The journey into the mountains beyond Hoa Binh approaching the Laotian border offers warm hospitality and spectacular, if sometimes mist shrouded, vistas.

The road winding down to the rice paddies in the Mai Chau Valley offers an excellent view of the town below.

 Many of the homes in the agricultural villages of the valley offer tourists the opportunity to enjoy an overnight stay on sleeping mats on the floors of

the stilted houses. This offers an excellent chance to explore the surrounding rice paddies and observe village life.