Add-on: Mai Chau

Wednesday, upon arrival into Hanoi airport you will be met and transferred to the hotel in the city. The remainder of the day is at leisure to start exploring Vietnam’s exciting capital. Perhaps visit the Presidential Palace or Ho Chi Minh’s famous House on Stilts.

Hanoi - Mai Chau. Departing from the hotel at 8am we leave bustling Hanoi behind and drive west to the picturesque Mai Chau Valley, which is home to the White Thai ethnic minority group. The journey takes approximately four hours. Lunch is served at a traditional family ran guesthouse on stilts in a charming little Mai Hich village located about 6 kms from Mai Chau town.

This afternoon we enjoy a leisurely walk along the back roads of the valley for our first encounter with the Thai people, going about their daily lives. As we walk past rice fields and vegetable gardens we're likely to meet farmers on their way to the fields or kids taking the buffalos out. After a leisurely walk we drive to our lodge where you can spend the rest of the day at leisure. You can relax by the swimming pool at the lodge and enjoy the beautiful surroundings.

We depart from the lodge after breakfast on a short drive (approximately 1 hour) to the heights of Hoa Binh province and the rocky plateau of Hang Kia. The scenery changes as we drive up to the plateau, plum trees and corn fields replace the rice paddies and we enter H’mong ethnic lands, where people are colourfully dressed and live in wooden single storey houses.

We are welcomed by a local H’mong family and enjoy a traditional Batik workshop with them. Learning ancestral techniques and unveiling the secrets of the H’mong fabric. Then we have lunch at the local home, which is an opportunity to discover a little more about the H’mong culture through the gastronomy.

In the afternoon, we enjoy a 3-4 hour downhill walk back to the valley of Mai Chau. It's an easy, scenic hike along single trails but it can be a bit slippery in wet weather. Walking down to the valley offers great views over wild stretches of land, secluded between mountains. It ends in a sub-valley of Mai Chau, where our vehicle awaits to transfer us back to the lodge. End the day relaxing by the hotel pool.

Please note: If you prefer not to trek, we can transfer you by road back to the lodge, where you can enjoy the afternoon at leisure.

Saturday. Mai Chau - Hanoi. There’s the opportunity to visit the local Mai Chau market this morning, before we continue to the town of Hoa Binh. Explore the charming Muong Culture Museum to see women in traditional dress and authentic Muong stilt houses, as well as a collection of fascinating artefacts (museum entrance fee payable locally - approx $3). After our visit we have lunch in Hoa Binh before returning to Hanoi and arriving mid afternoon. You will be back to the hotel before 5pm to join your group tour welcome meeting.