Trekking in Mù Cang Chải, Vietnam
By Alison M. Brown
If you've seen photos of Vietnam, you've probably come across images like you see below. The Northern regions of Vietnam are filled with captivating rice fields that span as far as the eye can see. The terraced rice fields are best to visit in September since that's right before the harvest season in October. If you go after September, the fields will either be yellow in color or completely harvested.
Mù Cang Chải
When I went trekking, I headed to Mù Cang Chải, which is located in the rural district of Yên Bái Province - the Northeast region of Vietnam. It's about a five hour drive north (220km) from Hanoi if traveling by car or motorbike. It's quite remote and English is very limited, so it's best that you also hire a local guide if traveling to the area and you don't speak Vietnamese.
On the way to Mù Cang Chải, we stopped at a village to see the tea farm at Suoi Giang town. Vietnam is known for its jasmine green tea, and it's delicious!
After that, we continued north and stayed the night at the Muong Lo Hotel in the Nghia Lo township, a small village about an hour away from Mù Cang Chải. In the morning we drove to the infamous Khau Pha Pass which is known for its terraced rice fields. After completing our 13km trek, we spent the night along a river at the Khau Pha Hostel.
What you need to know
For booking a trek like this, it's easiest when done through a tour agent. They are easy to find all throughout Vietnam and since they speak the local language, it's more likely that your reservations will be made correctly.
The trek itself was steep at times, and a lot of it uphill. We witnessed some people riding motorbikes up the mountain instead of walking. But if you're in reasonably good shape you'll do fine if you take your time. In total, the trek took about five hours to complete. We were walking at a rather slow pace, as I stopped to take many photos and absorb the breathtaking scenery.
Below are few of my favorite photos from the trek. For more photos from Mù Cang Chải and Vietnam, please click here.
Comments
About some 300 km Northwest of Hanoi, Mu Cang Chai is one of the most amazing landscapes of rice-terraced fields in Vietnam.
Located about 1000 meters above sea level, Mu Cang Chai has a special topography with steep hills and deep valleys where the local residences such as Hmong, Thai, Dao have created the master-piece, Terraced Fields. They has cultivated about 500 hectares of rice terraces for centuries in La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh communes. In 2007, the fields was recognized as national heritage sites for its amazing landscape. The fields look stunning during the rice season. The best times are the planting season (June) and the harvesting season (The end of September to the beginning of October). During harvesting season, ready crop is turning to yellow, while new crop is dotted with white of water and young green of seedling rice. The scenery is a big attraction to photographers and trekkers. Lets give a look at our below Mu Cang Chai Tours which are considered as some of our most scenic Vietnam Tours and get an idea for planing your Vietnam trip.
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Thank you so much for your sharing, it's so great, detail and very useful for everyone travelling to Mu Cang Chai.
I'm a local guide in Mu Cang Chai, so when read your blog, I'm so happy to see the beautiful photos about our hometown. I also want to introduce our country's beauty with many foreigners friends. So if anyone want to explore Mu Cang Chai, you can contact me, we will guide you to explore the local life with interesting culture, the stunning rice terraces with beautiful view points.
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See you in Mu Cang Chai!