Mai Chau is located in Hoa Binh province, approximately 145 km from Hanoi and 70 km from Hoa Binh. From the top of Cun Mountain and Thong Khe pass 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...

From the top of Cun Mountain and Thong Khe pass 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.
The Sunday market brings a lot of people into town. People from different minorities living in the mountains come to Mai Chau market to sell their specific products: honey, bananas, corn, and tho cam made by skilled Thai women. The Sunday market is also an occasion to enjoy traditional Thai dishes and to participate in traditional dances
You can get a good run off the top of the dam, hammer it down the road and up the steep runaway truck sidings. A word of warning here, dropping your bike at the top of these steep inclines is a sure way to lose all your gas, and its virtually impossible to pick your bike up again, as the incline means your are practically underneath it. With the flood gates in full swing, the torrent of water creates a very damp wind tunnel, as the air is sucked under the thousands of cubic metres of water rushing pas each second. It’s inspiring stuff, standing on the viewing platform just beside the wall of water.