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The recent death of a British gap-year student on the Ha Giang loop, a popular motorcycle tour through the mountains in north Vietnam, has heightened concerns about a trail reputed to be one of the most dangerous in the country.
Orla Wates, 19, from Surrey, was riding as a pillion passenger when she fell off and was hit by an oncoming truck, according to local media. She was taken to hospital in Hanoi, where she died from her injuries last week.
Wates was travelling in Vietnam before starting a degree course at Durham University this autumn, and had probably seen some of the many social media posts about “doing the loop”.
Winding along narrow mountain roads near the border with China, through jungle and rice terraces, the Ha Giang loop has become a must-do adventure for young, thrill-seeking backpackers in south-east Asia.
Online reviews describe it using terms such as the “best four days of my life”. Nevertheless, doing the loop, especially by motorbike, is not without risk. People who live and work in Ha Giang cite the rugged road conditions, unpredictable weather, rockslides and occasional loose livestock.
Travellers depart from Ha Giang city, riding pillion on motorbikes driven by local guides employed by tour companies. Foreign visitors riding solo must have a full motorcycle licence to ride the route, and face a fine if caught without one.
The loop, previously a network of dirt trails for farmers and pack horses before reconstruction in the 1960s, is over 220 miles (350km) long and takes three to four days to complete. A day’s ride often ends with a visit to a waterfall to cool off, followed by food and corn wine at a homestay.
Ha Giang is one of the poorest provinces in Vietnam, and an estimated 200,000 tourists go there every year, mostly to do the loop.
Elle, who requested her surname be withheld, is a 23-year-old Australian who splits her time living between Australia and Vietnam, and has done the Ha Giang loop 16 times. She said its popularity has led to “levels of congestion that the roads weren’t ready for”.
She added that she had seen tourists ask their guides to “go faster to overtake slower groups, or so they can film more exciting social media content”. She advised visitors to “choose their tour company carefully – some genuinely prioritise safety, whereas others just prioritise numbers”.
In recent years, there have been local reports of a tourist dying after a 100-metre fall from a mountain pass, and of two visitors involved in a fatal head-on collision with a truck. Locals who know the roads also fall victim to accidents, with the lack of medical facilities in the secluded mountains adding to the danger.
Matt Struthers, co-owner of Road Kings, a tour company that has offered Ha Giang loop tours for several years, said: “Yes, we’re trying to provide a trip of a lifetime, but more importantly, people are putting their trust in us to do the right thing. There are ways to make the trip much safer, [for example] having proper safety equipment and a team that drives carefully.”
Asked whether he thought Wates’s death should serve as a wake-up call in Ha Giang, Struthers said: “I really hope it does. Safety has always been our main focus. When something like this happens, it impacts the industry as a whole. I hope it encourages everyone to raise their standards.”
