Public Bus up to Bac Ha

Having ridden on the public bus on the way to Bac Ha I can firmly recommend against it. The bus takes off at about 10:00 A.M. and stops at various points along its route out of town. During this time literally 10's of people and bags are piled onto the bus and delay the trip by an hour or so. When the bus finally does take off and starts to climb the twisty roads up to Bac Ha you will most certainly be left with a queasy stomach as the bus tilts at every turn on the small roads. The trip up to Bac Ha in the end took about 4 hours by public bus. On the way back we rented a private bus and shared it with other tourists. This only took about 2 hours and left me with no tense muscles as the driver was very cautious around the turns.