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Ultimate Travel Guide to Mai Chau, Vietnam - Explore Real Asia
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Ultimate Travel Guide to Mai Chau, Vietnam - Explore Real Asia
April 26, 2021
Located in the west of Hoa Binh, bordering Moc Chau district of Son La, Mai Chau valley is the top destination for many young people who love the natural beauty as well as the culture of the ethnic minorities.
Mai Chau is a suitable destination in all seasons of the year, you can refer to the beauty of Mai Chau's seasons below:
Mai Chau is about 140km from Hanoi and from the city. Hoa Binh is about 60km northwest, to move to the highland district of Hoa Binh you can choose to go by motorbike, or choose to sit by bus to Mai Chau.
From Hanoi to Mai Chau you can follow 2 routes:
From Hanoi, tourists can pick up the bus at the My Dinh bus station, Giap Bat (with the fare of about 100,000 - 120,000) to the Tong Dau junction and then take a motorbike taxi to the town about 5km away.
Mai Chau town is quite small, so you can rent bicycles to walk around the villages, not necessarily using motorbikes, in most stilt houses in Lac village there is a bicycle rental service.
Under National Highway 6, Hoa Binh province, Thung Khe pass has an altitude of about 1,000m above sea level. Here visitors can enjoy the rustic dishes sold by the road such as boiled corn, boiled sugarcane, sesame green rice, ... Moreover, from the top of Thung Khe, you can see the whole valley. The valley at the foot of the pass is known to be one of the most beautiful places to see Hoa Binh province.
A corner of Thung Khe Pass
Beautiful scenery seen from Thung Khe Pass
The Lac village is more than 700 years old, the people in Lac village are mainly black Thai people who live from generation to generation, different from cultivation of upland rice and brocade weaving. This place is a gift of mountains and forests for those who love the peace and quiet to immerse themselves in the green, green space of Hoa Binh mountains and forests.
Currently, Lac village has nearly 30 spacious and airy homestay motels to serve the needs of tourists. All stilt houses in Lac Cai village are tall, spacious and clean, keeping the old architecture style. Inside each service house is fully equipped with blankets, cushions and pillows, neatly folded.
Walking around in the village, you will not see any act of enticing visitors or soliciting purchases. Items such as Thai scarves, spread skirts, lovely purses, bows, crossbows, bamboo flutes, buffalos, gongs, horns, and buffalo horns ... are sold at the front door, you can get them to try, taking pictures without fear of being noticed or complaining, even if not buying, it does not make the owner sad.
Like other villages of Muong and Thai people, people of Pom Coong village often live in places with rivers and streams, making houses leaning against mountains and hills, often in front of the house are vast fields.
The attractive highlight of Pom Coong in tourism is very clean space, from clean water sources, well-made water works, toilets, giving visitors a feeling of freshness and safety. Besides, the waste here is classified, stored in the bin and will be treated. Therefore, coming here, you will feel the freshness of heaven and earth and the peace of life.
Located in the system of mountains Pu Kha of Mai Chau town, about 2 km from Lac village. Mo Luong Cave is an ideal tourist destination for travelers who love to explore and find strange feelings when coming to Mai Chau. Mo Luong Cave also has another name which was named Bo Luong by the White Thai people. Bo Luong means big water mine. Mo Luong Cave consists of 4 main caves, famous for its stalactite system forming many unique shapes. During the war against the French, this place used to be a meeting base for our army and people. After finishing the journey to explore Mo Luong cave, at the last cave, visitors will admire an underground stream flowing into a nearby lake.
Mo Luong Cave
Chieu Cave is located on the top of Pu Kha karst mountain range. The name Hang Chieu was given by Mai Chau people, because every afternoon, sunlight shines directly on the cave's heart, rays of light add to the splendor of stalactites, creating a beautiful scene like a place. hybrid.
Cave The width is quite wide, divided into two floors, the cave is relatively flat and airy. Inside the cave is a beautiful and fanciful stalactite forest. Stalactites are available on all sides, from the left to the right, and from the ceiling hung down in a variety of lively forms. The deeper you go into the cave, the more you will be amazed at the splendid and magnificent beauty of the stalactite forest blooming. All are in harmony, creating the scenery of the magnificent picture that nature bestows to Mai Chau.
A corner of the afternoon cave
Pa Co fair market, about 40km north of Mai Chau town, is located between the center of 3 communes, Hang Kia, Pa Co (Mai Chau) and Loong Luong (Moc Chau, Son La). Pa Co fair is only held on Sundays every week, when the fog is still dark throughout the forest and mountain, the people of Mai Chau upland H’Mong have eagerly descended to the market. The highland fair here is not only a place to buy, sell, exchange goods, but also a place to meet people in upland areas.
Although the Pa Co fair takes place once a week, it is busy and busy like a festival, Tet's day is down. The market sells all kinds of things, here visitors will be "overwhelmed" by a wide range of products from agricultural products, livestock, fabrics, brocade products, agricultural tools to home appliances, electronics, music records. , cosmetic…
Pa Co fair is located in Pa Co commune, Mai Chau district. From the center of Mai Chau town you can travel by motorbike or private car along National Highway 6 to get here.
In addition, for the convenience of visiting the market and the surrounding villages, you can book a tour to visit the Pa Co fair at Mai Chau Lodge Hotel. When booking a tour at Mai Chau Lodge, in addition to visiting the market, your local guide will take you to visit tea hills, ethnic villages in the Hang Kia area, as well as explore the attractions of only people new locals know.
Mai Chau's first and perhaps the most famous dish is rice lam. This dish is not too picky with young bamboo tubes, filled with rice and grilled on the fire, served with sesame salt, grilled pork ... However, processing this dish requires dexterity and meticulousness. Rice is an important ingredient, when cooking lam rice, people choose the typical rice of the mountains, the seeds are small, oblong, and when ripe, the aroma is fragrant.
Attractive grilled lam rice dish
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Come to Mai Chau, enjoy the sticky rice made by Thai women who can feel all the deliciousness. Thai people always choose upland sticky rice to make sticky rice. It is the type of sticky rice the Thai people grow on terraced fields in Mai Chau valley.
Sticky rice dish with five colors
Sticky rice is soaked for several hours to soften before sticky rice. The Thai woman does not cook steamed sticky rice like the Kinh people do but put sticky rice in the wooden planks. Sticky rice cooks by steam, not cooking. The processing is very meticulous and requires finesse. After it smells strong, take it out and put it in a basket. However, at this time, the sticky rice is not ripe. Stir the sticky rice in the basket for a while, then place it in a wooden bowl and next item until the sticky rice is cooked. The sticky rice seeds are now matured, the aroma hits diners' nose.
The Muong pig, also known as armpit pig, mannequin pig, "baby pig", ... is a type of pig with long body, pointed snout, small ears, thin legs, long and hard hair, raised in natural conditions, and grazing. In the forest, we only eat trees, grass, and don't eat industrial foods, so the meat is firm, lean, low-fat, delicious and has a natural sweet taste when eaten.
This is one of the dishes rich in highland flavors, an indispensable specialty in the meals for guests of the Northwestern mountainous people.
Unique Muong pig dish. Photo: ST
Bamboo shoots are a specialty of this Mai Chau land and are always available in the house because people often go to the forest to pick up bamboo shoots to pick up or dry to eat gradually. Many visitors said happily when enjoying this dish, they named the bitter bamboo shoots "Love" because when you first enjoy it, you will see the bitter taste of bamboo shoots but after swallowing it, it is sweet bamboo shoots juice.
Wild bees are not easy to find, they only appear seasonal, so if you want to enjoy dishes made from wild bees, you should go to Mai Chau at the end of the summer. The beehives, the size of a small basket, are brought back by the villagers, both to make medicine and to process specialties that are not available in the delta.
Often the old brown bees are soaked in wine by people, but for food, only young bees with white, fat and plump color. Wild bees can be roasted with lemon leaves like pupae, but here people often scramble with sour bamboo shoots.
Forest bee dish sour bamboo shoots
Hill chickens are chickens that are stocked in gardens, on hills, on forests and raised naturally. Anyone who has eaten the original Mai Chau hill chicken cannot forget its special flavor. The meat is extremely delicious and unique that no other breed has. To enjoy this chicken dish the best, should only be boiled until, at this time the chicken is firm and crispy, dipped with salt and chilli mixed with lemon leaves, the sweet broth is used to serve with hot rice.
Is a special drink in Mai Chau, cooked from a kind of forest leaves available. After being broken, the leaves are dried, then chopped. After being cooked, the leaves of the buoy have an acrid taste, both the smell of herbal medicine, and the smell of wild leaves. Water float leaves very well to drink, both stimulates digestion, and has a nourishing effect, increasing the body's resistance.
