Mu Cang Chai - Trekking & motorbike tour

Duration

3 days 4 nights

Tour Type

Mini Adventure

Group Size

10 Persons

Tour Guide

1 local guide

Northwest Vietnam

Mu Cang Chai – Trekking & motorbike tour

This trip contains two highlight activities that are worth doing once in Mu Cang Chai: a motorbike tour and trekking through rice terraces. You will travel with our local guide team. They are from the H’mong and Flower Thai ethnic tribes. Their English remains basic but they are super hospitable and have a deep knowledge about Mu Cang Chai.

Plenty of opportunities to meet ethnic hill tribes, exchange culture, taste authentic and amazingly delicious food, and support local communities doing sustainable tourism are waiting for you.

Trekking in Mu Cang Chai

Highlight

One-day pillion motorbike tour with local guide and rider to the most iconic spots of Mu Cang Chai
One full day trekking along the unspoiled roads prepared by veteran guides which are through the high rice terraces, close to the primeval forests;
Discovering the famous Mu Cang Chai’s rice terraces, the most beautiful rice terraces in Vietnam, “one of the most beautiful rice terraces in the world”;
Wallowing yourself in Thai culture with stilt houses by the stream, delicious food, and incredible music;
Enjoying authentic local meals harvested directly from the farm to your plate;
With your trip, you are supporting the local community through a community-based tourism project.

Destination	Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai, Vietnam
Included	Accommodation as mentioned in the program Meals as specified in the program 2 ways sleeping bus Hanoi – Khau Pha – Hanoi 2 ways transfer from Old Quarter to My Dinh bus station Pick up and drop off by motorbike-taxi as the program 1 full-day pillion motorbike tour with a local guide 2 half-day trekking tours 2 handicraft workshops 1 Herbal foot bath All entrance fee
Excluded	Hotel in Hanoi The service of English speaking tour guide from Hanoi Beverages, gratuities, and personal expenses Personal expenses (drinks, souvenirs, etc…) Trekking gear (backpack, shoes, etc …) Individual Insurance VAT and other taxes
Travel by car & motorbike

Rice terraces in Mu Cang Chai

What to bring

Sun & rain gear (including sunscreen and brimmed hat)
Warm clothes in winter (mid-November to early March)
Insect repellent
Walking shoes/sandals
Daypack for hiking
Toiletries, towel, and flashlight
Original passport

Price

7,340,000 VND/personne

Discount for larger group is available; please contact our travel consultants at:

lam@dcttravel.vn or send us inquiry through the contact form

Details

Meal: Not included | Accommodation: Village stay at a traditional house-on-stilts 5:30 PM. Transfer by car from our office to My Dinh bus station to take the sleeping bus at 7:30 PM to Khau Pha, Mu Cang Chai. After a 6-7 hour drive (with a couple of breaks on the way), you will arrive at Khau Pha at around 1 AM. Your homestay owner will wait and pick you up by motorbike down to the village. Check in your homestay. Overnight at homestay.

Welcome by local Thai people

*Your accommodation is provided by a local family in their traditional house on stilts. There’s no private room and you’ll sleep on the floor in a large communal area. The sleeping corner is set up with a single mattress (thin, but adequate), blankets (ditto), pillow, and mosquito net. The restroom is at international standard and a few steps from the main house.

Homestay in Mu Cang Chai

A private stilt house is available in case you want more privacy. Please check with our travel consultant for its availability and surcharge fee.

Meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: Village stay at a traditional house-on-stilts With 2 full days in Mu Cang Chai, you can choose what to do first: a pillion motorbike tour with a local guide and rider or rice terrace treks with a local guide. For smooth organizing, please let us know while you make the booking.

Motorbike tour in Mu Cang Chai

After breakfast, your motorbike rider will take you from the village to Mu Cang Chai town by passing Khau Pha pass. First of all, you will visit Lao Chai village on the outskirts of Mu Cang Chai, where you will not only admire a massive system of terraced rice fields but also have an opportunity to meet a H’mong family and learn about their culture while strolling around the village.

Bamboo forrest mu cang chai

After Lao Chai, you will visit a green bamboo forest and the tidiness makes you think about Arashiyama Bamboo Grove in Kyoto. You will stop here and have a picnic lunch under bamboo foliage. In the afternoon, the ride continues to take you to some iconic places of Mu Cang Chai such as Mam Xoi Hill, Mong Ngua Hill in La Pan Tan commune, and Che Cu Nha commune. The road is sometimes pretty bumpy but the scenery is truly amazing. In the high season of tourism (end of Sep. to the middle of Oct.), your local guide will take you to alternatives of Mam Xoi and Mong Ngua Hill which are not less impressive but you might be the only traveler there. On the way back to the homestay, we will stop at the peak of Khau Pha Pass for the fascinating captivation of rice terraces down Lim Mong valley. As the highest point in the region overviewing the large valleys, Khau Pha Pass has been selected as a great location in Vietnam for paragliding sports. Enjoy the dinner prepared by the Thai’s ingenuity. Overnight in a shared stilt house.

Meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: Village stay at a traditional house-on-stilts A full day of local life experiences, starting with a batik workshop. A beautiful traditional culture of the H'mong people to create meticulous and delicate patterns: Learn about the culture of drawing beeswax under the guidance of your sisters (grandmother, mother) H'mong people in Khau Pha, using traditional indigenous hand-painted pens to create your own.

Batik workshop under the guidance of H'mong people in Mu Cang Chai

In the afternoon, explore the Huoi Tieng Qoai nodding bamboo forest. Starting from It Thai village, going up to Xe Xang 1, and then going deeply into the mountain, we will have the opportunity to meet Thai and H’mong families who still depend entirely on agriculture and forest products. Walk to visit the natural nodding bamboo forest and then return to the starting point by following the back of the mountain. However, instead of returning right back to the homestay, you will stop at a hill where a BBQ dinner is being prepared for you to have dinner while admiring the sunset. Return to the homestay, and relax after a day with an herbal foot soak. Overnight at homestay.

Meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: Overnight on sleeping bus After breakfast at homestay, you will join the grandma of the village in a hands-on dyeing workshop. Indigo dyeing is the cultural beauty of the people in Khau Pha, which aims to create a deep blue color with a natural origin for the traditional clothes of Thai and H'mong people: Hear the story of indigo and create it your hand-dyed product.

Indigo dyeing by Thai women in Mu Cang Chai

These may be things that in other lands have gradually disappeared with the development of the modern world, but the local people of Mu Cang Chai, still maintain these traditional ways in their daily lives, indigo dyeing is one of them. In the afternoon, you can stroll out and go to the other side of the massive Lim Mong Valley or walk to a top hill called Tiger Mountain, where you could have a breathtaking view of both Lim Long Valley and Tu Le Valley. There is also a playground on the top to play while admiring the splendid landscape.

Breathtaking view of both Lim Long Valley in Mu Cang Chai

Dinner with your host at homestay. 10 PM transfer by motorbike to the bus stop and catch the sleeping bus at 10:30 PM to Hanoi, arrive in Hanoi at around 5 AM, and transfer back to Hanoi Old Quarter. End of our service.