The Untouched Gems of Northwest Vietnam

By Shivya
For many travelers, Vietnam is the cities of Ho Chi Minh & Hanoi, and the tours that take you around the area. While some of these are pretty and tourist-friendly, most of these are fabricated versions of Vietnam’s real beauty and people. We managed to ditch most of these must-tick boxes in our Vietnam itinerary to explore the less-treaded North Western highlands of the country.

Mai Chau

Mist in Mai Chau

No Lonely Planet overview can prepare you for the gorgeous, mist-covered mountains that greet you as you enter the village of Ben Lac, nor for the hospitality of its White Thai folks. There are Mai Chau trekking tours from Hanoi that take you there.

Biking on the hill slopes of Mai Chau

We stayed with a couple in a traditional stilt house, and were flattered by their openness, despite the language barrier, and by the lady’s (vegetarian, as requested by me) cooking. We spent a surreal morning Mai Chau biking on the slopes of the village, passing stilt houses and open rivers & streams, into the heart of the mountains which never for a second failed to enchant us. Time didn’t permit us to explore other surrounding villages or trek up one of the mountains, but it sure gave us a reason to visit again.

A traditional house on stilts in the Ban Lac village of White Thai tribes

From Mai Chau to Dien Bein Phu, via Moc Chau and Son La

If you haven’t been to Vietnam, the names will sound very strange; they might sound strange even if you’ve been to Ho Chi Minh and Hanoi. Let’s say these are some of the most offbeat routes in North West Vietnam, and that is a huge blessing. If Mai Chau was beautiful, I am at a loss of words to describe what we saw next. The journey from Mai Chau to Dien Bien Phu is like entering a post card and never getting out. The Tonkinese Alps (rightfully called) are as stunning as they are imposing, and we traveled for miles without taking our eyes off them. The thrill was heightened by our insistence to travel in local buses with various tribes of people who board and alight at obscure stops, many of them dressed in colorful ethnic costumes and carrying their babies in kangaroo-like sacks.

The sky en route to Dien Bien Phu

The sun decorating the mountain skyline

From Dien Bien Phu to Lai Chau, via Muong Lay

Dien Bien Phu is a sleepy town, significant in French history in relation to the Vietnam war, and made just an overnight stopover for us.

Can you close your eyes and picture the backdrop in Pirates of the Caribbean? In this journey, you can see that backdrop with your eyes wide open, stunned in fact, because it’s hard to imagine that such beauty exists in such a remote part of Vietnam. If you ask me, you haven’t seen Vietnam if you haven’t done this route. Referred to by locals as the “Halong on Land”, the scenery is magical, with slopes of the lush Tonkinese Alps enclosing a river that runs for miles (possibly the Mekong River).

Muong Lay, the old Lai Chau, was a thriving community until the river flooded and submerged the town a few years ago. A new river-side mountain-side township is now under construction and promises to be an unparalleled attraction if discovered by enough travelers. Between Muong Lay and Lai Chau, I saw the most beautiful mountain landscape I’ve ever seen, and I’ve seen my fair share of hills and valleys in Asia. Lai Chau is just another sleepy town, just barely alive to break the journey for the night, onward to the touristy valley of Sapa.

The beauty is so virgin that we couldn’t get ourselves to capture it in photographs, for fear of contaminating and misconstruing its purity. Apologies for not sharing pictures on this part; no pictures could do justice.

Stilt houses living monuments to Muong culture

Old houses on stilts or nha san, a cultural attraction of Muong ethnic minorities people, has simple but mysterious beauty.

A stilt house of Muong people

There is a story about the origin of these houses, says Nguyen Van Nam, a Muong elderly person in Binh Thanh Commune, Cao Phong District, Hoa Binh Province. One day, Lang Da Can, the first ruler of Muong people caught a turtle.The turtle begged for his life, and in return, offered to show him how to build a special kind of house.

The turtle, after receiving his reprieve, taught Lang Da Can to build a house with four pillars, which would act as legs. The roof would act as a shell, the beam would be like a spine. Ironwood should be used for the pillars and tranh grass for the roof.

A traditional stilt house has three parts. A loft is used for storing food and utensils. The floor is used for general living and the space underneath the house is used to keep chickens and other small animals, as well as farming tools.

These houses are made mainly of wood and bamboo. The pillars are buried 80cm to 1m below the ground, so the wood used for these must be hard enough to resist rot, insects and worms. Roofs are made of palm leaf and grass, which helps to keep the inside cool in summer and warm in winter.

All doors are at the front of the house, which is divided into compartments. Even though there are no walls to separate these compartments, there are sometimes strict rules about entering or leaving these symbolic “rooms”.

Windows are also supernatural to Muong people, and women are not permitted to sit on them.

In the past, houses were used as a sign of a family’s wealth and social status.

The staircase of a nha san must be perpendicular to the house’s beam, and the number of steps must be odd.

A stilt house blend in naturally to their environment

Number of stairs must be odd

View from a stilt house

Nha san have kept their old design from long ago

These houses can be quite impressive

Source: dtinews.vn 

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Biking Hidden Paths of Mai Chau & Ninh Binh tour.This trip offers a great opportunity to see the two area of outstanding nature beauty; the North West highlands of Mai Chau and the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh. Biking is a great way to see this fascinating and visually stunning part of Vietnam, offering both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live. In Ninh Binh we explore the beauty of “Halong Bay on the rice fields” on bikes.

My Vietnam Experience: Mai Chau

By Eileen Cameron  

As we headed to Mai Chau, we were privy to a breathtaking sunset which highlighted the beauty of the surrounding valleys. We descended from a mountain pass into a valley with numerous rice paddies and a smattering of villages as far as the eye could see.

Driving into the town, there were inviting signs such as racks of bikes for hire, longhouses beckoning us to stay, and rustic shops with unique items for sale. What I mean by “unique” is that each shop seemed to specialize in something slightly different, and this meant one felt compelled to visit all the shops in the town.

The Idyllic Mai Chau

After settling in, we gathered downstairs around the communal dining table and had a celebratory drink after what had already been a great day at the primate centre in the national park and a scenic drive across country.

The sun had set and the temperature started to drop. By now, we were less than 150km from Hanoi and the weather had changed markedly since we left Hoi An, where I recalled last wearing shorts. Northern Vietnam does experience the four seasons and as luck would have it, we were visiting at one of the coldest times of the year. We wrapped up as much as possible and enjoyed some friendly banter while our hosts cooked us dinner.

Steaming plates of spring rolls, Vietnamese stir-fry and other tasty treats were placed in front of us and there was such an abundance, we could not finish it all. After dinner we resumed plan A and our hosts brought out a container with lots of iced beverages in it so we could help ourselves throughout the night. I brought my laptop out to add some music to the occasion. By now, we were thick as thieves having travelled together with Stray for over ten days, so it was no problem to laugh, dance, sing and joke together late into the night. Eventually the cold sent us to bed, but not before some locals walked in and offered to add a karaoke component to the party.

Local food

The next day we were reluctant to leave our warm beds. We could see our breath in the air but in spite of the cold I forced myself to get up for some early morning snaps of village life.

The locals certainly weren’t worrying about the temperature and there was work to be done. I saw some ladies sawing bamboo up into 5 cm lengths. Hang explained these would be used for carrying sticky rice to work. I loved these biodegradable lunchboxes.

The sellers put their wares on display but were not pushy with their business, leaving us to browse at leisure the extensive selection of trinkets and memorabilia. The morning mist slowly lifted revealing the mountain range in the distance. A warm bowl of pho bo was more than welcome and once most of the group were up we went for an exploratory bike ride through the village and surrounding area.

The track was not exactly even and rather fraught with obstacles including rocks, cows, chickens, local villagers carrying large loads on their backs and other cyclists. We laughed at the chaos of it all and marvelled at the same time at what a peaceful vibe there was in Mai Chau.

Biking with local people 

After hanging out with some cows, we then headed to a bamboo stand for an impromptu photo session. This was particularly amusing as we wanted to take a photo of all the bikers on a bamboo bridge but the one who had to set the timer and dash into the photo was usually too far away to make it.

It was a beautiful location all the same and a fitting end to our last homestay. After mooching about on the bikes for a few hours we headed back to our longhouse, said farewell to our hosts and piled into the van for the last drive of the trip: into the capital Hanoi.

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA would like to recommend Biking Mai Chau tour. This trip offers a great opportunity to explore the outstanding nature beauty and culture richness of Mai Chau, the gate way to the impressive Northwestern area of Vietnam. This tour offers both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt-houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live.

Highlights: 

• Awesome scenery
• Homestay in Thai village
• Traditional foot massage

Impression about Vietnam on a cycling tour.

On a cycling trip across north Vietnam, Kevin Rushby finds that….

By Kevin Rushby

Biking Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

We were on a cycling trip that would encompass homestays and national parks, taking us from the Mai Chau valley some 100 miles south-west of Hanoi and close to the Laotian border, south-east towards the coast and the city of Ninh Binh. If you imagine the shape of Vietnam as rather like a giant upright prawn, we were going to do a neat cross-section just at the base of the head. No day would involve much more than 20 miles – about the limit for our nine-year-old – and there was always a support vehicle to pick up stragglers. The route would, we hoped, give us a complete range of Vietnamese experiences, from tribal homestays and untouched jungle hills to fast-developing towns. 

Mai Chau was definitely at the less developed end of the Vietnamese spectrum. All around us the rice fields were being harvested by ladies in conical straw hats. Others were wafting nets to catch crickets or filling baskets with bundles of water hyacinth. In places, songbirds in bamboo cages had been hung in the shade of trees to ward off wild, food-stealing birds. The valley floor was almost completely devoted to rice, and generations of careful landscaping have left it almost flat. At the sides, perhaps a kilometre apart, the tangled secondary forest rose sharply to serrated peaks. There, at the junction of the horizontal and vertical worlds, people had built their houses on stilts. Curls of smoke rose from among them, where rice husks were being burned. 

Biking Mai Chau, Vietnam

We rattled across a rusty suspension bridge and through a village. Every house seemed to lie at the centre of a perfect storm of picturesque food production. There were fish ponds and ducks. There were neat vegetable gardens filled with beans and cabbages. There were orchards of longans, rambutans and persimmon. Even the scrubbier patches were stocked with areca palms, which provide betel nut as well as support for prickly dragonfruit stems. Under the houses were recently harvested crops – rice, peanuts, taro roots and bamboo – plus all the paraphernalia of further operations: fish traps, coops and cages. What was significantly absent was any plastic litter or mess. 

A few miles on, we left the bicycles in a hut and walked uphill to a tiny hamlet of wooden houses on stilts. Climbing the steps to one of them, we entered a traditional house of the White Thai tribe, a people who had come from Thailand several centuries ago and whose way of life seems largely unchanged. The floor was bamboo slats, worn to a glossy smoothness by years of bare feet. There was little in the way of furniture, just a huge low bed, a couple of benches and an altar for the ancestors. On the ceiling was a hand-painted tribute to Ho Chi Minh and in every window hung a chirruping bird cage. We had stayed in a similar house the previous night – the whole valley has embraced the homestay idea, giving the farmers a valuable side income. Success, however, has made some homestays more like guesthouses.

Homestay Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

This one was certainly authentic. Green tea was brought and served in small bowls, then a toast of rice wine. 

Lunch came on a large tray: bowls of noodles cooked with carp from the pond, tofu, slivers of bamboo and other strange leaves and roots. It was a magnificent feast in a country whose cuisine is one of the high points of human culture.

On our third day, after some gorgeous mountain scenery, we had reached Vietnam's largest and oldest nature reserve: Cuc Phuong national park, a 50,000-acre area of forest slung over a stunning landscape of jagged mountains. It is home to 97 species of mammal and more than 300 species of bird, but after a six-mile trek and a 20-mile bike ride, we had spotted precisely one stick insect and heard exactly one gun shot.

Cage after cage of small furry creatures represent the last few examples of species endemic to Vietnam, most of them langurs, a long-tailed leaf-eating monkey. This is a country where tigers and elephants have been more or less wiped out and superstitious crazes for rare animal meats have sent dozens of species spiralling towards extinction, including five of the 11 species of langur. 

Cuc Phuong Jungle, Vietnam

Next day we rode into a landscape that is becoming more common in Asia: a strange melange of the traditional and natural with the newly industrialised, newly touristified. There would be achingly beautiful wetlands dotted with water buffalo and backed by jagged peaks, then a cement factory. There were sleepy, algae-encrusted Catholic churches and ancient temple gateways, then new concrete pagodas with huge coach parks. We passed fishermen in traditional hats setting bamboo fish traps and fishermen using truck batteries and electrodes. All around, limestone outcrops rose in jagged profusion, like pods of humpback whales.

The first boat in our group had entered the cave for the return trip when the woman paddling the second boat called out. There, on the top of the crags, silhouetted against the late sun, was a family group of langurs. More arrived, moving with total grace and vitality in their mountain fastness. There was, I estimated, around half the world's remaining population on display. For several minutes we all watched them leaping around, and it felt good to be with local people who were as pleased as us. Our cross-section of modern Vietnam had, I felt, ended on a suitable high note.

Eventually we left the langurs and passed back through the cave, in time to see the magical sight of thousands of egrets flying over to their roost. We sat by our bikes and watched them settle as the light faded.

Way to go

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA can provide the trip for you which include bike, hike and kayak tour of northern Vietnam, which combines Hanoi, Mai Chau, Cuc Phuong national park, Ninh Binh and Halong Bay.

The highlight

- Awesome scenery

- Tam Coc - the "Halong Bay on the rice fields"

- Homestay in Thai village

- Jungle trails

Further information

ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA offers a wide selection of Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar adventure tours, including hiking and trekking, biking, motorcycling, overland touring and family travel ackages. The packages and tailor-made private itineraries will take you through exotic destinations to really experience the culture, history and nature of Asia.

Add: Floor 12th, Building 45 Nguyen Son St., Long Bien Dist.Hanoi, Vietnam

Hotline: +84 97 98 00 588

Tel: +84 4 3573 8569

Fax: +84 4 3573 8570

Email address: info@activetravel.asia

Top Biking Adventures in Vietnam

As a country with every terrain imaginable, Vietnam offers a memorable bicycling adventure for any and all peddlers, regardless of experience or condition. The flat expanse of the Mekong Delta grows to rugged mountains in the central expanse and then blends into the widest variety of difficulty north near Hanoi.

Traffic and Bicycle Laws

Along with standard laws like not causing traffic problems by racing or zigzagging, Vietnam has few laws targeted specifically toward the bicyclist. It is important to remember not to carry cumbersome loads, carry children over age seven with you or ride more than two abreast. No sort of helmet or lighting is required, but bicyclists are not allowed to ride with open umbrellas. One can only guess what happened to make this law.

Common Trips

For those interested in adventure and active trips, there are some routes that will take you through and explore the backcountry while providing some modicum of modern amenities. ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA_one of the travel companies offering cycling tours in Indochina_ is received good reviews of adventure travelers.

Biking Mekong Delta

The easiest of these is around the Mekong Delta. With a terrain nearly devoid of any rise, these trips are easier, but by no means less scenic, than the others. Traveling through the expanse of rice paddies dotted with the occasional copse of trees, the rider will be joined by children cycling to or from school or women returning from the market. People in the villages will be pleasantly surprised to see a foreigner riding into town and a circuit from Ho Chi Minh to any of the surrounding villages is an easy ride. With the flat terrain and abundance of villages it is easy to take a trip of any length, whether only a day or two weeks, a rider can tour without backtracking.

Biking Mai chau, Hoa Binh province

The northern area allows for more wooded scenery while still allowing for easier trips. For the more adventurous, the northern area provides a greater degree of difficulty through the hills surrounding Hanoi. This trip offers a great opportunity to see the two area of outstanding nature beauty; the North West highlands of Mai Chau and the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh. Biking is a great way to see this fascinating and visually stunning part of Vietnam, offering both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live. In Ninh Binh we explore the beauty of “Halong Bay on the rice fields” on bikes.

Biking Ho Chi Minh trail

A new trip for the adventurous would be along the historical Ho Chi Minh trail. The so-called Ho Chi Minh Trail is one of the most renowned legends of the American War. The complicated road system winds along the Truong Son Range, which that facilitated movement of soldiers and war supplies from North Vietnam to battlefields in South Vietnam. Now the historic trail is being turned into a highway and hotels and towns are springing up speedily beside it. The route is incredibly beautiful with new mountain views around every corner, very little traffic, and virtually no tourists.

Weather

Weather in Southeast Asia is a big consideration and it is recommended to go from Late September to December or March to late May. The weather in the southern area of Vietnam stays warm and humid averaging 26°C with its rainy season from June to September. BE WARNED: Vietnam sees monsoonal rains starting in June, peaking in August and tapering down in September. This season varies depending on location; Hanoi in the north generally has a rainy season that peaks earlier while Ho Chi Minh City may not see its rains slack until early October. Vietnam, especially central Vietnam, often floods and can hold up a trip for a week before the waters recede.

The hot season will see temperatures averaging 30°C, with the south staying warm all year round and the north seeing winter trends averaging 15°C. Depending on the time of year, it would be advisable to take a jacket to keep off the chill, especially if riding in the highlands, and a hat to protect against the sun.

Other Considerations

Visas must be applied for at least six months prior to entry date. Tourist visas are granted for one month, but may be extended after arrival in Vietnam, and only allow one entry into the country. Tourists must fill out arrival/departure papers and declaration papers, keeping both with the passport at all times. It is also recommended having a few extra passport-size photos with you as local authorities may request these and it is always a good idea to stay on the good side of authorities.

With over two-thirds of its roads unpaved and those paved roads sporting an abundance of potholes, the road conditions almost require a mountain bike. 

The lush landscapes and warm hospitality provide anyone with a good biking tour of Vietnam. Take the time to look around and smell the proverbial “roses”.

Mai Chau among top ten fresh destinations

Mai Chau, a small town in the northern mountainous province of Hoa Binh, Vietnam was named one of the top ten "fresh" Asian destinations.

Mai Chau Valley, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

Mai Chau was described as "a semi-isolated village in Vietnam...surrounded by limestone cliffs and green rice paddies, populated largely by members of the ethnic White Thai tribe..."

These destinations all had high growth rates and attracted many foreign travellers as well as increasing amounts of vacationing locals.

Ethnic people in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh, Vietnam

Mai Chau was described as "a semi-isolated village in Vietnam...surrounded by limestone cliffs and green rice paddies, populated largely by members of the ethnic White Thai tribe...Vibrant, verdant green rice paddies surround the town on all sides, and dramatic hills rise up on either side of the valley. The town itself isn't particularly stunning, but it's when one gets out into the countryside or head up into the hills that the breathtaking views get better around every corner. There are also several interesting markets to check out, as well as some nearby caves."

With many foreign tourists, Mai Chau is the interesting ideal for trekking trips or cycling options to discover the natural beauty of the region and exotic culture of minority groups.

Recommend Biking tour or Trekking tour in Mai Chau  by ACTIVETRAVEL ASIA

Trekking Mai Chau 

Trekking in Mai Chau

This trip offers a great combination of cultural expedition and trekking. We trek for three days through the spectacular scenery, visit remote and stay overnight in local homes where we have the chance to get to know these hospitable villages. From the mountainous region of Mai Chau, we travel back to the nation's capital, Hanoi.

Highlights 

• Awesome scenery
• Homestays in villages of ethnic minorities
• Beautiful trails

Biking Hidden Paths of Mai Chau & Ninh Binh

Biking in Mai Chau

This trip offers a great opportunity to see the two area of outstanding nature beauty; the North West highlands of Mai Chau and the limestone mountains of Ninh Binh. Biking is a great way to see this fascinating and visually stunning part of Vietnam, offering both physical activity and the unique opportunity to observe a way of life that has changed little over the centuries. As we ride in Mai Chau we encounter Muong and White Thai minorities and are guests in their traditional stilt houses allowing us to see firsthand how these minority peoples live. In Ninh Binh we explore the beauty of “Halong Bay on the rice fields” on bikes.

Highlights

• Awesome scenery
• Tam Coc - the "Halong Bay on the rice fields"
• Homestay in Thai village
• Traditional foot massage