Mai Chau is a valley located in the western part of Hoa Binh province, adjacent to Moc Chau district (Son La). This place not only boasts magnificent natural beauty but also holds a rich cultural heritage of mountainous ethnic groups.
Booking an affordable tour to Mai Chau with Mytour gives you the opportunity to fully experience and enjoy these cultural values. Especially, if you travel to Mai Chau in September, you will have the chance to explore the unique mountainous festival season.
What's Hot about Traveling to Mai Chau in September?
Mai Chau is known as a small town nestled in the valley of Mai Chau district. It is located 35km from Tan Lac district and approximately 135km from the center of Hanoi. The majority of the local residents here are Muong, Thai, and Kinh people.
Although Mai Chau may not have as many tourist attractions as Moc Chau, it possesses the pristine and romantic beauty bestowed by nature, with a cool and fresh atmosphere, and a variety of cultures and cuisines.
In Mai Chau, you can visit throughout the year, as each season offers many unique and appealing activities that attract numerous visitors. However, according to the latest Mai Chau travel experience from Mytour, you should visit Mai Chau in September because this is the time when many festivals are held throughout the year, notably the Independence Day celebration.
At this time, the climate is still slightly cool, ranging from 18-25 degrees Celsius. However, it is much cooler and more comfortable. Additionally, you can also come to enjoy the ripe golden rice season in the fields. This is considered the “symbol” of the mountainous ethnic people.
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Explore Independence Day during September Mai Chau Travel
In the last days of August, people in the highlands of Mai Chau began bustlingly preparing for Independence Day. This is a major festival of the year, so people temporarily put aside their work, together clean up the neighborhood.
Independence Day in Mai Chau (Hoa Binh) usually lasts for several consecutive days. It starts with a commemoration ceremony followed by a series of festival days with various folk games, traditional dances, and performances throughout the night.
Within each stilt house, everyone is busy with their tasks. Men are preparing pork, while women are wrapping sticky rice cakes. Especially during festivals, villagers enjoy thrilling and lively volleyball matches. Additionally, there are traditional games like blindfolded wrestling and stick pushing...
Despite their appearance, the children are lively and excited, more so than usual. They wear new clothes to go out and have many friends to gather and play with in the festive atmosphere. This September in Mai Chau, wherever you go, you'll hear the echoes of gongs, joyful cheers, and melodious singing throughout the region.
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Explore Stunning Instagram-Worthy Spots during September Mai Chau Travel
1. Thung Khe Pass
Thung Khe Pass, also known as White Rock Pass, is dubbed the “four-season day” because it showcases the colors of each season in a single day. In the morning, sunlight pierces through drifting clouds. By noon, the landscape turns golden with ripe rice fields. In the afternoon, cool air and gentle sunlight prevail, while evenings become as cold as winter days.
Thung Khe Pass lies between Tan Lac and Mai Chau (Hoa Binh) on National Highway 6. Along the way, you'll be immersed in the majestic natural scenery with romantic and idyllic landscapes. Moreover, you can stop by roadside stalls to enjoy grilled corn, grilled meat, and a cup of hot tea.
2. Mai Chau Flagpole
After leaving Thung Khe Pass, there's a spot you can't miss due to its unique landmark: Mai Chau Flagpole. Standing here, you can admire the panoramic beauty of Mai Chau. Originally an open space for sightseeing, it later became home to a flagpole, serving as a landmark for tourists to check in and capture memorable moments.
3. Mo Luong Cave
A comprehensive Northern Vietnam tour wouldn't be complete without a visit to Mo Luong Cave. Mo Luong Cave is part of the Pu Kha mountain range in Mai Chau town. It's about 2km from Lac village.
This has always been an ideal tourist destination for those who love to experience and explore nature. The cave consists of 4 main chambers with impressive limestone formations, creating unique and captivating shapes.
Moreover, if you conclude your visit to Mo Luong Cave, you'll have the opportunity to witness a very special underground stream flowing into a lake.
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4. Lac Village
September Mai Chau travel definitely cannot overlook the name Lac Village. This place is not only the village where local people live but also a famous tourist destination to check in whenever visiting Mai Chau.
This place isn't bustling and noisy but rather resembles a quaint village, hiding many adorable, intimate, and friendly aspects. Anyone who has visited here feels as cherished as being at home.
The famous point of Lac Village is its strong imprint of Thai cultural heritage. The locals here mainly make a living from rice cultivation and traditional weaving.
5. Pom Coọng Village
If you're booking an affordable Northwest tour, you should choose Mai Chau to fully explore the beauty of village life. In addition to Lac Village, this place also stands out with Pom Coọng Village. What attracts tourists here is the fresh air, clean water source, and peaceful lifestyle.
Pom Coọng is a name with symbolic meaning. It is understood to be a village situated on hills with large drums. This mountainous cultural village is famous for its unique stilt houses, closely built together, sometimes only separated by vegetable beds.
When visiting the village, you can easily see images of Thai girls diligently weaving unique traditional handicrafts beneath their stilt houses. These souvenirs are often bags, shirts, scarves... woven with unique traditional handicrafts. This is also one of the cultural beauties that both domestic and international tourists are attracted to when visiting Pom Coọng village.
Additionally, visitors to Pom Coọng can enjoy characteristic traditional dances, gong festivals, wine-drinking festivals, and many other unique festivals.
6. Gò Lào Waterfall
Located more than 15km from the city center, Gò Lào Waterfall is situated in Phúc Sạn commune. When traveling to Mai Chau, you should not only visit the mountains, villages, but also spend time exploring the streams and waterfalls.
Gò Lào Waterfall consists of 2 small waterfalls flowing from a height of about 15m. This place is quite convenient for you and your family to organize a picnic nearby because there is an empty space. However, you should also check the weather forecast before traveling. If it rains, the road to the waterfall becomes slippery and dangerous.
7. Pà Cò Market
Pà Cò Market is about 40km from Mai Chau town. The market is located in the center of 3 communes: Hang Kia, Pà Cò (Mai Chau, Hoa Binh), and Loóng Luông (Moc Chau, Son La). Visiting the mountainous area without exploring Pà Cò Market would be a big miss.
Pà Cò Market only gathers on every Sunday. The locals here have to wake up early in the morning when the fog covers the mountains to catch up with this special market session. This place is not only for trading goods but also an occasion for people to meet, exchange cultural experiences, and chat about life.
Although it doesn't happen regularly, when the market day comes, it becomes lively and bustling like a festival. Visitors here can experience the most unique mountainous cultural atmosphere.
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Mountain specialties when traveling to Mai Chau in September
1. Bamboo-tube rice
Bamboo-tube rice is always the most famous dish on the journey to explore Mai Chau tourism in September. This dish is extremely familiar to people in the mountainous areas. Bamboo-tube rice is cooked in young bamboo tubes, filled with rice, peanuts, shredded coconut… then grilled over fire. When the rice is cooked, it is eaten with sesame salt, and grilled meat.
Although the dish looks simple, it requires the cook to be meticulous and skillful. It requires cooking so that the rice is perfectly cooked, with a fragrant aroma and not burnt. When the water in the bamboo tube evaporates and the rice is cooked, people use a knife to peel off the outer shell. The rice is both sticky and fragrant, which is the standard.
2. Sticky rice with roasted corn
Mai Chau locals don't just cook sticky rice with regular glutinous rice but with sticky rice from terraced fields. This type of rice is grown by the Thai people on the terraced fields in Mai Chau valley.
The sticky rice is soaked for many hours to soften before cooking. Here, the rice is placed in a wooden steamer to cook evenly with steam. Once the rice becomes fragrant, it is stirred to ensure even cooking. Then it is returned to the steamer to ensure it's fully cooked.
So when traveling to Mai Chau, you must try this fragrant and unique type of sticky rice from terraced fields. It's definitely a suitable dish for romantic and enticing days of Mai Chau tourism in September.
3. Muong pork
Another specialty of Mai Chau that you must taste is Muong pork. This type of pig has a long body, a pointed snout, and is raised in natural conditions. That means it's free-range, feeding on grass and plants without industrial livestock feed. Perhaps that's why the meat is always firm, lean, and has a distinctive aroma.
After being grilled over a red fire, it becomes evenly cooked with a natural sweetness. This is one of the dishes that strongly represents the culinary culture of the Northwest region.
4. Wild bamboo shoots
These are a specialty of Mai Chau mountainous area and are always available in every meal of the locals. Wild bamboo shoots are usually picked and pickled or dried to be eaten over time as a kind of 'vegetable'. The bamboo shoots here are not the ordinary type but have a unique bitter taste.
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5. Mai Ha liquor
The specialty Mai Ha liquor is a famous spirit that everyone visiting here must try. It's distilled from leaf yeast. The minimum ingredients for the yeast include 9 types of forest leaves: pomelo, guava, acacia, persimmon, rose myrtle, bellflower, acanthus, snake's beard, and palm. This mixture needs 3 days to ferment into yeast. After fermentation, it becomes cloudy white and is then distilled in a pot.
Mai Ha liquor is also distinct for its transparency and intense aroma. It can be enjoyed as a beverage with delicious snacks or used as a medicinal liquor for massage.
6. Phao leaf water
People in Mai Chau search for forest leaves during the farming process. These leaves are then dried, chopped, and boiled to make a drink. This leaf water has a bitter taste and a herbal aroma.
Locals here often use phao leaf water as a daily beverage because of its excellent benefits in stimulating digestion, providing nutrition, and boosting immunity.
Above are the most detailed insights into the September journey to Mai Chau, from the visiting times, attractive tourist destinations to the captivating specialties. Don't hesitate to call Mytour Mytour for assistance and booking affordable tours today.