Mai Chau, located in Hoa Binh province, some 140km from Hanoi was an interesting destination for my 2 day-trip on the occasion of National Victory Day- April 30th and International working day May 1st.

I had many chances to learn about the natural beauties of Hoa Binh and Mai Chau, considered as the heart of the Tonkin and longing for a trip to Mai Chau for a long time. A dream came true when our company operated a farm trip to detective Mai Chau’s tourism conditions and infrastructure and of course, I was one of the fist volunteers of 7 members in this journey.

8:00 in the morning, everybody was ready and picked up by a young and funny driver, Truyen is his name. On the way, he showed us many interesting things such as Hoa Binh is home to many ethnic minorities, especially Muong and Thai people, Thai girls are very beautiful and clever,  there are many specilties in Mai Chau such as Can wine, “Com Lam”-a kind of rice cooked in a tube of bamboo.

The first stop in our trip was Hoa Binh hydroelectric plant, we also visited Ho CHi Minh’s statute and were told a legend relating this statute.

Leave Hoa Binh, Truyen continued driving us to Mai Chau via Cun Pass, a spectacular view on the top of this mountain. The panorama of the lush green valley with its stilt houses is laid out before you.The valley of Mai Chau was our stop for checking in Mai Chau Lodge.

That was a beautiful 4 star wooden logde situated on the edge of the valley, designed with full of nice decor and atmosphere. After a short rest and a local lunch at the lodge, we ran up for an exploration around town.

Everywhere, the stilt houses border both sides of the roads. The houses are quite large with palm leaf roofs and bamboo-slat floors. The kitchen is located in the center of the house; the cooking as well as the making of the colorful “tho cam” takes place in the kitchen. This material is used by the Thai minority to make their clothes. The windows are large and decorated with patterns. Each house also has a pond to breed fish.

It must have been said that we had a memorable night in Mai Chau. We joined singing and dancing with very very beautiful Thai girls. They also taught us how to dance “xoe Thai” and sharing the wine with orthers as the way they did everyday, which we had nerver done before.

A peaceful morning with the sunlight waking us up, took the time to enjoy the fresh air and do some morning exercises to prepare for a trekking visit Lac villages to visit White Thai people and find out how a stilt house be made. An excellent solution for this mountainous area. We visited a local home to see Thai women weaving clothing and enjoy the last meal there. They welcomed us so friendly that we really didn’t want to come back.

Spending only 2 days in Mai Chau but it gave us more than exspected things at the first time. We got a wnoderful time and unforgettable travel experiences there.