Mai Chau and Pu Luong is famous for its beautiful mountains, rich biodiversity, and ethnic villages of the Thai people. This village-to-village trek is not for the everyone. Extremely challenging, be ready for some serious jungle adventuring.
2 persons: 16,653,000VND (US$ 793)/per person 4 persons: 10,836,000VND (US$ 516)/per person
Exclusion:
Visa, insurance, drinks, personal expenses, others not mentioned in details, tips are welcome!
We depart from your Hanoi hotel at 8:00 am heading for Mai Chau town (Hoa Binh province). This scenic drive takes about three hours. Arrival and lunch in a traditional stilt house in Poom Coom village, then drive for one hour to Xa Linh village to begin our 3 hour trek through beautiful villages. Our destination for this evening is Hang Kia village, home of the H'mong minority people. Dinner and overnight as guests at a H'mong family's traditional house situated in a picturesque valley and peach orchards.
Breakfast and venture far off the beaten track. Trek through tropical rainforests, using the local trails and passing through corn fields as we descend into the Mai Chau valley below. The trek takes around 5 hours and is quite steep in places. Lunch will be provided at the local stall at the foot of the valley. From here we pass through several ethnic minority villages until we reach our night's destination, Van village. by late afternoon. Have time to walk around this charming little white Thai village. Tonight we will be honoured guests in a traditional Thai stilt house. Dinner and sampling of some homemade rice wine before heading to sleep.
Today we have a whole day of easy trekking. Passing through several Thai hamlets surrounded by rice paddies and beautiful scenery. Picnic lunch en route and arrival in Xam Khoe village in the afternoon. Enjoy dinner with our hosts and slumber away after having a few sips of the local maize wine. Free time to walk around or chat with local people, then have a good night sleep.
Say farewell with the hosts after breakfast. Trek village to village through beautiful rice terraces, pause for lunchuntil we get to Mai Hich village. Take a quick ride along Ma river for more 2 to 3 hour walking via beautiful hillside villages, magnificent rice paddies of Pu Luong Nature Reserve. See huge hand crafted bamboo water wheels. We welcomed as honored guests at a traditional Thai home on stilts. Take the opportunity to refresh and prepare for a few challenging days of trekking ahead. Dinner and overnight in Hang village.
Here, daily life starts early so get up and take part in your host family’s morning activities. Have breakfast and start our trek by 8:00 am. Today we will be walking for a approximately 5 to 6 hours. The first bit of hiking is hard with some steep climbs and stream crossings. The second part is glorious with beautiful views of the valley, rice terraces, and rainforest. Picnic lunch on the way at Eo Ken village.
Arrival in Kho Muong set in perhaps the most beautiful spot in all of Vietnam, nestled between steep karst mountains and rice terraces. Spend our second night in a typical Thai eco-stilt house in Kho Muong.
Inclusion:
Guide, entrance fee, all meals, homestay with permit.
Have breakfast, then start a harder full day of hiking. Continue on through the valley. Steep climbs and more stream crossings. Trek to an incredible cave, only recently discovered and now protected by the Forest rangers. The trekking becomes more remote, yet one is never far from a villager tending fields, passing steep limestone mountains. After our tough trek, what is more refreshing than a cool stream?! Picnic lunch will be served here. Relax from the heat of the day before continuing on to Hin village. Free time to talk and learn about the Thai people's traditional customs and culture. Prepare our picnic lunch for the next day before dinner and retiring to bed in a traditional stilt homestay.
Leave Hin village after having breakfast. Start our full day trek climbing deeper into the Pu Luong Nature Reserve. Picnic lunch on the way. Continuing our trek passing through ethnic villages. Our day ends with a wonderful sunset (weather dependent) in Son village. Dinner and overnight at our Thai homestay.
Breakfast is prepared by your guide then start trekking by 8:00 am. Today we will have an easy day with small ups and downs through rice paddies and the Pu Luong jungle. After about 2.5 hours we get to Ton village. Our driver will be waiting for us there to transfer us to Muong Khen town for lunch. Arrive and end in Hanoi in the late afternoon.
Overview
