Mu Cang Chai is located in Northwest Vietnam, where the charming essence of these lands remains unchanged.
This Mu Cang Chai Tour 3 Days with Trekking through Rice Terraces experience will give you the unforgettable experience. Getting off the beaten track with our unique itinerary to discover the mountainous beauty, the amazing Rice Terraces, as well as the local tribal life in Mu Cang Chai.
Zonitrip will show you the REAL Mu Cang Chai through the less or non touristic area, experience the culture and life of ethnic minority here.
Noi Bai International Airport (Google Map)
Your hotel in Hanoi
7:30 am: Our guide will pick-up you at hotel. Start Mu Cang Chai tour 3 days.
We also pass Nghia Lo town – the home of Thai people – one of the main ethnic people in Yen Bai. Around 2-3pm, arrive Tu Le town, you will walk around the rice fields, spring and villages, explore the life, the house, the culture…of Thai and Mong people.
Ups on your health and time, we will go farther, through Nam Co – Nam Pang to homestay in Bung Som village, around 10km in 3,5hrs. Or shorter route 6-7 km in 2hrs. You will follow the rice field, narrow muddy local path, cross the stream. If you want, you can join to swim with children in the stream. The Hiking road is quite flat, not too much difficult, but cross the field and stream is one of interesting activity.
Overnight at the homestay wooden stilt house of Thai people in Tu Le. ( if you want a private room, we can arrange the room in a hotel)
Sum up
Hiking difficulty: Easy ( 1/5) ~5 -10 Km in 2-3,5 hrs
Driving: 250 Km – 5hrs
8 am: After breakfast, we will move to Mu Cang Chai. We will drive over the Khau Pha pass (one of the four greatest passes in Northern Vietnam, connecting Tu Le and Mu Cang Chai. These scenic roads offer a lot of stops for picture-taking as it is the viewpoint to see the Lim Mong, Lim Thai village or paragliding-point on the top of this pass.
When we arrive in Mu Cang Chai, we will spend around 3 hrs Hiking from La Pan Tan village to Rasberry Hill – one of the most famous destinations in the country with round shape follow the mountain shape. La Pan Tan village is well-known with large and high rice terraces in Mu Cang Chai. Everything was built by the human hand of the H’ mong people over the past hundreds of years. The simple lunch will be served after go down to the main road, or if you want to try to experience the life of Hmong people, you can visit their house, cook and eat lunch with local.
In the afternoon, we will transfer by car to BAMBOO forest and start to trek to Mang Mu village can choose the option, Hiking to see the sunset in Sang Nhu village. If the weather is good and the status of rice field, we will make a Hiking trip to Sang Nhu village ( in Mu Cang Chai) – where have the beautiful rice terrace field with Horse feed shape and amazing sunset. However, this Hiking trip is quite steep.
At the end of the Hiking route leads to homestay of Thai people in Mu Cang Chai center. Enjoy dinner, warmly & hospitality of Thai people.
Overnight at the stilt house homestay of Thai or Mong people. ( P/s: If you want to experience sleep in the homestay of Hmong people, we will arrange a night in Hello Mu Cang Chai homestay in La Pan Tan village.)
Sum up
After our breakfast, we will Hike up to from Kim Noi – Thai village ( if staying there) to Hang Dang De – Che Cu Nha in around ~9-10 km in 3 -3,5hrs. On the way, we will go up a high mountain, pass the H’ mong village and a waterfall in a remote area. Besides seeing the beauty of rice fields, you’ll be guided how to plant rice, harvest rice or discover the farm working of locals. We can visit some houses or schools to explore local life and culture if that interests you.
Transfer back and have lunch at Nga Ba Kim.
After lunch, we will move to Tu Le. If you are still good, we can hike down around 2km from KHau Pha pass to It Thai village, which is located at the bottom of Khau Pha mountain. You will hike down through the local path, beside the rice field, cross the stream and explore the life of Thai people.
Or we can skip and transfer directly to Hanoi around 6-7 pm. Finish our Mu Cang Chai tour 3 days. Our guide says goodbye & see you again on other journeys.
Sum up
Hiking level: Medium (1/5) ~7-10 Km
Driving: 300 Km
This trek was the best part of our trip to Vietnam. A welcome alternative to the busy, dirty asian cities. The views were unbelievable, the guide very nice and helpful, the accomodation clean, the food amazing… I highly recommend it
What an experience!
A friend and I did a private tour with Nghia and loved every part of the experience.
Nghia asked that Sueng (I hope the spelling is correct!) join us as she was in training and she was adorable. The trek through the H’mong tiny valley and mountain village tribes was far more moving and beautiful that words and pictures can capture.
Nghia has such a grace to her, introducing herself and us along the way. It was very enjoyable to watch how she engaged with the H’mong people. She is curious and respectful. During one such experience she saw a women sitting in her yard hand paining fabric for a piece of clothing she was making. Nghia asked if we could watch her to which she agreed. She later invited us to try, which proved very difficult for us to do as it was freehand. We were invited to stay for lunch with them which was so kind. We asked to see her other wares. She has a few pieces that she hand sews to sell at market so we were able to purchase them from her directly. Very special moments here.
We stayed at homestays with families along the way. They were wonderful and warm hosts. The accommodations were very comfortable, clean and safe. The meals our hosts served were delusions and very plentiful. I know it was a lot of effort to make our meals vegetarian, which was much appreciated!!!
Our driver Anh was awesome. He was a very safe and experienced driver…. although a very harrowing drive through the MANY switchbacks. He did slow down for us as the ride lift us very queezy. Be sure to bring Gravol and ginger candy!
We were able to experience planting rice, picking tea leaves, shooing cows and chickens from roads and rice field paths, ethic life, breathtaking landscapes and had lots of fun along the way with Nghia, Seung and Anh.
We learned a great sea from Nghia, she truly is remarkable!
Nghia, thank you so much for an experience if a lifetime. If we could give you 10 stars for your hospitality, knowledge and genuine nature we would!
Juanita and I will miss you and your infectious laugh!
Amazing time in Mu Cang Chai
We booked a 3-day hike in Mu Cang Chai with Zonitrip and it was absolutely amazing.
We were there around Tet holiday and really experienced the celebrations together with the people living in the rice terraces. I would highly recommend booking a trip to Mu Cang Chai with zonitrip.
I saw great reviews on TripAdvisor. Because I’m short on time and traveling alone, I’ve contacted Nghia and told her what i was looking for and asked for the available options for visiting Mu cang chai.
With a quick response she gave me detailed information for plan A, B etc.
Because a private tour would be a bit expensive, she offered me to join a group of 3, only if they were willing to receive me into the group. This is something i truly admire. She doesn’t mix people into a larger group just to make more profit.
When your traveling with family or friends, and you want it to be a private experience , she will honor it.
I was really fortunate that i could join the others.
Nghia has a lot of knowledge about the thai and hmong people and she will give you the opportunity to come contact with the local people, amazing sightseeing etc.
Actually, everything is just easy going, no stress,no time requirements and she is just fun to talk with (travel, traditions, life,…)
I would suggest you do these trips as soon as possible, because even though the area is large and we didn’t see other travelers for many hours, there are some places where they are building resorts. So soon it will be very touristic.
Of course it’s a good thing for the local people, and for the travelers who wants the best of both (trekking/relax), but for those who wants to experience it without too many others…
Thanks for the great experience and i hope to see you soon!
We did the 3 day trekking tour around Mu Cang Chai. Ngia was the perfect ambassador and made sure everything was adapted to our likings: meeting the locals, explanations about the culture, trying new food, getting to the best views.. after 23 days in Vietnam and many tours this was the best of them. Absolutely recommended.
