徒山峡谷与儒桂河

Ha Giang sits on the northern frontier and is the longest of the four domestic legs: the flight is only the first part, with road time after it. In exchange you get a landscape unlike anything else on this list — a karst plateau.

Tu San is held to be Southeast Asia’s deepest canyon, seen best from the Ma Pi Leng pass inside the UNESCO Dong Van Karst Plateau Global Geopark. At the bottom, boats run the jade-green Nho Que between sheer walls of rock.

The leg needs three days at minimum and suits independent travellers or small groups rather than a large delegation.