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Mountainous homestay in Mai Chau Valley If the southern delta provinces attract visitors through scenic landscapes of rivers, floating markets and fruit gardens, the northern mountainous provinces introduce equally beautiful scenery with terraced fields and colourful bazaars.

People in both north and south are friendly and have many special customs. Ben Thanh Tourist organizes homestays in both locations for tourists to get a good look into life in southern and northern Vietnam.

In the homestay tour to the northern province of Hoa Binh, tourists stay with local ethnic minority families in Mai Chau Valley. Apart from experiencing rural family life, tourists join trekking tours and other activities.

To get there, tourists can buy a 24-day, from-south-to-north or a two-day, from Hanoi-to-Mai-Chau tour from Ben Thanh Tourist. For those on a tight schedule the two-day trip is, of course, the best choice.

Starting in Hanoi, it will take tourists to stay one night with the White Thai hill tribe in Mai Chau, a beautiful valley with many Thai people living in clean wooden stilt houses.

The Thai’s houses usually have space for visitors to spend the night. So the guests can stay up, drinking ruou can (a type of wine made from sticky rice or corn), eating roast meat and watching the Thai’s traditional dance.

During the day, tour-takers will join other activities of the locals. Most Thai women are professional weavers, making tho cam, a kind of cloth. Visitors can stop by their workshops in their houses to observe and maybe join them.

Getting a glimpse of real countryside life, tourists can also help out in the fields, breed pigs and poultry or ride a bicycle around the village to see other locals’ every-day activities.

For lunch, tourists will have traditional Thai-style food in the houses of the locals. The afternoon is the time for two to three hours of trekking around the area.

Those who visit Mai Chau on the weekend will get the opportunities of a colourful local market. The ethnic minority people in Mai Chau organize the market each weekend.

This is an occasion for them to sell their produce, such as bee honey, bananas and grain, and tho cam. But the highland people hold the market not only for trading goods but also to exchange culture and chit-chat. The market is also the place for young men and women to meet their partners or partners-to-be.

Source: Saigon Times Daily

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