After a long day leading a tour group, 27-year-old Giang Mi Giao pulls into an eatery in Yen Minh Town.

He checks the bikes, asks after each traveler’s health, and makes sure everyone has what they need.

As the team leader of an “easy rider” group — local drivers who take visitors around Ha Giang City — he oversees everything from coordinating riders to supporting guests on the way.

The job fetches him around VND13 million (US$492) a month plus tips, but even a few years ago he never imagined such an income was possible.

Giang Mi Giao Giao in a group photo with his travelers. Photo courtesy of Giang Mi Giao

The Ha Giang Loop, with its passes like Ma Pi Leng, mountain villages and ethnic cultures, has become a must-do for travelers.

But with its tight curves and steep climbs, the route can be dangerous to drive without local know-how.

That requirement sparked the rise of “easy riders,” with the local drivers also doubling up as guides.

Nguyen Van Tuan, director of Jasmine Ha Giang, says his company prioritizes hiring ethnic minority locals even if it means training them often from scratch.

That was also how Giao found his way into tourism.

Local riders and their clients at the Lung Cu Flag Tower. Photo courtesy of Jasmine Ha Giang

Born the third of seven children in a H’Mong family, Giao grew up in a house with a thatched roofed, standing alone on a mountain.

Corn was his familys’s main food, while accessing water was the most difficult part, he recalled. During the dry season he had to walk seven kilometers to fetch water for his family’s needs.

When it rained, they would dig a pit to collect runoff and wait a month or two for the sediment to settle before using it.

After finishing ninth grade he quit school and moved to Quang Ninh Province to work in a coal mine, 12 hours a day for VND9 million a month.

He rarely saw daylight outside work. He saved whatever he could and sent money home.

Nevertheless, compared to his village, where many people made do with just VND3 million a month, it felt like progress.

In 2020 Giao enlisted for military service and returned home after two years, just as Ha Giang’s tourism boom began.

Unsure of his next step, he followed friends who said driving foreign travelers “could make money” and approached Tuan’s company for a job.

“I still remember the day he came in wearing torn clothes. But I saw his sincerity and determination, so I hired him on the spot”, Tuan recalls.

He says training locals was challenging: Many came from difficult backgrounds, were used to farm work and some struggled to speak Vietnamese fluently.

One candidate did not bathe since his home lacked water, he says.

The company has to teach them everything like basic hygiene, communication, not drinking on the job, and, above all, safe riding, he claims.

A necklace Giang Mi Giao received as a gift from a foreign tourist visiting Ha Giang. Photo courtesy of Giang Mi Giao

Số tiền đó khiến Giáo bất ngờ, nhưng cũng làm anh nhận ra “Nếu muốn làm tốt và kiếm nhiều tiền hơn, mình phải học tiếng Anh, phải làm cho khách vui”.

During his first tour Giao froze from nervousness. He spoke no English and barely interacted with his passenger.

“For three days I was almost silent, just smiling like they taught me,” he says.

When the trip ended, the guest tipped him VND700,000, both a surprise and a wake-up call.

He told himself: In order to do a better job and earn more money, he has to learn English to communicate with his customers.

So he started using translation apps, memorized words and relied on customers to speak into the app when he did not understand something.

He learned on the road and at meal stops, through broken conversations.

“Even after exhausting days I studied at night. The guests were patient. They saw I was trying, and so they helped me.”

Within a year he could communicate and was promoted as tour team leader.

He realized this role went far beyond just driving.

“Easy riders today are the face of Ha Giang tourism to international visitors because of their care and kindness”, he says.

He checks on guests’ well-being and talks about H’Mong culture.

Travelers often find his childhood tales moving, and some even ask to visit his home.

Recently a woman client gifted him a necklace worth about $300.

He had teased her by nicknaming her “the princess” but looked after her gear at every stop.

While leaving, she told him she would be back and ask for him by name.

With his steady income, Giao is now one of the most financially secure young people in his village.

He gives money to help his parents repair their old house, and, importantly, ensures the family always has clean water.

He has also become a source of inspiration. He has introduced 30 young men from his village and nearby communes to the profession. If tourism had not arrived, he possibly would have returned to factory work, he says.

“Now I get to stay in my homeland, riding the very roads where I once walked to carry water. On every trip, I share the best stories of the place I call home.”