Mù Cang Chải terraced rice paddy-fields

Terraced rice fields in Chế Cu Nha commune

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View from Highway No. 32.

This is Part 2 of my 7-day solo trip in the North West of Vietnam by local bus and motorbike. After leaving Suối Giàng, I traveled by motorbike to Nghĩa Lộ town. On the way I passed by Mường Lò rice field which is the second largest rice field in the North West of Vietnam. There were farmers working on the fields and I could feel good smell of the rice. The first thing I did in Nghĩa Lộ town was to check out timetable for the bus to Mù Cang Chải on the following day. After finding a good guest house, I spent time walking along the National Highway No. 32 toward Mường Lò rice field, but I coulnd’t walk too far as it was getting dark.

Inside the bus from Nghĩa Lộ to Mù Cang Chải

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The boy who is assistant to driver is sleeping
next to various types of goods. In front of the girl
there is a barrel of gasoline.

Tuesday morning (July 17) - I got a bus to Mù Cang Chải (altitude 1300m). For many Vietnamese (including my sisters), Mù Cang Chải is a poor and remote place which they never want to go and see. However, for the people who love natural sceneries and photography, this is a must-see place. In my opinion, the terraced rice paddy-fields in this region are the most beautiful ones in Vietnam.

There were only 5 guests in the bus, so I could have two seats, one for myself and another one for my faithful friend which is my backpack. It was interesting to see people in Nghĩa Lộ town sending various things to their relatives in Mù Cang Chải, not only envelopes and pens, but also eggs, dried fishes, vegetables, banana, pork, coal, blankets, rubber pipe, and even a barrel of gasoline (luckily, it didn’t explode on the way). They were put inside or on the top of the bus.

Bánh cuốn chả (steamed rice cake)

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This is my favorite food on my 2-day stay in Mù Cang
 Chải. The steamed rice cake is eaten with sauce which
consists of grilled pork and onion. (Món ăn yêu thích của
tôi ở Mù Cang Chải. Bánh cuốn ở đây có nước chấm
bao gồm chả nướng và hành phi).

I asked our driver why he had to carry these things to Mù Cang Chải. He replied that there was more demand than self-supply in the town, so some things were more expensive. He also said that sometimes the goods occupied half of the bus, so passengers didn’t have much room.

The distance from Nghĩa Lộ town to Mù Cang Chải town is only 100km, but it took us 5 hours to travel by bus as our driver stopped many times on the way. There were 3 landslide places on Khau Phạ pass and at one point all the vehicles had to wait in the rain until an excavator completed landslide treatment. The landlide can happen anytime in the rainy season. At some sections I saw a huge volume of soil by the road.

Painting of terraced rice fields

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At Suối Mơ guest house.

I arrived in Mù Cang Chải town at 12am. When the bus got close to the town, I was so excited to see the terraced rice paddy-fields. It was raining in the afernoon, so I couldn’t go back to this area for taking photos. A local woman told me it was raining during the last two weeks, and it rained almost every day in the rainy season, so there was no way I could change the weather. I know that I chose a wrong time for visiting this region. The best time for visiting Mù Cang Chải is March (when H’mong people start planting rice) and October (harvest and yellow rice fields).

I spent time enjoying the food and chatting with the locals. Because the town is small, everyone there seemed to know me as they saw me walking around again and again. It was dark and quiet in the evening, even though the town is located by the highway.

Stream goes along the fields

I rarely saw a motorbike going on the road. Some locals told me at the mid night there would be some buses on the route Hanoi – Lai Châu passing by this area, so it could be more exciting.

Wednesday morning (July 18) - Regarless of the rain, I still wanted to take photos of the terraced rice paddy-fields in Chế Cu Nha commune which is 10km away from the town. I hired a motorbike taxi driver and he wanted me to pay him VND 170,000 (US$8.5) for a 2 hour service. We went backward Highway No. 32 which I traveled on the day before. To take photos of the terraced rice paddy-fields in this blog, I had to wear a rain coat, while holding an umbrella and putting a towel over my camera to protect it from being wet. It is pity that my photos of the terraced rice paddy-fields didn’t look good. It is much better when you see the landscape in reality. It was so beautiful that I was speechless. Only H’mong people could climb up high mountains and created such an amazing work of arts.

Mù Cang Chải town in the rain

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A H'mong woman is walking down Highway No. 32
which runs through the town. This is close to
the market in the center of the town.

I planned to stay in Mù Cang Chải for a couple of days and visit some sites, but it rained all the time, so I changed my plan and moved on to Than Uyên. I missed the bus to Than Uyên at 12am, so I had to use motorbike taxi service again. It was a right choice because the scenery along the way (40km) was another highlight of my trip. On the way I saw some H'mong ethnic women standing by the road, while embroidering and watching oxen which were eating grass.

This is my 150th blog and it coincides with my favorite place in Vietnam. Next time when I go back to Mù Cang Chải, I will choose October because it’s a good time for taking photos of the yellow rice fields during the harvest. The locals also told me about “La Pán Tẩn” which is located 20km away from Mù Cang Chải town and it has a great scenery with terraced rice paddy-fields, streams and stone embankment. This place will be in my plan on the next visit.

The photos in this blog were taken in Mù Cang Chải and Nghĩa Lộ towns (Yên Bái province). My next destinations would be Than Uyên and Lai Châu towns (Lai Châu province).

Special note: Be careful with the dogs. In such a remote mountain region, you cannot expect good medical services. A local man told me that over 100 people in different communes of Mù Cang Chải district had died of rabies.