We bused it back to Hanoi and arrived pretty late in the afternoon. After sitting down and trying to figure out our next move we decided to head to Mai Chau before making the long 18 hour trip into Laos. We wanted to just catch the local bus but with minimal time up our sleeve we just booked the tourist bus from our hotel as trying to get information about transport in Vietnam from the travel agencies is like getting blood from a stone. Instead it’s all about what tour they can book you on.
So the next day we were picked up and driven the 4 hours to Mai Chai which is a town situated south west of Hanoi and known for its mountains and rice fields. We were dropped off at our homestay just outside the town in Pom Coong village where the White Thai people live in wooden stilt houses. Our homestay stilt house was situated right over a fish pond and the rice field framed by mountains right beside the eating area was a stunning view.
We went for a walk through the village for some lunch and discovered most houses had been converted into home stays with craft stores and restaurants underneath. However there was nobody around. I think we saw another two tourists walking around the village. It was like a ghost town but with this many shops it must get really busy at other times of the year. After not finding a restaurant with anyone in we headed back to our homestay for lunch not wanting to break our rule of not eating in quiet restaurants.
After lunch we went for a walk further into the valley and passed countless rice fields and tiny little villages like ours. Each house usually had a cow and several free range chickens running around and a few even had pigs. The rice here isn’t grown in terraces as there is a lot of flat ground but the surrounding karst mountains made the scenery spectacular. After doing a big loop we headed back to the homestay just in time for a storm to hit which we watched while having a few drinks and playing cards. S
The view from our dining room in our guesthouse.
The shops in the little village were stocked and ready for some serious sales, but there was no one about. We learnt later that this was the quietest time of the year.
While a lot of the area has been converted for guesthouses these authentic stilt houses still remained.
The rice paddies are down in beautiful patterns.
Again most of the work being carried out by hand.
Really stunning scenery to walk around.