This route totals around 150km and will take around 4 hrs. You can choose to do this direct if you are in a rush, or take a couple of detours that we show you below. There is plenty of fuel on the route and also a lot of cafes and restaurants to stop. You may like to make your halfway point Hoa Binh City and the Hoa Binh Dam is a good place to do that.
HANOI - MAI CHAU (DETOURS)
Hanoi to Mai Chau is a very easy ride along the highway. You can get there very quickly if you want or you can meander a little and take one or two of these detours to spice up the ride.Detour 1
This route takes you off the main road and is at first a little muddy and bumpy. Then, it becomes tarmac and is smoother but does have potholes. You will eventually end up running along the Black River on a good sealed road that has minimal traffic.
Detour 2
This route is good sealed tarmac with even less traffic that Detour 1. The reason to do this is so that you can take the ferry and also get on the quieter side of the Black River It will take you straight into either Hoa Binh city or the Dam.
Detour 3
This is a long detour that starts on on good, fast tarmac road and take you to the suspension bridge. After that, the road is smaller as it winds through the villages, but it is sealed and is easy to drive. There are a few small shops in the villages but they are not always open so carry some water.
Detour 4
This route is a long one, about 45km, and will add around 1.5 – 2hrs to your journey time. Make sure you have enough time to get to Mai Chau before dark.
It starts out on the main road which is quite wide and sealed and then, when you turn off at Lung Van Market, it starts to get narrower and more winding. This is the beautiful part that takes you through some small villages.
Detour 5
This is another long detour, about 30km, and will take a good 1.5 to 2 hrs of your time. If you took Be sure you have enough time to get to Mai Chau before dark.
You ride on some flat and quite fast sealed road through small villages to the lake shore and then, from the viewpoint roughly, the road gets a little narrower, steeper and more windy. It is an easy tarmac ride but just wathc out for oncoming traffic. Then, it is a short hop on the highway to Mai Chau.
