Meals: lunch, dinner | Accommodation: in Mai Chau

8:00 AM – pick up from your hotel. On the morning drive to Mai Chau, we'll leave the city behind and pass through a craggy, mountainous landscape. We drive up a massive pass and end in the mountainous circus of Mai Chau around noon time. Lunch will be served in a local Thai house.

In the afternoon, we’ll have a small walk around Mai Chau valley before getting a quick transfer to the small remote village of Mai Hich. Weather permits there’s a chance for a small cycle around the green village. Afterward, we return for dinner and overnight in the stilt house with our friendly Thai hosts.

Your overnight accommodation is provided by a local family in their traditional house-on-silts. There’s no private room and you’ll sleep on the floor in a large communal area. The sleeping corner is set up with a single mattress (thin, but adequate), blankets (ditto), pillow, and mosquito net. The restroom is at international standard and a few steps from the main house.

Upgrade accommodation to a private bungalow at the Sol Bungalow (or a similar resort) is available with a surcharge.

Meal: breakfast, lunch, dinner | Accommodation: in Pu Luong

We leave our hosts after breakfast and drive East for about 15 km before entering the Pu Luong nature reserve. You’ll then get down the car for 2 hours trekking on a single trail through Thai villages and rice terraces, with the opportunity to take a break at local houses en route.

Meet your car again for a quick transfer to our lunch stop at a small lodge. In the afternoon, we step into the wild with an awesome hike on trails across the second half of the reserve to reach its Western edge. The hike is not too hard and lasts 3 to 4 hours. It makes it an intermediate-level trek. Plan to bring along good shoes and batteries for your camera.

Back to our resort before sunset for dinner and overnight accommodation

Today's accommodation is at the same standard as the previous night in Mai Chau. 

Upgrade accommodation to the Pu Luong Retreat (or a similar eco-lodge) is available with a surcharge.

Meals: breakfast, lunch | Accommodation: not included

Easy morning, depending on the season and your preference, you can stay at the lodge and relax, or go for a walk to a waterfall nearby.

We have an early lunch at the village and then walk for about an hour and a half to the road which our car can access. We drive back to Hanoi on Ho Chi Minh Road and should be there around 18:00.