Ha Noi and Mai Chau

We arrived in Ha Noi after an easy and quick flight from Danang. With a set amount of time we were quick to start looking into the two main trips that we had left to do in Vietnam. These were a hill trek and a visit to Ha Long Bay.

After much searching, talking and crunching of figures, we discovered that the best bet for our remaining time was to head the next day to Mai Chau. This is one of a few hill regions in the north of Vietnam. The more well known (and one we were planning on going to) is Sapa. However after speaking to various people we discovered that apart from being very heavily populated by tourists, Sapa is now out of the rice season and all the lush green rice fields would actually be brown and empty. We therefore opted for a trek in Mai Chau, a similar hill region to the south west of Ha Noi. (also this was save an 18 hour overnight drive and train journey to Sapa!)


The next day we were packed and ready to go for a 4 day/3 night trek in to the hills. This was again with only what we could carry in a small rucsac. So day 1 was a short 3-4 hour drive to the SW of Hanoi. We started with a small 1 hour walk before lunch at a local restaurant. 

After lunch we had a 2-2.5 hour hike through the jungle to the first night's homestay. Our accommodation for the trek would be to stay with local families in their traditional stilt house. The hill areas are dotted with 'minority villages and people'. The minority people are groups of people who have migrated from China, Cambodia, Thailand or Laos. They have traditional dress and local dialects aswell as Vietnamese. 

(Gwed our host in our 1st homestay)

The stilthouses are a single storey building raised about 8-12 feet from the ground. The underneath is used to store rice, cattle etc. The first floor is an open plan layout space where the whole family (mum, dad, children, grand children, grand parents) live, cook, eat & sleep. our bed for the next few nights would be a mat on the bamboo floor. The pillows were pretty much a brick with a bit of cloth....


Now we were hoping that being in the middle of nowhere, the day would be started listening to subtle bird song in the distance and peace and quiet. Sadly not, we awoke to the sound of dogs, birds, chickens & cocks, buffaloes  cows, coughing and goodness knows what else. 

Day 2 was spent with a combination of hill walks through the rice fields, bike rides and walking through local villages. We were very pleased with our decision to come to Mai Chau, as so far there was only 5 of us in our group (Kip, myself, our guide and a Swiss couple) and no one else in site. We were literally the only people, apart from locals, working in the hills. Perfect !


The 2nd nights accommodation was again in a family`s stilthouse. A similar setup of arriving at the house for mid/late afternoon. Chilling out and then sharing a dinner with the family at around 7pm. The facilities were as predicted, long drop toilet and a cold shower...happy honeymoon !! (Not exactly Maynard-Stylee..!)

 The 3rd day was to be the longest walk, 15Km up and down the various hills. It would take about 6 hours. So we loaded up our rucsacs and set off through the village, along side the river and toward the rice fields. The 3rd day was a long walk, but some of the best scenery so far. The rice fields stretching out to the side and beneath us, as we climbed the hills. Despite being advised that he harvest season for the rice was over, we were fortunate to see the rice still in most of the fields. Not the 100% lush green that we were hoping for, but the scenery was great and again hard to capture on the camera. 


The last village and homestay we got to was the best so far. It was very remote and about a 2 hour walk to the nearest 'village' (even then that village was remote in itself). The surroundings of the last homestay location was kind of magical. It was about 300 people in 50 stilt houses, but the rice feilds were situated in a large basin, surrounded on nearly all sides by the typical limestone rocky outcrops. The family we stayed with were again also very nice, but the best thing of all....they had HOT WATER - Whoop !

We shared a lovely meal with the family and guide that night, the Swiss couple had parted company to a new tour that morning, so it was an even more intimate homestay. The menu was similar to the majority we have had in Vietnam so far, rice....rice and chicken. The only uneasy bit was that the chicken was "fresh" (i.e it was happily wandering around under the house only a few hours before).


The final morning we awoke (on the floor again) to the usual noises of the village. The last stretch of our trek would be a 2 hour down hill  trek to the village, where we would be collected for our transfer back to Ha Noi.


All in all a great trek and very pleased that we saw the rice fileds still in bloom, without the hoards of tourists that were in Sapa. The treks were another great way to see the real Vietnam and after the tour we really felt we had delved in to the local cultures, especially staying in homestays.