Saigon to Siem Reap

Highlight:

Mai Chau is located in Hoa Binh province, approximately 135 km from Hanoi and 60 km from Hoa Binh.

From the top of Cun Mountain, one can admire the superb panorama of Mai Chau surrounded by a green valley and stilt houses. Area: 4,596.4 km2 Population: 854,131 people; Ethnicity: According to statistics, there are 6 main ethnic groups living together in the province, the largest being the Muong ethnic group accounting for 63.3%; the Viet (Kinh) ethnic group accounting for 27.73%; the Thai ethnic group accounting for 3.9%; the Dao ethnic group accounting for 1.7%; the Tay ethnic group accounting for 2.7%; the Mong ethnic group accounting for 0.52%; other ethnic groups accounting for 1.

Stilt houses border both sides of the roads. The houses are quite large with palm leaf roofs and polished bamboo-slat floors. The kitchen is located in the center of the house; the cooking as well as the making of the colorful tho cam, the material used by Thai minority to make their clothes, takes place in the kitchen. The windows are large and decorated with patterns. Each house also has a pond to breed fish.

The Sunday market brings a lot of people into town. People from different minorities living in the mountains come to Mai Chau market to sell their specific products: honey, bananas, corn, and tho cam made by skilled Thai women. The Sunday market is also an occasion to enjoy traditional Thai dishes and to participate in traditional dances

You can get a good run off the top of the dam, hammer it down the road and up the steep runaway truck sidings. A word of warning here, dropping your bike at the top of these steep inclines is a sure way to lose all your gas, and its virtually impossible to pick your bike up again, as the incline means your are practically underneath it.  

With the flood gates in full swing, the torrent of water creates a very damp wind tunnel, as the air is sucked under the thousands of cubic metres of water rushing pas each second. It’s inspiring stuff, standing on the viewing platform just beside the wall of water.