Things to do in Mai Chau

Mai Chau is a wide, flat valley in Hoa Binh province, north-west of Hanoi but on a different road and a different distance from Sapa, which lies much further into the mountains near the Chinese border. Confusing the two is a common itinerary mistake: Mai Chau sits well short of the higher passes around Pu Luong and Moc Chau, and it is not a stop on the way to Sapa.

The valley is home to White Thai stilt-house villages, notably Lac and Pom Coong, where homestays in wooden houses on stilts are the main draw, together with rice-paddy cycling, short walks to nearby hamlets, and evening dance and drum performances hosted by the villages themselves.

Rice is green from around June and cut at harvest in September and October; between crops the paddies are bare or flooded.