Most people who visit the north of Vietnam go to Sapa to see the mountains and minority tribes…having been there before and got rained out, we decided to go somewhere a little different and went on a little mini tour to Mai Chau and Phu Quoc Nature Reserve.
The countryside around Mai Chau is truly some of the most beautiful I have ever seen, emerald green rice fields, dotted with farmers in traditional vietnamese pointy hats, and then huge limestone mountains just randomly jutting up out of the plains. The evening we spent in Mai Chau, a huge thunderstorm rolled in, making the whole thing even more spectacularm, and making me wish (again) that I had a much better camera.
To my shame I had a few too many beers and ended up dancing at the cultural show. Luckily I didn’t fall over, and we didn’t have to pay either.
Probably the most memorable thing about the national park was that Katie got bitten to death by mosquitos, and her foot swelled up to resemble an elephant….in fact it was easily the closest we came to seeing any wildlife as the park was full of local people shouting, throwing beer bottles into the jungle and playing loud music on their mobiles.
(By Duncanemma)
Mai Chau – Pu Luong 3 days
Hoa Binh – Mai Chau 2 days
Trekking Mai Chau – 4 days
Mai Chau – Pu Luong 2 days
