Mai Chau and Pu Luong
11/27/2025 - 11/30/2025
We flew from Chiang Mai Thailand to Hanoi Vietnam in the northern part of the country. It was a quick, easy non-stop flight. The worst part was the line for immigration when we arrived in Vietnam… and even that wasn’t as bad as the customs line was back in Madrid!
When we arrived, we were picked up by a private driver to embark on a 3 day tour of a really rural part of the country called Mai Chau which was about a 3 hour drive southwest of Hanoi.
We arrived at our homestay at about 8pm. A homestay is family run lodging and the family lives onsite. Most have very basic/cheap accommodations (similar to a hostel), but many also offer a few rooms that are private and have their own private bathroom. Breakfast is included and sometimes dinner as well. No menu’s… you get whatever they are cooking up! But they made sure to prepare some vegetarian options for me. Ours served us both breakfast and dinner since we were in such a rural location!
We were admittedly a bit nervous about what our accommodations would be like, but were pleasantly surprised. They put us up in the bungalow which was a little freestanding house that we had to walk over a bridge to get to. It was made of bamboo with a thatched roof and a cute little balcony off the back. It was really nice … but the bathroom was outside! It was kind of cool, until you needed to pee in the middle of the night! It was a cute little fenced area with a fieldstone floor. The potty and shower were enclosed, but you still had to go outdoors to get to them. And the elevation is pretty high, so it was VERY cold at night! On the bright side, at least it was too cold out there for any bugs or critters to be lurking around! You can see the fence surrounding our bathroom on the left in the first photo (of Grady on the bridge leading to our bungalow)
Bright and early the next morning, we had breakfast and headed to the local market. It was DIS-GUST-ING!!! I couldn’t even look up through most of it, and Grady contemplated becoming vegetarian by the time we left. They eat literally anything! And even the foods that we are accustomed to eating, looked so unsanitary and nasty just sitting out. We quickly learned that people in very poor, rural villages of communist countries are survivors.
After recovering from the trauma of the market, we took some rickety old bikes from the homestay and rode through the rural countryside through tiny villages. We stopped and visited with locals along the way and observed how they live. It was so interesting and we are SO fortunate!
We saw a cemetery along the way and learned about the traditional Vietnamese process for burying their dead. They bury them twice! Yes… twice! First they bury them in some random place, then 3-4 years later they dig them up (YUK!) and clean the bones and wrap them in silk. They put the bones in a nicer/smaller casket in a permanent, peaceful resting place with proper “feng shui”. They believe this two-step process helps the soul transition to the afterlife.
We came upon these two cute little ladies basically getting high! They were mixing up and chewing a concoction called “betel quid” - a mixture of areca nut, betel leaf, tobacco and powdered limestone. The custom is deeply ingrained in Vietnamese tradition. And makes their teeth look DISGUSTING! We gave them a little money as thanks for letting us take their photos and set back out on our rickety bikes.
We stopped at this random little place literally in the middle of nowhere where we bought a couple beers and were given some fresh mango and mandarin oranges.
At the end of the bike ride, we hiked up a pretty steep hill for a really nice view.
Day two of our adventure we left our homestay in Mai Chau and drove about an hour to a chop stick factory in Pu Luong. We weren’t sure what to expect, but it was pretty unbelievable. There are definitely no safety regulations!! During peak season, they work 9-10 hour days every day (unless they need a day off for a specific reason) and are paid roughly $1.00/hour. Yes, you read that right… $1.00/hour!
Next we trekked about 8 miles between villages, through jungle trails, and past beautiful rice terraces. It was so incredible! Our guide led the way with a big stick that he waved back and forth through certain sections of the route to ensure there were no cobras (yikes!). Like the day before, we stopped and talked to locals and got some insight into how they live. We have a whole new perspective on what it means to be poor!
At some point, Grady and Windy (our guide) got into a stone skipping competition. They have both clearly had a lot of practice!!
We stopped off for a quick break where we had some fruit and tea and Grady got a new hat!
We stopped and saw a monument to the fallen soldiers … many from the “American War” (which is what they call the Vietnam War)
And finally, we hiked up to Thac Hieu, which is a gorgeous waterfall.
At the end of day 2 way stayed in Pu Lulong which was about an hour and a half from Mai Chau. Instead of a homestay, we were put up in a really pretty (but still remote) hotel. The views were out of this world! And they even had live entertainment in the evening!
The final day of our three-day tour started with another, even bigger, market. I was not looking forward to this! It didn’t turn out to be as bad as the previous one, and Grady did a good job of strategically steering me away from the really gross stuff! This one had a lot more household items and clothing. It is where the people from the local villages purchase EVERYTHING they need.
These cute little bunnies were not being sold as pets. ☹
Our next stop was a local villager’s home. He was a musician who plays for events such as weddings and funerals. We got to listen to his music, and we got to see the interior of their home. There was NOTHING airtight about this house and (obviously), no heating or AC. So freezing during the winter at night, and boiling hot and (likely) bug infested during the summer. And I can’t even imagine being in it during a typhoon! The kitchen and bathroom were both outdoors, and then there is the furniture… there pretty much wasn’t any. They sat on the floor and slept on matts on the floor. There was a TV that was circa 1985. Once again, we were thankful for how fortunate we are!
From here we trekked about 5 miles and saw some villages and made some stops along the way. The first photo is of a 100 year old woman. Our guide peeked into her house and chatted her up. We hung back since we couldn’t actually talk to her and it felt a little invasive. He claimed she was pretty happy to have a visitor!
We stopped at another stilt house that was open for tourists to learn about local customs. Entrance was free and you just contributed a tip to their little tip box. We learned how to grind (pound?) rice, weave (it’s harder than it looks!), and play a couple traditional games (which Grady was pretty good at). They had some school kids there that wanted to practice their English with us, and we were invited inside the house for tea and “happy water” (very strong rice wine). This house was similar to the first one we saw, but they had old mattresses to sleep on and an indoor “kitchen”. Again… if you ever think you have it rough, I can assure you, you don’t!
We continued on our journey to a little business that takes you on boat rides down the river. The boats are hand made of bamboo and the skipper basically shoves the boat down the very shallow river with a big stick. He was a skinny little man and worked very hard to shove our fat asses down the river! It was very relaxing and the scenery was beautiful.
Our final stop was at the waterwheels. They are used to run water into the rice fields. They look super old, but they are actually very new. They have to re-build them almost every year after typhoon season.
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