Tinh Hoa Binh Holiday Weather today
Date/time of update: November 24, 2024, 4:25 am, Timezone: GMT+7
Overcast Clouds
Temperature: 22.46°C
Temperature feels like: 22.67°C
Minimum Temperature: 22.46°C
Maximum Temperature: 22.46°C
Atmospheric pressure: 1019hPa
Humidity:73%
Visibility: 10000m
Wind speed: 0.33m/sec
Wind Direction: 47 degrees
Cloudiness: 100%
Sunrise: 2024-11-23 11:14:03
Sunset: 2024-11-24 10:17:43
Mai Chau of Hoa Binh Vietnam is a little valley surrounded by green mountains and dotted with lakes, paddy fields, rivers and houses on stilts of the local Thai people. Driving from Ha Noi to Son La or Mai Chau, most travellers would stop at the entrance to Mai Chau which offers the breathtaking panoramic view of the area.
Mai Chau Travel Guide Overview
From above Mai Chau looks like a huge green stadium with green mountain slopes and terraces. The main road snakes its away amid rice paddies, lakes and houses leading to the Ma River further in the background. Many travellers who have been to Mai Chau never realize that they'd missed a cruise on the Ma River. Upstream and downstream Ma river cruises offer spectacular sceneries of a different world that's like no others: bamboo forests, secret valleys with criss-crossing pipes bringing drinking water to different households and all encircled by evergreen mountains.
A view of Mai Chau from above
There's not much noise in Mai Chau except for some cock crows and bird chirping. It's all so quiet and tranquil here that most travellers from the moments entering the valley can smell a different world and a relaxing getaway holiday. Many artist travellers would come to Mai Chau only to get lost among the peaceful nature for the whole day and come back with their complacency of the newly-painted arts. Photographers would keep wandering in the valley until they've run out of films and/or memory cards... and when they realize that they don't know how to get back!
The Na Phon Commune, Mai Chau, Hoa Binh
The majority of the population of Mai Chau Valley is the White Thai. They are among the most friendly to the foreign travellers in Vietnam. The security is excellent and there's no hassle with people selling souvenirs as they are all gentle and warm-hearted.
Rice fields in the Mai Chau Valley
Mai Chau Travel Guide, Mai Chau Tourist Attractions
1/ Thai People and Culture
The main drawcards of Mai Chau Valley are the pristine fresh nature and the colorful culture of the Thai People. There are many villages that attract Vietnamese tourists, foreign travellers and expats from Ha Noi such as Lac Village, Pom Coong Village, Sam Khoe, Xo...to name a few. There's electricity in the center of Mai Chau Valley and conditions are fairly good.
Working in the rice fields at Mai Chau
2/ Hang Kia Valley and Pa Co
There's also another heavenly valley in Mai Chau area called Hang Kia - Pa Co which can only be accessed on foot or by motorbike. The road conditions are not that good, but the reward is no doubt worth it. To travel to Hang Kia, you'll have to drive 50 km further from Mai Chau on the same way to Son La. Buses and cars can only travel to Pa Ko where the rest journey has to be done on foot or by motorbike.
A bird eye's view of the Mai Chau Valley
3/ The Ma River
The Ma River and the communities inhabiting on the river banks are well worth a trip if you have time. From Mai Chau Town, you continue further 12 km to the bank of the Ma River where you'll see a lot of long-tailed boats or bamboo rafts used by the locals for navigating up and downstream the river. Not many travellers cover this area by far though.
4/ Ba Kan Reservoir
The reservoir is 7km from Mai Chau Valley. The country back road from Mai Chau to Ba Khan offers a great cycling experience!
5/ Go Lao Waterfall
The waterfall is near Ba Khan Reservoir and can be done conveniently together. Get relaxed amid wild nature surrounded by forest and the roaring waterfall is great!
6/ Mai Chau Sunday Market
The market gathering is on every Sunday morning when the Thai in the Mai Chau Valley and the periphery would come for trade.
7/ Hang Chieu (Chieu Cave)
The huge cave located on top of the mountain right at the entrance to the Mai Chau Valley from Route 6. The path inside is slippery and the hike from the mountain base to the cave requires some physical effort.
1,200 steps to the Chieu Cave, Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam
The Chieu Cave at Mai Chau
Luxury Travel, Adventure Tours, Family Holidays
Mai Chau is ideal for sightseeing relaxing tours, nature tours, culture tours, adventure tours such as trekking or cycling or white-water rafting...
From Ha Noi, you can join Paradissa Travel on a relaxing tour, discovery tour or adventure tour to explore Mai Chau Valley areas and the surroundings for 2-5 days.
A manual weaving loom at the Pom Coong Village in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh
1/ Adventure Tours
Mai Chau started off with tourism as an adventure destination and you can find it a good place for adventure tours still. The highlights of a trip to Mai Chau include the trekking in the wild with breathtaking scenery, staying with a Thai family in a house on stilts, sharing the traditional dance with the Thai people.
There are options of trekking in the Mai Chau Valley and from the Hang Kia Valley to the Mai Chau Valley. The latter is a hard trekking tour while the others are moderate hiking tours.
2/ Family Trips
Mai Chau is a great destination for families with kids. The valley is idyllic and peaceful and the local way of life is just laid-back. For family with little kids you can have a leisure walk each day on the village road, amid paddy fields or amid mountains. For older kids, then there are option to take on different leisurely bicycle tours in the valley.
3/ Luxury Travel
It may sound strange but yes you can find some good quality luxury travel services in Mai Chau District. You may want an escape holiday in a secluded spot or you may want to be surrounded by lush nature in the comfort of luxury, Mai Chau will not disappoint you. There are some environmentally-friendly luxury lodges in Mai Chau which add a big plus to local tourism.
Accommodation
Staying overnight with a local Thai ethnic family in their simple but elegant house on stilts is the only choice and this is also part of a reason you travel to Mai Chau. Conditions are limited and poor in most villages except for Lac and Pom Koong Villages where you'll get clean places, but the experience is unmatched.
An ecological resort at Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam
A luxury hotel amid rice fields and mountains at Mai Chau
Food in Mai Chau
A meal in Mau Chau with dishes from pork, banana bud salad, steamed sticky rice wrapped in herbal leaves,...
Another meal in Mau Chau with different dishes: stir-fried beef, fried fish caught from streams in the mountains, bamboo shoots, steamed squash leaves and stems, fried chickens, roasted pork...
Shredded local Thai ham
Mountain snails steamed with lemon leaves and banana bud salad, sweet and sour sauce with garlic and chilli slices
Getting there and away
Mai Chau can be accessed by road from Ha Noi. The journey by road would take 4 hours. The roads are fairly good and offer stunning fresh scenery. Don't miss the stunning view at Thung Khe Pass!
Some professional bikers and motorbikers have joined Paradissa on the challenging adventure expediting into the mountains of this area. You may like to contact Paradissa Travel Experts for further details on the most up-to-date conditions for doing an adventure tour in Mai Chau area.
The Thung Khe Pass, Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam
Getting around
On foot: Mai Chau Valley can easily be explored on foot. There are different clean footpaths as well as village roads in Mai Chau. There's no traffic and no car or motorbike horn.
Xe Om (motorbike taxi): There are many Russian-Minsk Xe Oms with driver in front of the market in Mai Chau Town. Otherwise you may like to hire a motorbike from a family and discover Mai Chau at your own pace.
By boat: Having a boat cruise on the Ma River is recommended. Be sure you know where you are heading to before setting out.
