Every autumn, Mu Cang Chai puts on a new coat, everywhere is filled with the fragrance of ripe rice, along with the joyful faces of the people before a golden harvest season. Therefore, autumn is the most suitable season to travel to Mu Cang Chai.
1. What is the best season to travel to Mu Cang Chai?
Mu Cang Chai - A masterpiece amidst the majestic nature of the Northwest (Photo source: Collected)
Around October, especially the end of September and the beginning of October, when the weather starts to get cold, the sun starts to get clearer, the scent of guava wafts in the autumn wind, the feet of wanderlust whisper to each other about the golden season of the Northwest. This is also the time when Mu Cang Chai is in the season of ripe rice and the harvest season of wild apples. The picturesque golden terraced fields surely make anyone who has ever set foot here miss this land.
In Mu Cang Chai, there are simple moments but contain every breath of life. The pace of life in the highlands is slow and peaceful, making people remember forever. They are simple, honest, hard-working people with the desire for a warm life, innocent children with smiles and clear eyes on muddy faces, and optimism even though life is not convenient.
2. Travel experience when traveling to Mu Cang Chai
- Plane: For tourists from far away like Ho Chi Minh City, Da Nang, you can choose to fly to Hanoi . Then from Hanoi, choose the following means of transport to go to Mu Cang Chai.
- Bus: First way: If you travel from Hanoi, you can catch a bus at My Dinh bus station. Buses to Mu Cang Chai mainly go through Nghia Lo town. A few will run on the Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway, but most will follow route 32. Second way: Travel by resort shuttle bus. But there is only one resort here, Mu Cang Chai Resort. From here, you can rent a car to go to other destinations.
- Private car: Tourists should choose the traditional route, which is route 32. Because the mountainous road is quite winding, if you choose to go by private car, you should carefully research the route in advance to make traveling more convenient.
3. Accommodation experience when traveling to Mu Cang Chai
Staying in Mu Cang Chai (Photo source: Collected)
Mu Cang Chai mainly has budget hotels, homestays, stilt houses and not many high-end options. Of which, stilt houses and homestays of local people are the most popular types of accommodation in Mu Cang Chai. Stilt houses have dormitories for 10 to 30 people. Tourists can easily find a stilt house around famous tourist attractions such as: Ban Thai, La Pan Tan terraced fields, Tu Le... There are accommodation services and grocery stores right at the foot of the house.
Hotels are mainly concentrated in Mu Cang Chai town. Budget hotels range from one star to three stars, with rooms equipped with basic amenities such as beds, bathrooms, televisions, refrigerators, etc.
Some new "Ecolodge" style locations include: Hello MCC, MCC Eco lodge in La Pan Tan. Or you can go to Tu Le, Nghia Lo where there are slightly more upscale hotels.
4. Where to play when traveling to Mu Cang Chai
Mu Cang Chai in the ripe rice season (Photo source: Collected)
4.1 Khau Pha Pass
Khau Pha Pass is where the annual paragliding activity called the Flying Over the Golden Season takes place. From here, pilots and tourists can parachute to experience the thrill and see the whole view of Lim Mong valley in the ripe rice season. If you like, you should book a tour in advance to have a parachute jump.
The Mu Cang Chai Paragliding Festival 2023 will officially take place from September 15-18 with many exciting activities. However, from the beginning of September, visitors can experience paragliding over the terraced fields in the golden rice season.
4.2. Lim Mong Valley
Lim Mong and Lim Thai valleys are home to Thai villages located in the valley right below Khau Pha pass - one of the four great mountain passes of Vietnam.
Crossing the romantic suspension bridge leads to the small, thread-like roads that slope up the mountain. Coming to Lim Mong in September and October, visitors will be able to travel in the golden season with both sides of the road lined with ripe rice fields.
Visitors can ride between golden rice fields, see peaceful villages during harvest season, meet everyone from children to the elderly or play by cool streams.
4.3. Mu Cang Chai terraced fields
Terraced fields cover more than 2,200 hectares of land in Mu Cang Chai. Of these, 500 hectares have been recognized as national heritage by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism in the three villages of La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh.
Tu Le Commune, 3 km from Khau Pha Pass, is famous for its special sticky rice variety. When the rice begins to ripen on the terraced fields, the Thai people in Tu Le are busy preparing new batches of green rice to sell everywhere. Each kilo of green rice costs 120,000 VND.
You can stay in Tu Le for one night or go straight from Tu Le to Mu Cang Chai town. Community guesthouses and homestays in Mu Cang Chai rent for 100,000 - 400,000 VND per person per night. If you stay in Mu Cang Chai at night, you can go to the market to enjoy Thai ethnic food and there are more restaurants to choose from.
4.4. Raspberry Hill
Mam Xoi Hill has been a symbol of the golden season in 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 your vehicle and hire a motorbike taxi from the locals to take you there. In addition, near the hill there is a buckwheat flower garden and a service to rent ethnic costumes for tourists to take photos. At the big Mam Xoi hill, if you go up to the photo booth, it will cost an additional 5,000 VND per person. Going into the rice fields will cost an additional 10,000 VND per person.
4.5. Horseshoe Hill
Horseshoe Hill in Sang Nhu, more than 2 km from Mu Cang Chai town, has picturesque semicircular terraced fields. Every rice harvest season, this place attracts a lot of photographers to come and take pictures. Entrance fee to each of the above locations is 20,000 VND per adult, 10,000 VND per child. The price of a motorbike taxi to the place ranges from 60,000 to 100,000 VND per person, round trip.
In addition to the above locations, when traveling to Mu Cang Chai, you can also visit other tourist attractions in Lao Cai such as Nam Chay River, Cai Cai Stream, and Van Chan Waterfall.
5. Dining experience when traveling to Mu Cang Chai
Enjoy Northwestern cuisine when traveling to Mu Cang Chai (Photo source: Collected)
Mu Cang Chai, visitors should not forget the specialties such as sticky rice, smoked buffalo meat, wild bee pupae, stir-fried bitter bamboo shoots, grilled black pork, grilled stream fish (pa pỉnh tộp), salmon, Khau Pha sturgeon, cat cabbage...
Snacks to bring back as gifts include Tu Le Green Com. The finished Tu Le Com has a light green color, a strong aroma and a mild sweet taste. This fragrant, chewy gift with a unique mountain flavor is extremely suitable to bring back as a gift for friends and relatives after a visit to Mu Cang Chai.
Mu Cang Chai is like a love song of the Northwest, lingering in the hearts of tourists, leaving them with lingering feelings. Traveling to Mu Cang Chai during the ripe rice season is truly a memorable journey that tourists keep dreaming about.
Source: https://www.vietravel.com/vn/am-thuc-kham-pha/du-lich-mu-cang-chai-mua-lua-chin-v14877.aspx
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