The 9-day trek to Mai Chau and Pu Luong Nature Reserve is customized for small groups and active, adventure travelers, those looking for a challenging, multi-day trek in the northern Vietnam. The adventure holiday begins with a car transfer from Hanoi to Mai Chau where you spend your first 4 days trekking through rice paddy fields and local Thai and H’mong hamlets. You are then transferred by car to Pu Luong nature reserve where you spend the other 5 day trekking through Thai and Muong villages. Spending all the nights at local home (homestay); eating local food and sharing the house with family at night offer a real life experience. This is a challenging trekking tour is only available during the dry season starting from October until April. Contact Lotussia Travel for more details.
Itinerary:
Day 1: Hanoi – Mai Chau. Start trekking Mai Chau village (trek to Hang Kia village).
7:00 a.m you will be met up with Lotussia Travel team at your hotel in Hanoi and transferred to Mai Chau. This scenic drive takes about three hours. En routes, you pass fields of tapioca and sugar cane as well as rice paddies. After lunch in a traditional stilt house of the Thai people in Poom Coom village, you will enjoy one hour drive to Xa Linh village where you will begin 3 hrs trek through beautiful villages, the gravel tracks and small paths used by the locals. Dinner and overnight at a local home in Hang Kia village.
Day 2: Continue trekking Mai Chau villages (Trek to Van village).
After breakfast, you will get well and truly off the beaten track as you trek through tropical rain forest, using the local tracks and passing through corn fields as we descend in to Mai Chau Valley. The trek takes around 5 hours and is quite steep in places. Lunch will be provided at the local stall at the foot of the valley. From here, you will continue trekking and going through several ethnic minority villages, long spread out fields decorated with water wheels to make your way to Van village by late afternoon. Dinner and overnight in a local stilt house (homestay).
Day 3: Continue trekking Mai Chau valley (Trek to Xam Khoe village)
Today you will trek through several Thai hamlets. You walk on the valley floor and are surrounded by rice paddies and beautiful scenery. Picnic lunch will be provided en route. You will arrive in Xam Khoe village in the afternoon. Cook, then enjoy the dinner with the host. Spend another night homestay.
Day 4: Hiking Mai Chau village (Hike back to Poom Coom village)
Trek back to Mai Chau valley and Poom Coom village. You hike through beautiful rice terraces, inhale peaceful atmosphere in the morning. You will arrive back Poom Coong village around noon. Lunch will be served in a local stilt house.
After lunch, free time for you to stroll around the village in the afternoon. Dinner and overnight in Poom Coom village.
Day 5: Trek Mai Chau onto Pu Luong Nature Reserve.
Leaving the Poom Coom village, you travel on the paved road to the Ma river. Get off the bus to unbeaten trek to Duom and Hang village for approximately 2.5 hrs through spectacular mountain scenery, rice paddies, water wheels, talk with lovely local people on the way. You will arrive in the homestay in the afternoon. Check into a local house for dinner and overnight.
Day 6: Continue hiking Pu Luong nature reserve (Hike to Eo Ken & Kho Muong villages)
It will be interesting for you to get up early and take part in their morning activities. Today you will be walking for a approximately 5 to 6 hour on a dirt road.The first hiking is hard with some steep climbs and yet more stream crossings, the next is really glorious with beautiful views of valley, rice terraces, rich rain forest. Picnic lunch on the way at Eo Ken village. Arrival in Hang village, the setting of the village is perhaps the most beautiful in Vietnam nestled between steep karst mountains and nice terraces in the afternoon. Spend our second night in a typical Thai stilt house in Kho Muong village.
Day 7: Continue trekking Pu Luong national park (Trek to Nua and Hin villages)
After breakfast, you will leave the homestay and continue trekking through the valley. There are some steep climbs and yet more stream crossings. Trek to an incredible cave, only recently discovered and now protected by the Forest rangers. The trekking becomes more remote yet one is never far from a villager tending fields, passing steep limestone mountain, rain forest inside the Pu Luong Nature Reserve to Nua village. Lunch will be provided en route. Relax from the heat of the day before continuing on to Hin – the village of Thai people in the afternoon. Have dinner and spend one more night at a local home.
Day 8: Continue trekking Pu Luong (Hike to Son village).
Leave Hin village, you will trek uphill. You will get in deeper inside the Pu luong Nature Reserve with wild and rich tropical forest. Lunch will be provided en route. After lunch, continue trekking through Ba beautiful village to Son village. Take a break and stretch your legs on the house on stilt of Thai people or strolling round this village and to be in contact with hospitable friendly local people here. Dinner and overnight in Son village.
Day 9: Trek to Ton village then drive back to Hanoi
Today you will have a nice and easier trek, just a bit up and down through rice paddies, jungle fever. After 2.5 hours we get to Ton village. You will be picked up by Lotussia Travel driver and transferred back to Hanoi.
Lotussia Travel is a Hanoi based tour operator offering a wide selection of trekking tours in all over Vietnam. The above trekking tour is only a sample we list on this site for your reference. That can be flexible, customizable and subject to weather conditions and other circumstances. We have lots of other itineraries which are only available upon request. If you need further information or have any suggestions or comments, please feel free to contact us at any time. We look forward to seeing you soon in Vietnam!
Mai Chau Trekking Tour 