Mai Chau Valley
Location: Thi tran Mai Chau, Huyen Mai Chau, Tinh Hoa Binh
While Mai Chau town itself has little to offer the tourist, the White Thai villages of Lac and Pom Coong, located south west of the town, and the village of Van, situated to the east of the town centre, Mai Chau Valley Retreat are excellent places to base yourself for a few days, whether for trekking or for rest and relaxation.
Mai Chau Valley
Lac and Pom Coong villages of the White Thai ethnicity
Location: Thi tran Mai Chau, Huyen Mai Chau, Tinh Hoa Binh
Two White Thai villages – Lac and Pom Coong – may be found at the centre of the Mai Chau valley floor, south west of Mai Chau town centre. Both are easily accessible from the main road – just head for Mai Chau Lodge and then fork immediately right across the fields. This road leads straight into Pom Coong village; those heading for Lac should turn left before entering Pom Coong. Lac and Pom Coong are the valleys main designated tourist villages, well-manicured and completely geared up to foreign visitors, with western-style toilets, hot showers and ‘homestay’ signs outside most stilted houses. No special permission is required to stay overnight here.
Local house at Pom Coong Village
Van village of the White Thai ethnicity
Location: Thi tran Mai Chau, Huyen Mai Chau, Tinh Hoa Binh
Situated east of Mai Chau town centre, the White Thai village of Van is also a designated tourist village, but with fewer tourist facilities than Lac and Pom Cong. The access road to Van village is located just after Van Bridge (Cau Van), around 1 kilometre north of Mai Chau Lodge. As with Lac and Pom Coong, no special permission is required to stay overnight here.
Whether or not you are staying overnight in one of these villages, it is certainly worth visiting one of the beautiful stilted houses to talk to the local people, learn about their lifestyle, drink tea or rice wine and perhaps purchase some local crafts.
The protocol here, as in Hoa Binh, is that visitors to a house who don’t buy anything or stay overnight should consider making a small financial contribution before they leave.
Thai girls in Mai Chau
