September 29th, 2006
Mai Chau Valley
Location: Hoa Binh, Vietnam
Mai Chau is located in Hoa Binh province, approximately 135 km from Hanoi and 60 km from Hoa Binh.
From the top of Cun Mountain, one can admire the superb panorama of Mai Chau surrounded by a green valley and stilt houses. Many minorities, including the Thai ethnic group, live in Mai Chau.
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.
Location: Bac Kan, Vietnam
Fansipan, or Fan Si Pan, towers over in the northern province of Lao Cai. The well-known mountain, seen as the roof of Indochina, is the place in Vietnam for hikers and adventurers.
In the winter of 1903, a team of Frenchmen from the Indochina Geographical Department became the first Westerners to see the serene Lo Suoi Tung plateau and the village of Sa Pa in the upper reaches of Ngoi Dum when they were on a mapping expedition. That was long ago and Sa Pa has since become known to an ever increasing number of tourists, drawing people from every continent with its mysterious charm.