From first email to the bike fitting, step by step
What we ask you, what we send back, when money changes hands, and the eight things we need from you before the trip can be confirmed.
The six steps
- You enquire. The form at the bottom of any page, or an email. The five things that make the first reply useful are: dates or month, how many riding, riding level of the slowest person, whether you want private or a group departure, and any hard constraint such as a flight already booked.
- We reply within one working day. Either with a route we already run, or a modified version, with an itemised price and two or three questions. If your dates do not work for what you have asked for, we say so in this email rather than three emails later.
- We send a dated plan. Day by day, with distances, climbing, hotel names and meal inclusions. Not "three-star or similar". Actual names you can look up.
- You confirm and pay 30 per cent. Bank transfer or card. Nothing is charged before this point and we do not hold dates against a promise.
- We confirm suppliers and send the pack. Hotel vouchers, guide's phone number, a kit list, the bike sizing form, and the emergency contact card.
- Balance 30 days out, or cash on arrival. Then the fitting session the evening before you ride.
What we need from you before we can confirm
| What | When | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Full names as on passports | At confirmation | Hotel registration and domestic flights |
| Passport number and nationality | At confirmation | Required by Vietnamese hotel registration law |
| Height and inside leg measurement | Two weeks out | Bike sizing, so the frame is ready before you land |
| Saddle and pedal preference | Two weeks out | We fit your own saddle or pedals if you post them or bring them |
| Insurance policy number and emergency line | Two weeks out | So the guide has it on the road, not in an inbox |
| Motorcycle licence and IDP photograph | At enquiry, motorbike tours | We check whether Vietnam recognises your permit |
| Medical conditions and medication | Two weeks out | Confidential, held by the guide, deleted after the trip |
| Arrival flight number and hotel | One week out | Airport pickup and the fitting appointment |
Height alone gets a frame roughly right. Height plus inside leg gets the saddle height right to within a centimetre before you arrive, which turns the fitting session from forty minutes into ten. Measure in socks, against a wall, with a book pulled up firmly.
Deposit, balance and what happens if plans change
A 30 per cent deposit confirms. The balance is due 30 days before the first riding day. Inside 30 days, the full amount is due at booking.
If you cancel, the sliding scale on the booking terms page applies, and the important part of it is the first line: more than 45 days out you get everything back except supplier costs already committed, itemised with the invoices attached. We do not keep a cancellation fee for our own time.
If we cancel a set-departure group for not reaching four riders — which happens on perhaps one date in eight, mostly in the shoulder months — you choose between a full refund, a different date, or the private version at a 25 per cent discount on the difference. We make that call at least 21 days before departure, never later.
Changing the trip once it has started
Routes change on the road more often than people expect, and almost always for weather. Three standing rules:
- The guide decides on safety, you decide on ambition. If the guide says the dirt section is unrideable after rain, that is not a negotiation. If you want to ride 30 km instead of 60 because you are tired, that is entirely yours.
- A shortened day is not refunded. The vehicle, guide and hotel are already paid. A shortened trip — a day removed entirely — is refunded at our cost for that day, with the numbers shown.
- Upgrades on the road are settled in cash at the end. A better room, an extra night, a car instead of the bus back to Hanoi. The guide writes it down and you see the list before you pay it.
Before you send the enquiry
Two things worth reading first, because they change what you ask for:
- When to ride — the month you have free may point at a different half of the country than the route you had in mind.
- What it costs — particularly the section on party size, which is the largest single lever on the price.
Start the conversation
One form, five required fields, and a reply from a person within a working day. No sales sequence, no automated follow-ups.
Questions travellers ask most
How far ahead should I book?
For October to April in the north, eight to twelve weeks. That is driven by hotels in Pu Luong and Ha Giang, where the good places have fifteen rooms, and by domestic flight prices.
Outside those months, three to four weeks is usually enough, and we have taken bookings with nine days' notice. What we cannot compress is the licence check for motorbike tours.
Can I hold a date while I decide?
For seven days, yes, and without a deposit, on private trips outside the peak months. We will tell you honestly if somebody else is asking about the same dates.
In October, November, March and April we cannot hold hotels in Pu Luong or Meo Vac without a deposit, because the suppliers will not hold them for us.
What if my flight is delayed and I miss day one?
Tell the guide, whose number you will have. We will move the fitting to the morning of day one and drive you forward to meet the group at lunch, which works on every route except the Ha Giang loop.
The cost of the extra transfer is ours if the delay is under six hours, and shared if it is longer. We would rather do that than have you ride tired on the first day.
Do you take single travellers?
Yes, on every route, and roughly one rider in six on our group departures is travelling alone.
There is a single room supplement because hotels charge per room, but we will try to match you with another solo rider of the same sex first, which removes it entirely. On homestay nights there is no supplement because there are no rooms.
Read next
Tell us about the ride you have in mind
Dates, party size and the places you care about are enough to start. You get a draft route and an indicative price, not a brochure.