following the coast through small fishing villages and aqua-farming ponds. Then we’ll cross the beautiful Tam Giang lagoon and take the small back roads into Hue city to find the hotel.

approx. 120km

We’ll start the day with a visit to the imperial citadel of Hue, a UNESCO world heritage site and home to the last emperors of Vietnam. Heading out of the city, you’ll quickly find yourself back in endless rice paddies riding small roads through the countryside where we can see the massive square fishing nets spread across the giant Tam Giang lagoon system.

Then we’ll visit the City of Ghosts, Vietnam’s most luxurious cemetery before having lunch on the beach. After that is a real treat: a short ride down the beautiful Lang Co bay that brings us to the incredible Hai Van Pass where 21 km of sweeping bends over 500m of jungle-covered mountain gives us the most amazing coastal views in central Vietnam.

Finally, it’s back to base for a cold beer!