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Nature & Adventure

Mu Cang Chai running schedule during the ripe rice season

Translated by Bing
Spend 2 to 3 days on the weekend, make an arc running along National Highway 32 to several hundred kilometers, winding among the mountains and famous terraced fields throughout Mu Cang Chai that are entering the most beautiful season of the year.

What season is Mu Cang Chai beautiful?


Mu Cang Chai is beautiful all year round. In spring, young plating shines on the water; In the warm summer months, the green terraced fields are brilliant with mountains and hills. The most impressive is the water pouring season (plating season) and the ripe rice season (winter-spring harvest season). The water pouring season falls from late May to early June, the fields are like "mirrors" to illuminate the whole heaven and earth.


From September to October is the golden season of Mu Cang Chai, attracting photographers and tourists to see the colorful highland picture. In winter, the fields are like a watercolor painting of mountains and forests. The end of December is the season of digging and blooming forests.


Photo: Shutter Stock


Move


Bus


The first way: If you are traveling from Hanoi, you can pick up the bus at My Dinh bus station, the bus to Mu Cang Chai mainly passes through Nghia Lo town. A few will run along the Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway to "racket" provincial tourists, but mainly along Route 32.


Second way: Travel by car of resort resorts. But there is only one resort here, Mu Cang Chai Resort, which is not finished. Therefore, if you want to stay at a resort, you should choose Le Champ Tu Le, then rent a car to Mu Cang Chai to play.


Route: Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai is 300km long


Hanoi – Son Tay (50km): There are two Son Tay routes from Hanoi: Thang Long Boulevard and Route 32 that runs through the villages of the old Ha Tay


Son Tay – Thanh Son – Thu Cuc (90km): Son Tay – Tay Dang – Trung Ha Bridge: Beautiful paved road. On one side is the Red River dike, on the other side are the fields that are coming to the harvest season.


Tu Thanh Son – Thu Cuc: The road on the land of Phu Tho began to have more steep passes with turns and narrowing roads. On both sides of the road are green tea hills and vast forests and palm hills.


Thu Cuc – Nghia Lo (60km): Passing through Khe Pass and Ace Pass, it is also crossing the land of Phu Tho to the land of Yen Bai. The nearly 30km long pass has been completed, through valleys, low-lying Thai villages, up and down roads.


Nghia Lo - Van Chan - Tu Le: From Nghia Lo to Van Chan, the winding steep roads begin. Van Chan and then Tu Le, beautiful fields stretch along both sides of the road.


Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai (100km): A beautiful distance on National Highway 32, passing through the lovely towns of Yen Bai. 


In Tu Le, the fields of the Thai village have smelled of sweet fragrance. If it is the right harvest season, you can eat new bowls of rice. If you arrive a little earlier, try the fragrant nuggets made from the famous Tu Le glutinous rice. The cat apple season also often coincides with the ripe rice season. The sour and sour apples soaked in delicious wine. 


From Tu Le to Mu Cang Chai, you have to cross the 20km Khau Pa pass. The pass is no longer too dangerous today, but still be careful. In the middle of the pass, the scenery of the colored rice fields under the beautiful valley is one of the scenes that anyone should not miss.


Photo: Shutter Stock


Vacation Spots


Some new places in the style of "Ecolodge" (eco-resort) include: Hello MCC, MCC Eco lodge in La Pan Tan. Or you can go to Tu Le and Nghia Lo where there are slightly more upscale hotels.


In addition, visitors can stay at Hello Mu Cang Chai, Vu Linh Family, Thac Ba, Ngoc Thuy Homestay Mu Cang Chai... room rates are 100,000 - 700,000 VND per night.


Points of play


Khau Pha Pass is the place where the annual paragliding activity takes place with the name Flying on the Golden Season Festival. From here, pilots and tourists can both skydive to experience the thrill and enjoy the panoramic view of the Lam Mong valley during the ripe rice season. If you love tourists, you should book a tour in advance to have a skydiving spot.


Lam Mong Valley, Lam Thai is the place where Thai villages are located in the valley right under Khau Pha Pass - one of the four great peaks of Vietnam.


Visitors can drive among the golden rice fields, see the peaceful village in the harvest season, meet children and the elderly or have fun by the cool streams.

 

Rice terraces covering more than 2,200 hectares of land in Mu Cang Chai. In which, 500 hectares are recognized by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism as a national heritage of the three villages of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phan.


Tu Le Commune, Van Chan district, Yen Bai province, 3 km from Khau Pha Pass, famous for its characteristic thawed glutinous rice varieties. When the rice began to ripen yellow on the terraced fields, the Thai people in Tu Le were busy preparing new batches of nuggets to sell everywhere. Each kilogram of nuggets costs 120,000 VND.


Photo: Shutter Stock


Raspberry Hill is a symbolic image of the golden season of Mu Cang Chai for many years. The hill is located in La Pan Tan more than 8 km from the town center, the road is difficult, so stop and park the car and then rent a motorbike taxi from the locals to take it to the place. In addition, near the hill, there is a buckwheat flower garden and an ethnic dress rental service for tourists to take pictures. At the big Raspberry Hill, if you go to the shack to take pictures, it costs an additional 5,000 VND per person. Going into the rice field adds 10,000 VND per person.


Horseshoe Hill in Sang Nhu, more than 2 km from Mu Cang Chai town, there are picturesque semicircular terraced fields. Every ripe rice season, this place attracts a lot of photographers to hunt for pictures. Tickets to each of the above points are 20,000 VND per adult, 10,000 VND per child. The price of motorbike taxis ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 VND per person two-way.


Bamboo forest in Na Hang Tua village located 20 km from the center of Mu Cang Chai town. This is also a place to provide bamboo shoot specialties for the region. The road here on a rainy day is very muddy and steep. Visitors often have to walk or hire locals to carry motorbikes to the attractions because the dirt roads are narrow, steep and slippery and cannot be taken by car.


Zipline Swing: The longest zipline in Vietnam is located in the Aeris Hill adventure game area in Nuoc Rong village, Tu Le commune, Van Chan district. The zipline has 2 stages with a total length of 1.2 km connecting 2 districts of Van Chan and Mu Cang Chai.


Currently, the Aeris Hill adventure game area welcomes guests all week (except Wednesday) from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Ticket prices to participate in games are from 200,000 VND per person.


Photo: Tony albelton/Shutter Stock


Suggested itinerary


Day 1: Hanoi - Tram Tau Hot Spring

Traveling 220 km Hanoi - Tram Tau takes 5 hours, tourists riding self-driving cars such as motorbikes and cars should go early to get to a place near noon where they can rest, eat and drink. The route is Hanoi - Trung Ha Bridge - Thanh Son - Thu Cuc - Van Chan - Nghia Lo - Tram Tau. Tourists choose another way is to take the Hanoi - Nghia Lo bus, then call a taxi to continue to Tram Tau.


Day 2: Khau Pha - Lam Mong, Lam Thai - Tu Le - Mu Cang Chai

From Tram Tau to Khau Pha Pass is nearly 90 km, the road is still quite beautiful, so it only takes about 2.5 hours to travel.


Day 3: Raspberry Hill - Horseshoe Hill - Hanoi

The road from Tu Le to the center of Mu Cang Chai town alone is about 60 km long, there are many beautiful terraced fields that attract the eye. However, the most unique is still the villages of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha, Sang Nhu...

The total cost is about 3,000,000 VND per person.


Photo: VnE/Shutter Stock


Have a happy weekend outing!


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