Thursday, November 8, 2012

Mai Chau Valley - Hoa Binh

Coming to Mai Chau, travelers in Vietnam tourism will be warmly welcomed by the picturesque scenery of Mai Chau lying in a green valley of paddy fields dotted with rows of stilt houses.

Mai Chau Valley

Stilt houses border both sides of the roads. The houses are quite large with palm leaf roofs and polished bamboo-slat floors. The kitchen is located in the center of the house; the cooking as well as the making of the colorful tho cam, the material used by Thai minority to make their clothes, takes place in the kitchen. The windows are large and decorated with patterns. Each house also has a pond to breed fish.

Stilt houses in Mai Chau Hoa Binh
Stilt houses in Mai Chau Hoa Binh

The Sunday market brings a lot of people into town. People from different minorities living in the mountains come to Mai Chau market to sell their specific products: honey, bananas, corn, and tho cam made by skilled Thai women.

The Sunday market is also an occasion to enjoy traditional Thai dishes and to participate in traditional dances. Thai dancing and singing is something that visitors can not afford to ignore. Especially, there is the traditional dance show for tourists, which starts at 8pm and it provides to tourists joining tours in Vietnam with a very impressive experience.

Mai Chau valley

Mai Chau can be a base for some trekking tours to the villages around, and spending one night at one of the stilt houses in Mai Chau, tourists have chance to enjoy the folk dances and songs that are accompanied by Gong music, as well as experience the feeling of drinking Can Wine – an important cultural symbol for ethnic minorities in Hoa Binh province. Particularly, tourits coming there can enjoy the minority specialty dishes including rice cooked in bamboo and grilled meat.

Nowadays, foreigners who want to learn more about Vietnamese culture as well as to admire picturesque scenery of Vietnam, Mai Chau Hoa Binh is an ideal place where they can freely discover everything.

Kim Boi hot spring in Hoa Binh

Kim Boi, one of the districts of Hoa Binh province, is said to be granted with a natural hot spring by the Nature. The hot spring is now a tourist spot which “can-not-be-ignored” if staying in Hoa Binh. 

Putting aside all the tensions and troubles of life, tourists will feel relax and comfortable when soaking themselves in Kim Boi Hot Spring.

Kim Boi hot spring in Hoa Binh

The mineral water continually spouts from the fountains, normally between 340C and 360C. According to some scientific tests, Kim Boi water resources are qualified to meet the standard for drinking, bathing and treating some diseases such as arthritis, gastritis, high/low blood pressure. 

This mineral water Kim Boi is now bottled and become favorite refreshment for tourists in Vietnam travel. It has almost the same composition as certain wellknown foreign brands of mineral water.

Kim Boi hot spring in Hoa binh Vietnam

As for tourists joining tours in Vietnam, depending on their budget they can choose to stay at any hotels in the resort area. Wherever they are, the same point is that they can hear the sound of water spouting out, which makes them relaxed. Being immersed in a large mineral water deposit of Kim Boi stream is also not unmemorable for  any visitor.

Certainly, coming to Kim Boi hot spring once, no one can refuse to spend time in such a spot!