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Chrislewis7 and his three day tour around Mai Chau is about the article. Read it to find out more.

Me and my guide (Hang) off to Mai Chau

Wednesday, Nov 15, 2006 

Up early to prepare for my trip to Mai Chau. I had booked a private trip for 3 days with my own driver and guide. I expected to have a middle aged bloke to accompany me for the trip but when I got to reception I was amazed to see a beautiful young girl waiting for me Three days in the middle of rural Vietnam, peace, quiet and a work of art as my companion. I’ll have to be careful what I say as she is helping me write these entries!
 

At the Market

We set off at 8 and headed out through the mopeds towards the edge of Hanoi. It took nearly an hour before we hit the real countryside. Soon the hills started to get bigger and more and more old women were working in the fields with hand tools, digging, reaping and sowing the rice. We stopped at a village market to stretch our legs and have a look around. We bought a big bag of mandarins from the lady in the picture, a huge bag for 40p.

At Xuan’s house

After about 3 and a half hours we were at the top of the mountain pass and way below us in a flat plain surrounded by the hills was Mai Chau. Mai Chau is a district containing a town and some small villages. We passed through the main town of Mai Chau to Lac, which means a small village in the fields.

The people in this area are of Thai Den (Black Thai) decent and in addition to speaking Vietnamese they also have their own language.

After a lovely lunch of local style food, rice, fried vegetables, fried pork, fried chicken, cucumber and mandarins we set off for a walk to the next village to visit Hang’s friend Xuan. We had some tea (which is served very strong) and a big plate of cucumber which tastes nicer than that found in England. So nice in fact that Hang finished the whole plate full. She is only 43kgs but she can sure eat a lot. We then headed on further and sat on the edge of a dam and watched the daily life. Men were in the fields catching crickets which they eat fried. A lady passed by carrying a basket of water lilies which are used for feeding the pigs. At 5pm everyone in the fields finished work and headed home across the dam to their village.
 

Hang at the Dam

Again some great food, although despite loving Asian food I think even I would get bored of rice meat and veg after a while. Later the Grandfather of the house who is 83 made up my room, he hangs some sheets from the beams for walls, lays my futon on the floor and puts mosquito net over the bed. It is soon time for bed, this area rises with the sun and goes to bed equally early.
Second day in Mai Chau

Thursday, Nov 16, 2006 

After waking up with the cockerel at day break I took a refreshing cold shower and we headed out of Lac in a different direction to explore the area some more. We passed through a meadow with a rocky hills rising to either side. Men were working on the hillsides quarrying rock and felling trees for building. After passing through the village we were out into the paddies. Everywhere you go in this area there are animals. Traditionally they lived in houses built on stilts with the living area on the first floor and space for the animals below. But nowadays it appears that they can not put up with the smell of the buffalo, pigs, chickens etc and use the area under the house to store machinery and the animals have separate pens outside the house. In the rice paddies there are buffalo and ducks and there are chickens running around everywhere.
 

At the bottom of the steps

And another lovely meal of rice and meat and veggies we headed off to get some exercise. On the other side of Mai Chau there is a set of steps up the hillside leading to some caves. We were told it was quite a climb and to take a lot of water and they weren’t kidding. Bare in mind that it is about 35 degrees and quite humid. We set off and counted the steps as we climbed. 100, 200, 300 and we had hardly started. 700, 800, 900 and although a long way up the top was still not in sight. Finally after 1203 steps we reached the cave. From the top there was a fantastic view of Mai Chau, the hills that surround the area and the road down the hillside that has been cut into the rock.
 

Traditional house

After the exertions of the day we had a quiet night. I got out my laptop and we had look at some of my photos from earlier in the trip and from previous trips. Hang is 24 with a degree in English and has a qualification in Tourism, she has been a Tour Guide for 3 years and her English is great. In fact she helped me write these last two days of entries. She is from a village 50km outside of Hanoi and I find that she has not even been to Hue or Ho Chi Minh let alone abroad, so my photos fascinated her. She’s hoping in the next year to be able to go to Ho Chi Minh and is planning a big trip to Thailand in the not too distant future, both to see the country and to see how tour guides operate there. She feels Thailand has a more developed tourist industry and that she will be able to learn a lot.
 

View from the top
 

Mai Chau and heading back to Hanoi

Friday, Nov 17, 2006 

Up early early after another patchy nights sleep. My body isn’t made for life in a Vietnamese home. We spend all day sat on the floor, they have cushions but they are solid, like the cushions you get to kneel on when you are in church. Hang says she prefers sitting on the floor to using a chair but I certainly don’t! The Vietnamese when sitting on a chair often sit with their feet tucked in to their bum and their knees in their chest. Given the small size of most chairs over here I can barely get one cheek onto the chair. My bed was a futon, and a very thin and hard futon at that, you can never really get comfortable. Add in the constant noise of the animals and a guy snoring in a bed on the floor below and I didn’t get all that much sleep.
 

Hang eating sticky rice in bamboo

Our last day in Mai Chau and we decided to make the most of the peace and quiet before heading back to the noise and hassle of Hanoi. We went across to Xaun’s house again. We watched Xuan making a bracelet, had some more incredibly strong tea and I sat the the top of her steps and watched village life. The cows ambling through the village as if they own the place, some villagers were catching some pigs, tying up their legs and carrying them on a bamboo pole hung between two of them on their shoulders. The pigs were making one hell of a racket squealing, I think they knew they were off the market. Two guys were trying to shoot a chicken with a cross-bow, the unlucky chicken was to a part of tonight’s dinner.
 

Hang on a low stool

Soon it was lunch time, we then packed up our bags and headed back to Hanoi. I really enjoyed my time in Mai Chau. I only hope that Mai Cha doesn’t become too commercialized. The main town is already expanding and may lose its character. Lac is still gorgeous and I hope it stays just the way it is.

Source: Chrislewis7 ‘ Blog
This is a part of his trip from Bangkok to Hong Kong overland. Passing through Cambodia, the whole length of Vietnam, Southern China and finally Hong Kong.

Related posts:

1. A New Tour: Hanoi and Mai Chau
2. Minibuses, Motorbikes and Mai Chau
3. Mai Chau or “Women At Work”
4. A Trek Too Far