Vietnam on 8mm Film

In desperate need of a step away from work I called up some friends and planned a trip to Vietnam. Bringing only 8mm film we planned to document our journey across the Ha Giang loop on motorcycles. This was our Journey.

Flying from Los Angeles to Hanoi we quickly found ourelves immersed in vietnamese culture. Finding a hostel downtown we stored our bags and went for a walk around the city. It didnt take long before we found ourselves at a coffee shop sipping vietnamese pressed coffee and talking about what this next week holds.

8mm film

The next day we got a late start, ate lunch downtown, and bought our bus tickets to Ha Giang.

Ha Giang is located in the most north western part of Vietnam bordering China in certain areas. Its well known as a motorbike pass completing a giant loop taking days to complete.

Taking the overnight bus to Ha Giang we woke up and grabbed our bags from the bus. Parked at a local hostel we asked the owner for the best place to rent bikes. After booking a nights stay on the back end of our trip he agreed to give us a deal on our rental bikes.

The first days riding conditions werent the most ideal. Riding for an hour it began to downpour with heavy rain, pushing on we made constant stops to ensure we could feel our hands and kept the moral high.

After our cold first day on the road we found a homestay on google maps and followed the back roads all the way down. Finding ourselves greeted by an amazing family who was glad to take us in and cook us dinner.

Sitting around the fire we exchanged smiles as the family prepared our dinner. Being the only ones at this homestay it was amazing to see this family and how kind they were to take us in.

After our first night we had much better luck with the weather. Sunny and partly cloudy for the rest of our trip we continued around the loop untill making it back to where we started in Ha Giang.

Looking back at the motorcycle loop it was definately challanging. Closed road and rough riding conditions here and there. Made for quite an epic story.

If anyones into riding bikes this route is a must. The vietnamese currency (Dong) is quite weak compared to western currecny so the trip was quite innexpensive. Highly reccomend it!