Vietnam is an amazing country with a lot of attractive destinations with simple and natural beauty. If you are finding somewhere to escape from hustle and bustle of city life, taking a trip to Mai Chau, Hoa Binh is exactly what you should do for your weekend. Mai Chau is a beautiful valley located in mountainous region in North of Vietnam. It takes just 3 hours to get there by bus from Hanoi.
Gorgeous landscape
I went to Mai Chau with my house mates in the last weekend of September. That was one of my unforgettable trips. We went by private car from Hanoi to Hoa Binh, The road trip was quite good. Passing by Hoa Binh, we was driving up and down the mountain. It took more than 3 hours since we stopped by so many places to take photo of impressive landscape. A lot of attractive things around made us could not just pass it without taking some photos. Finally, after 3,5 hours, we arrived Mai Chau - a small village known for its natural beauty.
The atmosphere here was excellent, really clean and full of ethnic culture. We booked a home-stay of local people with cheap price, just 2$/night/person. There are quite a few hotel options but we chose a kind of cheap home stay to enjoy feeling of overnight staying in a typical stilt-house and also to save some money. But it was quite uncomfortable when I had to use bathroom with a lot of people. Anyway, just one night, so it was still fine.
Peaceful scene in Valley.
Flower field in front of homestay
We got Mai Chau in late afternoon, so we decided to have dinner first and would explore this village in morning. We ordered food from owner and had a nice dinner with them. The first impression was warm hospitality from owner‘s family and local people.
They served us local dishes. We paid just 10$ for all of it - the meal served 6 people. Unbelievable!
Mai Chau is invested as a tourist destination, so they hold a lot of activities in night for visitors and foreigners like campfire and performing traditional dance. Local people brought in bamboo poles to dance and encourage everyone to join them. That was a bustling night with us when everyone holding hand and dancing together no matter who you are.
We woke up in early morning because we was so hungry for exploring this village and cannot wait anymore. The most attractive thing with us is traditional clothes of ethnic people here. Especially colorful clothes of H’Mong ethnic. It cost 2$ to rent that kind of clothes. It was so fun when we changed clothes, went around the village and pretended we are real H’Mong. This kind of clothes made us look so adorable.
The ethnic girl with Converse shoes. LoL.
Mai Chau brings a different image about Vietnam. It shows the authenticity and hospitality. I still remember warm smile of local when we got there, the conversation with the owner of home stay in that late night, the gorgeous landscapes of jungles and the peaceful beauty of the countryside culture over here.
A 2 days 1 night seem quite short but that is enough for a break time for resting. With its beauty and attraction, I will want to return definitely.
Location information
● Mai Châu District, Hoa Binh, Vietnam
