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
7:30-8 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.
~9:30 am, when arrive Mu Cang Chai,depending on the available room of each place, specially in high golden season ( From Aug – Oct), we will change flexible trekking program as below:
Opt 1: (If sleeping at Hmong village in La Pan Tan village)
Morning: Trek from Che Cu Nha to Hang Dang De and Thai village in around ~9-10 km in 3 -3,5hrs.
Or trek Small Rasbery hill ( ~7km in 2,3hrs)
Opt 2: ( If sleeping at Thai village in Mu cang Chai center)
Morning: Trek to visit Rasbery hill in La Pan Tan village ( ~7km /2,5hrs)
You will see the nice Rice Terrace fields, interesting and challenging, some time adventure trail. Depending on the season, you will join with local to exploring farming work.
Lunch: Picnic lunch for small group or at restaurant.
Afternoon: Transfer to a local Hmong house, ( by walking or motorbike), take a rest time to learn draw Patik painting ( to make the traditional clothes ) & explore the traditional house , culture of Hmong people
Finish visiting house, we will continue do a short trekking to Bamboo forest or Horse Rice fields to see the amazing sunset.
Finish tour & transfer to a homestay. eat dinner with local family & explore culture.
Opt 1: (If sleeping at Hmong village in La Pan Tan village) -Trek to visit Rasbery hill ( ~5-7km)
Opt 2: ( If sleeping at Thai village in Mu cang Chai center) – Trek from Thai village to Dang to Hang Dang De – Che Cu Nha in around ~9-10 km in 3 -3,5hrs.
After our breakfast, we will Hike up to from Kim Noi – Thai village ( if staying there) 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 Tu Le.
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
Nghia!! Thanks for these amazing days! We had an amazing experience discovering Mu Cang Chai! ❤️❤️❤️ you are an incredible guide! And organized a perfect trip 😍 thank you so much!!! We are really grateful!
Hello,
Everything good, we enjoyed so much the tour, especially because it was off the beaten tourist tracks.
The driver was very professional, very attentive to the details. Clean car
The guide was really nice. We learnt a lot of things. Good to have someone with local knowledge
Homestay: they were what we expected. Nice location and warm families
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.
