130km from Hanoi, Mai Chau is a beautiful valley nestled among the Northwest mountains and forests of Hoa Binh province.
Traveling to Mai Chau Hoa Binh, especially Ban Lac Mai Chau, is a great choice for a short trip near Hanoi. This article will share with you the most useful and complete information for a trip to Mai Chau.
1. When is the best season to travel to Mai Chau?
Mai Chau is a valley surrounded by mountain ranges, thus the weather in Mai Chau is generally dry throughout the year.You can travel to Mai Chau during any season.
If you go to Mai Chau in February or March, you will be delighted by the sight of blossoming peach, plum, and white apricot flowers.
During the summer, Mai Chau is lush with the distinctive green of the forests and terraced rice fields.
But perhaps the most beautiful time in Mai Chau is September and October.
This is the harvest season in Mai Chau. The entire valley dons the shimmering golden color of ripe rice.
The weather is cool and it doesn't rain much. This is the most ideal time to travel to Mai Chau.
In the evenings, Mai Chau is usually colder than in the lowlands, so you should prepare warm clothes if you travel to Mai Chau at the end of winter or the beginning of spring.
How to get to Mai Chau?
Mai Chau is about 140km from Hanoi. You can go from Hanoi to Mai Chau by renting a private car or taking a bus, or you can also ride a motorbike.
2.Places to visit when coming to Mai Chau
2.1 Lac Village
Lac village is known as the most beautiful village in Mai Chau, converging rustic characteristics, the people here are friendly. The village is more than 700 years old and is home to 5 White Thai ethnic groups. Previously, people lived on brocade weaving and upland rice farming. Later, realizing the beauty of the village, most people turned to tourism to serve the increasing number of tourists coming here.
However, the stilt houses built into homestays in Lac village still retain their traditional features and customs are still preserved. Tourists coming here are very excited by the delicious food, colorful traditional stalls and beautiful young people dancing
2.2 Pom Coong Village
In Thai, the village's name Pom is hill, Coong is drum. Today, there are 7 major families living in the village. Like other villages in Mai Chau, Pom Coong village is favored by nature for its natural scenery as well as the friendliness of the people here.
The houses in the village still retain the traditional features of the Thai people, and the food in the village is diverse such as bamboo-tube rice, vegetables, and seven-color sticky rice. Besides, when coming to the village, visitors can also enjoy ethnic dances every night following the rhythms of bamboo and xoe.
2.3 Go Lao waterfall
About 15km from Mai Chau town, Go Lao waterfall is located at the foot of the mountain, right next to Hoa Binh hydroelectric power plant. Go Lao Waterfall impresses visitors with its white foam waterfalls. On both sides of the road to the waterfall, there are glimpses of Muong ethnic houses, straight rows of corn or romantic bamboo forests.
2.4 Thung Khe Pass
Thung Khe Pass (or Da Trang Pass) in Tan Lac district bordering Mai Chau, is a very attractive place for tourists because the "snow" of the limestone mountains is covered in white like the hills in Northern Europe. When coming here, visitors are not only impressed by admiring the majestic mountains and forests of the Northwest from the top of the hill but also the winding roads around the mountains. The climate on Thung Khe pass is very special because there are four seasons in one day. Tourists visiting the pass can easily see small ethnic shops selling typical agricultural products in Mai Chau: bamboo-tube rice, grilled meat, grilled eggs,...
2.5 Bakhan Valley
Ba Khan small valley belongs to Hoa Binh hydroelectric lake. Almost isolated from the outside world, Ba Khan's landscape still retains its inherent wildness that attracts all tourists once they set foot here.. From Hoa Binh city center, visitors have to go about 50km in the direction of Highway 6 to Mai Chau to reach Ba Khan.
When traveling to Ba Khan Hoa Binh, you will admire the scenery with one side being the majestic cliffs, the other side being the endless blue Da River flowing through small undulating islands, all blending together. into a charming landscape painting right in the Northwest mountains and forests. In the middle of the quiet and vast Ba Khan Lake, visitors can reflect themselves in the giant mirror and gently touch their hands to feel the natural coolness amidst the charming landscape.
