Tinh Yen Bai Holiday Weather today
Date/time of update: November 22, 2024, 1:08 am, Timezone: GMT+7
Clear Sky
Temperature: 19.66°C
Temperature feels like: 19.43°C
Minimum Temperature: 19.66°C
Maximum Temperature: 19.66°C
Atmospheric pressure: 1021hPa
Humidity:67%
Visibility: 10000m
Wind speed: 0.57m/sec
Wind Direction: 8 degrees
Cloudiness: 5%
Sunrise: 2024-11-21 11:17:04
Sunset: 2024-11-22 10:18:14
Mu Cang Chai is 300km northwest of Hanoi. For not too long, Mu Cang Chai has been famous to adventure travelers for the amazing terraces which have a fluid look and which come in several shapes. People travel to Mu Cang Chai in hope to take photographs of the most beautiful rice terraces in Vietnam in the most beautiful moments.
Geography of Mu Cang Chai
In the Hmong language, Mu Cang Chai means the dry land or dry forest. Perched on an altitude of 1,000m above sea level and with several steep mountain slopes, local Hmong people can only get most of their water for daily use and for agriculture from rain water. The dry season, also the winter here, is from November through April; it often does not rain and it is normally cold.
Tu Le - Cao Pha Valley, Yen Bai
The best time to visit Mu Cang Chai
In May torrential rains start pouring down, the Hmong start their work on the rice terraces. They have to fix the broken or leaked bunds and remove grass or wild bushes in their fields, so that they are all flooded with rain water. They have to wait for 3-4 weeks till the soil in the field is soft, then they’ll plow the fields using water buffaloes. This period is among the best times to visit Mu Cang Chai as you’ll get your photographs with shiny terraces on breathtaking mountain slopes. The flooded fields are like several thousand mirrors reflecting sunlight; you’ll adore the scene and your game of light!
The Khau Pha Pass at Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai, Vietnam
If you could get into your photos a Hmong man plowing the field with his water buffalo or a Hmong lady in her usual colorful clothes, you’ll love it for the rest of your life!
For the next 3-4 months the rice in Mu Cang Chai keeps growing changing the colors from light green to dark green, light yellow to burning golden colors… If you travel to Mu Cang Chai in late September and early October, you’ll enjoy the best moments here: mountains slopes become indescribably beautiful studios for you to practice your photography skills. This is definitely the best time to travel to Mu Cang Chai.
Mu Cang Chai Travel Guide, Tourist Attractions in Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai
1/ Raspberry (Mam Xoi) Hill
The Raspberry Hill is 15 or 30 minutes’ hike from Route 32. The site offers lovely views of the hill itself and the surrounding rice terraces.
2/ Small Raspberry (Mam Xoi Nho) Hill
The small Raspberry Hill requires a half a day trekking tour from La Pan Tan. It is possible to reach the site by motorbike after 45 minutes’ ride from La Pan Tan. From the small Rasbberry Hill you can have panoramic views of most of Mu Cang Chai including the township, the stunning rice terraces.
3/ La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha, De Xu Phinh Rice Terraces
You come to Mu Cang Chai you must travel amid the rice terraces of these communes. Choose the right trail to follow then you can get amazing angles for the best photography of the rice terraces.
4/ Khau Pha Pass
You travel to Mu Cang Chai from Hanoi via Route 32 then you must pass through this captivating mountain pass between Van Chan District and Mu Cang Chai District of Yen Bai Province. The views from different vantage points on the pass are stunning!
5/ Mu Cang Chai Forest
This stretch of forest between the Cao Pha Valley, Lim Mong and Lim Thai communities and Mu Cang Chai District. There are trails used by locals earlier which are forgotten now and they are slippery as well as completely covered by thick undergrowth. But the trekking tour through the forest offers great adventure experiences.
6/ Lung Cung Mountain (2,913m)
The mountain offers several sensational and inspirational trekking tours which require 2 days and 1 night each. Some legs of the journey can be done by motorbike when it is dry which helps to shorten the trip. Else, you’d better allow for 1 more day for the trek then. Accommodation on the mountain is at simple mountain huts.
Things to do, travel activities, hiking trips, adventure tours in Mu Cang Chai
1/ Photography of the rice terraces
People travel to Mu Cang Chai to adore the most beautiful rice terraces in the best moments of the year. Everywhere you turn and everywhere you go in Mu Cang Chai, you’ll face amazing rice terraces. Different shooting angles offer you different photographs of these amazing scenes. Different moments of the day and different lighting conditions, weather conditions provide different photographs. If you know to be in the right place at the right time, you’ll have the most adorable photos of the rice terraces. The Vietnamese photographers keep traveling back to Mu Cang Chai year after year and still find it anew!
Do not hesitate to contact AdventureGreen for a photography adventure to Mu Cang Chai should you want your creativity and photography skills shine!
A Hmong lady amid stunning rice terraces of Mu Cang Chai, Yen Bai
2/Trekking amid the gorgeous landscape
There are a few trekking routes at Mu Cang Chai which are with different levels of difficulty. Basically you’ll stay at a Hmong village and have day-trek on different paths coming back to the same home in the evening. The trekking routes by AdventureGreen encompass all the best shooting angles of the captivating rice terraces at Mu Cang Chai. AdventureGreen hosts a number of hiking tours at Mu Cang Chai to visit the villages or the wild landscape.
A stunning view of Mu Cang Chai
3/ Mountain climbing tours, trekking tours
Lung Cung is among the highest mountain peaks in Vietnam (2,913m) and you’ll start this great mountain trekking adventure in Che Cu Nha – Mu Cang Chai. The trip is for 2 days 1 night at least and can be done only during the dry season (December - April). AdventureGreen organize trekking tours to Mount Lung Cung following different routes with different types of landscape and encounters.
A view of Chong Chua Tu Mountain Peak from the trek
4/Mountain bike adventure tours
A mountain bike tour to Mu Cang Chai from Hanoi is no doubt an adventure of a lifetime! It is physically and mentally challenging, take it only when you are sure of yourself!
5/ Motorbike adventure tours
A motorbike adventure to Mu Cang Chai can be done fairly easy and the experience is beyond expectations! The tour should take at least 3 days 2 nights from Hanoi and can certainly be extended to encompass Sapa or the whole Northwest of Vietnam. AdventureGreen offers motorbike tours to Mu Cang Chai alone or in combination with other places in the far-flung regions of Northern Vietnam.
6/ Trekking in Mu Cang Chai Forest
Mu Cang Chai Forest is dense forest with plantations of cardamom plants under the canopy. The trekking tour goes from Mu Cang Chai to the Cao Pha Valley for vice versa which takes a full day. The trekking trails are tiny, abandoned by the locals and encroached by dense undergrowth and are very slippery.
How to get to Mu Cang Chai
1/From Hanoi via Route 32 (passing through Phu Tho, 300km from Hanoi)
This route offers lovely mountainous roads with amazing tea plantations, scenic valleys and high mountain passes.
Breathtaking valley of Tu Le - Cao Pha during the golden rice time
2/From Sapa and Lai Chau via Route 4D and Route 32 (passing through Than Uyen, 130km from Sapa)
You’ll adore the sublime nature at the O Quy Ho Pass between Lao Cai – Sapa and Lai Chau. The valley of Muong Than and the tea plantations at Tan Uyen are lovely spots to stop on the way, too.
Road to Than Uyen Town and Mu Cang Chai
