Vietnam Trekking Map-Hanoi Hoabinh Maichau (6 Days)

The 6-day tour is arranged in north-western Vietnam taking you to Hoa Binh and Thanh Hoa provinces. The tour begins with a car transfer from Hanoi to Hoa Binh, and then Mai Chau valley where you start trekking through local Thai hamlets and rice paddy fields. You spend the following day trekking through other Thai villages before arriving in Pu Luong Nature Reserve. There, you follow small hiking trail going along hill sides through Thai and Muong villages. Spending 5 nights at local home (homestay);  Eating local food and chatting with local Thai and Muong friendly villagers offers the opportunity to experience the real life. The 6-day trekking tour is customized for active, adventure travelers. There are about 6 hours trekking per days. This adventure holiday is only available during the dry season starting from October until April. Contact Lotussia Travel for more details.

Itinerary:

Day 1: Hanoi – Hoa Binh – Mai Chau

Pick up at your hotel to go to Mai Chau via Hoa Binh – one of the most beautiful mountainous places in the Northwest of Vietnam. Stop at Muong and Dzao village to discover the daily life and culture of these hill tribes. Have lunch in Hoa Binh Hotel. After lunch continue going to Mai chau by car. 13:00 arrive in Mai Chau. Chek in Thai’s house then walk around peaceful Thai villages in Mai Chau valley. You have a chance to see how Thai people weave colorful clothes, breed silk worm, grow rice. Overnight in house on stilts in Mai Chau.

Day 2: Mai Chau – Van Mai

Breakfast. start 4-hour trek to Van Mai. Lunch in Van Mai. Afternoon rafting in Suoi Sia stream to enjoy beautiful landscapes along the stream. Dinner and overnight in Thai village.

Day 3: Van Mai – Ban Hang – Pa Kha village

Breakfast. Transfer to Ban Hang ( 20 km). Start 4-hour trek to Eo Ken, Pa Ban, Pa Kha. Lunch in Pa Kha. Afternoon trek to Ban village to discover Muong minority’s life. Overnight in Pa Kha.

Day 4: Pa kha – Kho Muong – Hin village

Breakfast. Trek to Kho Muong village. This is a beautiful Muong ethnic village in the valley. Tourists will spend one hour to discover this village to find out local peoples’life. Then Continue treking to Pon, Nua village. Picnic lunch en route. Afternoon trek to Hin Village. Dinner and overnight in Hin village

Day 5: Hin village – Pho Doan Market – Mai Chau.

Breakfast. Trek through Trinh, Cao villages to get to Pho Doan Market. Visit the market. Lunch in Pho Doan.
Afternoon transfer To Mai Chau. In this place you will have variety of choice to buy typical souvenirs for your family and friends. In the evening following dinner is Thai Minority’s show and drink local wine. Overnight in Mai Chau.

Day 6: Mai Chau – Hoa Binh – HaNoi.
Breakfast. Transfer to Bai Sang. On the way visit Go Lao waterfall. One last hour trek to admire the view of Hoa Binh Reservoir. Get on the boat. Sailing on Hoa Binh reservoir. Lunch on board. Afternoon take 3-hour trek on the trail along Hoa Binh reservoir. You will be met up again with your vehicle and travel back to Hanoi. Trip ends.
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 we don’t put all here since there are some dishonest individuals have copied, without our agreement our contents and pasted on their site for commercial purpose. 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!

Halong bay – Tam Coc – trekking Mai chau tour 4 days – 3 nights

Halong bay – Tam Coc – trekking Mai chau tour 4 days – 3 nights

Mai Chau is a mountainous area of outstanding natural beauty, inhabited by a Thai and H’mong ethnic minority groups. This trip offers an easy trek combined with home stay in villages of Thai people. You will trek for two days through the scenic and peaceful villages and stay overnight in local homes where we have the chance to get to learn about culture of the Thai people. From the mountainous region of Mai Chau, we travel back to the nation’s capital, Hanoi.

Day 1: Hanoi – Ha Long (L, D)

We go by car/ bus to Halong bay in the morning, get on boat and start your cruising in Halong bay., a World Heritage site marvels of Vietnam: visit islets, natural cave of Sung sot and, if weather permits, enjoy a recognized by UNESCO in 1994. Be delighted by food on transfer to Ha Long bay. Arrive around 12h30 and board the junk for a memorable cruise through the board and spend your day admiring one of the natural swim in the clear waters of the Gulf of Tonkin. Dinner and overnight on the junk.

Day 2: Ha Long – Ninh Binh (B, L, D)

Breakfast at 7h00 on boat , then discover Man’s Head island, Tortoise island, Luon cave, Bai Tu Long bay, Ton island and Bai Tho mountain. Enjoy an early lunch on board at 11h00. End the cruise at 12h, then drive to Ninh binh.

 Day 3: Ninh Binh – Mai Chau (B, L, D)

In the morning, board a small sampan for a spectacular 2-hour cruise through numerous waterways and beautiful rural landscape of limestone cliffs and rice paddies to the stunning Tam Coc caves. Discover Bich Dong Pagoda. Transfer through the countryside to Hoa Lu, the ancient capital of Vietnam during the 10th century. Visit Dinh Tien Hoang and Le Dai Hanh dynastic temple and then continue to Van Lam village for lunch in a local restaurant. Transfer to Maichau. Overnight in still house of Thai minority at Maichau.

Day 4: Mai Chau/Hoa Binh/Hanoi (B, L)

Visit Lat and Pomcoong villages and learn about the traditional life of the Thai people. Lunch in a stilt house at Mai Chau. Drive to Hoabinh for visiting Muong minority village . Back to Ha Noi.

 Not include: Drinks, insurance, personal expense

Iclude : Transportation, Tickets, Meals  and Tour-guide, accomodation

Note: It is private tour, so price depends on the number of people

More information:

Isolated Mai Chau is a 139km trip from Ha noi and 66km further on from Hoa Binh. Though it’s not far, the trip from Hoa Binh to here takes almost two hours by motorbike due to the mountainous terrain.

Mai Chau is in a valley just over the biggest hump, about 10km from the Song Da river and only 150 metres above sea level. The village presents an idyllic rural valley that could easily charm you into staying longer than intended. Nestled between two towering cliffs and surrounded by emerald green paddies, it is an enchanting sight as you wind down the cliff side.

In spring Mai Chau is a bright, almost parrot-green and by autumn this green transforms into golden hues as the rice approaches harvest. Taking the time to watch these transitions of colour seems like a perfectly useful way to spend your time while there.

Beware that whilst a beautiful time of year, Mai Chau can become unbearably hot in June / July with little respite from the heat as electricity doesn’t come on until the evening.

Those bemoaning the dearth of truly budget accommodation in Vietnam will be happy to learn that this is one place you can stay for a song. The star attraction here is a ‘homestay’ in a stilt house in one of the two ethnic White Thai villages, Ban Pom Coong and Ban Lac. While both are run by ethnic minority families who have lived on and worked the land for generations, this is hardly like trucking into a Karen village in  village in northern Thailand and  staying in the spare room of someone’s house.

The ‘bare bones’ accommodation is purpose-built to give tourists the ‘homestay’ experience, while the watchful eye of the government makes sure they have western toilets, ample bedding, and sometimes even satellite TVs in the common rooms.

Ban Lac is the more developed of the two villages, with more gift shops and a busier nightlife — what there is of it — but there’s little to differentiate the accommodation on offer. The lodgings are mostly traditional stilt houses with large communal rooms where you can sleep on a mat laid upon a squeaky, split bamboo floor, for just about the same cheap price everywhere. The sleeps are really a loss leader — they make the real money off the food you eat, and the curios and textiles you buy. Not to mention, the liquor you drink. A typical charge is 150,000 VND / person for dinner, breakfast, and a bed although some are a bit cheaper. You could save ‘small money’ by eating in town, but family-style Vietnamese cooking is generally far superior to restaurant fare, and you wouldn’t want to miss out on the nightly group meals.

Despite this tourist-driven set-up, and the regular influx of visitors, the villages remain a

Mai Chau Vietnam Tour

Mai Chau Vietnam Tour

Mai Chau trek offers a most splendid vista of the Valley which is surrounded by lush greens and stilt houses inhabited mainly by the White Thai ethnic group. The Sunday market brings a lot of people into town where traditional Thai dishes are made and revel in traditional dances.

Mai Chau has a population of about 47,500 inhabitants that belong to different ethnic minority groups such as the White Thai, H’mong, Zao, Muong, Tay, Hoa and Viet. The Mai Chau hill tribes are warm and welcoming, and famous for their handicrafts – in particular for their skills in embroidering clothes.

Mai Chau offers a wide selection of soft adventure tours such as trekking, biking and motorcycle tours. Mai Chau Vietnam tour can be categorized by travel activity as follows:

Mai Chau hiking tours: Thanks to the beautiful landscape and the rich culture and tradition, Mai Chau offers lots of trekking hiking tours ranging from half day easy hiking to multi-day challenging trekking tour. Most of the hiking tours start from Mai Chau village. The trek will take travelers through Thai hamlets and green rice fields.

A variety of biking tours are also provided by Lotussia Travel. For easy biking tour, you can spend a half day cycle around the Lac village and cycle to Van village. This area is flat and you will only need to use your classic road bikes. With more challenging bike ride, Lotussia Travel recommend you taking your mountain bikes. Training is sometimes required to do prior to the trip departure.

Mai Chau Vietnam tour is also available for motorcycle tours. Please contact Lotussia motorcycle expert for further details.

Ha Noi to Mai Chau trekking

Day 1: Hanoi – Mai Chau – Hang Kia Village (B,L,D)

8:00 AM Mai Chau Trek tour guide and driver pick up at your hotel and leave Hanoi for Mai Chau, the beautiful gate way to the mountainous area of northern Vietnam – home of the H’mong and the White Thai minority group. On the way, have a short stop for refreshment.

Upon arrival in Mai Chau picked up by local guide and continue driving to Xa Linh Village.

Local lunch in a H’mong house before setting off on a beautiful trekking in the afternoon. After lunch, begin our trek on the village’s road and then walk on dirt path used by the locals. Afternoon, reach Tra Day Village, home to a small community of Black H’mong minority people. From the Tra Day village, have two options for trekking route to reach Hang Kia, where we will stay overnight. The easier route with rocky path running through another H’mong village. The harder route take more time to do with trail uphill through jungle and dirt path though terraces.

Around 5:00pm reach Hang Kia with a small and scenic valley, which is home to a group of Flower H’mong minority people.

Overnight with a H’mong family. While our local guide cooks dinner we can take shower or stroll around the village.

Dinner around 7.30 pm. Before going to bed we will treat our feet with herbal foot massage, which you do by yourself with the guide’s instruction.

Day 2: Trekking from Hang Kia to Van Village (B,L,D)

After breakfast in the house, say goodbye to the family and begin an exciting trekking day. Right after the village, walk on jungle trail for one hour. The trail could be a bit wet due to the dense trees that keep sunlight away. After that, descend the hill passing farm and terraces. The scenery is stunning with mountains, terraces and expansive valley. During the trek have some breaks for snack, rest, and photographing. After crossing a small river, reach a village of White Thai minority group

Lunch in a local house. After lunch, have a short nap in the house.

In the remainder of the day, walk on village road to reach Van Village, a beautiful village of White Thai minority people. The road runs zigzag along the valley and through lots of scenic village. Walk through these villages the locals may try to invite to come to their house and have dinner with them.

Have dinner and stay overnight in a Thai family.

Day 3: Trekking from Van Village to Buoc Village (B,L,D)

After breakfast say goodbye to the family and begin 3-hr trek in the morning to reach Buoc Village. The path will runs uphill and down hill through bamboo forest, terraces and farms. On the trek, see farmers working on their farms.

Around 12 pm, reach Buoc Village, another scenic village of White Thai minority people. Local lunch house and take a short nap if you wish. In the afternoon, enjoy 2-hr leisure trek around the village. Weather permitting, at the end of the day, enjoy the cool water of the stream nearby the homestay.

Dinner will be cooked by our local guide. Foot massage before bedding time.

Day 4: Mai Chau Trekking to Van Mai – Transfer to Hanoi (B,L)

After breakfast say goodbye to the family and enjoy the last trekking along mountain foot to reach Van Mai, take a short transfer to Pom Coong Village for lunch in a local house. After lunch, head back to Hanoi. Return to Hanoi around 5pm. Tour ends.

Ha Noi to Mai Chau, Viet Nam

 Ha Noi to Mai Chau Viet Nam

8:00 AM Mai Chau Trek tour guide and driver pick you up at your hotel and transfer to Mai Chau (140 km) via Hoa Binh city. The road will slowly weave itself through mountains, fertile valleys and traditional villages. Arrive in picturesque Mai Chau valley which it surrounded by spectacular karats rock formations and picturesque rice paddies. Enjoy your local style lunch in a Thai traditional stilt house.

Trek to visit Lac and Pom Coong villages to explore the daily life of Thai minority and maintain their ancient traditions and customs.

The end of the day return to Hanoi and drop off at your hotel around 19h00. Tour concluded.

About Mai Chau, Viet Nam

 About Mai Chau, Viet Nam

Mai Chau is the heart of a beautiful valley that is a world away from the hustle of Hanoi. The modern village is an unappealing sprawl, but as you emerge on the rice fields and rural living is transformed into a real paradise. It’s a stunning area, and the most people here are ethnic White Thai, distantly related to tribes in Thailand, Laos and China.

The heart of a beautiful valley

Although most local no longer wear traditional dress, the Thai women are masterful weavers who ensure that there is plenty of traditional – style clothing to buy in the village center. You will see women weaving on looms under or inside their houses in the village. Much of the silk looks similar to that seen in Laos. The Thai of Mai Chau are less likely to employ strong-arm sales tactics than their H’mong counterparts in Sapa: Polite bargaining is the norm rather than endless haggling.

GETTING THERE

Mai Chau is 135km from Hanoi and just 5km south of Tong Dau junction on High Way 6. There’s no direct public transport to Mai Chau from Hanoi; however, buses to nearby Hoa Binh (25,000 d, two hours) are plentiful. From Hoa Binh there are several scheduled buses to Mai Chau (20,000d, two hours) daily. Usually these stop at Tong Dau junction; a xe om (motorbike taxi) from there to Mai Chau trek proper will cost about 15,000d.

Theoretically, foreigners must pay a 5000d entry to Mai Chau. There is a toll booth at the state-run guesthouse on the “main” road. More often than not, there is nobody there to collect the fee.

WHEN TO TREK

The best time to visit Mai Chau – Pu Luong is any time. One of the principal tourist lures of the area is its equitable climate. There aren’t any extremes of climate here, nor are there extremes of temperatures here. What you have are three principal seasons, hot, rainy and cold, with variations in temperature and the rainfall.

THE TREKKING DAY

A typical trekking day start at about 8.30 am after breakfast. Lunch times can vary depending on the terrain. We aim to reach the next overnight stop by 4.30 or 5. During the trek we will have short breaks for rest, snack and photographing.