This section is where we post information with an expiry date: road conditions, route changes, festival and market dates, changes to the fleet and to border-area rules. It is not an advertising column. If a road is in bad shape, we will write that it is in bad shape.
What you will find here
- Roads and weather. Landslides, roadworks, temporary bridges, thick fog on the high passes. We update when our own team has just ridden it, rather than repeating what is circulating online.
- Festival and market dates. Lunar dates move every year, and a great deal of what is published online is copied from one year to the next without checking.
- Fleet and equipment changes. New machines, bikes taken out of service, changes to the helmets and protective gear we lend.
- Border-area rules. Registration procedures, which zones need a permit, changes affecting drone flights.
- Company news. Hiring, new partners, and what we are doing with the villages our routes pass through.
The rhythm of a year in the highlands
January to March. Cold, dry, clear in the mornings. This is festival season: the Hmong Gau Tao and the Tay Long Tong usually fall in the first lunar month. The highest points can drop below freezing and occasionally see frost.
April to May. Warming up, and the terraces fill with water. The Khau Vai love market in Meo Vac is held on the 27th day of the third lunar month.
June to August. The rains. This is when landslides are most likely; we keep running trips but build slack into the schedule and stay ready to change the route.
September to October. Ripe rice on the terraces, above all at Hoang Su Phi. One of the two most beautiful moments of the year.
October to December. Buckwheat flowers across the stone plateau, with the province’s buckwheat flower festival. Dry weather, good roads — and the busiest period of the year, so book early.
Staying informed
If you are planning a trip and want updates that actually concern your route, write to info@hagiangexperts.com with your approximate dates. We will tell you when something material changes, and only when it does.