In the middle of the purple Myrtle Forest and the fresh sticky rice scent of Hoa Binh

English - Ngày đăng : 09:09, 11/08/2022

What has made that scent so special, so heartbreaking. Try once to set foot on Lac village to see the mountains and forests, and enjoy the fresh smell of sticky rice emanating from the skillful hands of the mountainous girls.

FINDING THE SCENT OF MAI CHAU STICKY RICE
Surely everyone remembers the verse in the poem Tay Tien by Quang Dung:

Remember when Tay Tien rice on the stove

Mai Chau in the season of sticky rice scent

During those years of arduous marching, what calmed the Tay Tien soldiers was the fresh scent of sticky rice in Mai Chau, Hoa Binh. About 140 km northwest of Hanoi capital, many young people can choose to travel by motorbike to visit beautiful spots on the way to Mai Chau such as ung Khe Pass (or Da Trang Pass) to admire the sun through the cli s, Mo Luong cave and Chieu cave with thousands of years old stalactites, a masterpiece that nature has worked hard to build. Visitors can follow the route from Hanoi - Mai Chau via National Highway 16 or via National Highway 12B (about 176 km). Otherwise, you can choose to go by bus at My Dinh, Giap Bat wharf to Tong junction and then take a motorbike to Ban Lac, Pom Com with ticket price of about 90,000 to 110,000 VND/person.

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RETURNING TO LAC VILLAGE MAI CHAU, A PLACE BEARING THE IMPRINTS OF THAI TRANG PEOPLE
A village with a history of about 700 years. e di erence is that the houses on stilts here are
not far from each other, interspersed in the vast mountains and forests, but close together like the warm a ection of the people here. In addition to the majestic mountains, Lac Village is covered in green with rice elds. erefore, visitors can choose to stay in airy, spacious stilt houses with a sleeping price of about 70,000 VND/person, with their own pillows and blankets to feel the rich and di erent life of the ethnic people, and experience cycling on the green grass, anked by cool rice elds.

Or if you want a private and comfortable space, there are many hotels with reasonable prices such as Mai Chau Ecolodge, Mai Chau Mountain View Resort, Mai Chau Lodge...

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Visitors to the stilt house will be greeted with ower mats by the people of Lac village and treated to delicious jars of stem liquor.

ENJOY LAM RICE THE EVER-LASTING SCENT OF THE STICKY RICE
Coming to Mai Chau without enjoying Lam rice is such an unfortunate, because that rustic rice tube is attractive to people with the plasticity of fresh, new sticky rice, the aroma blends in the scent of bamboo tubes, banana leaves, and the taste is natural, gentle like the scent of the mountains that will make people to never forget this place.

Or just like the sticky rice as the poet Quang Dung mentioned, warming the soldier’s heart in the midst of danger, war and bombs. e dish will be taken care of by ai girls, carefully processed and packaged for tourists in case they are hungry while traveling. e simplicity of the package of sticky rice served with sesame salt, and the warmth in it is full of love from the Northwest people.

Mai Chau is also famous for their grilled stream sh, the sh is caught right in the stream, and then brought back to marinate and grilled on embers, the aroma and fresh taste of stream sh here make visitors fall in love every time and cannot wait to go to Mai Chau a few more times to enjoy it again and again.

YEN THUONG, THE HILLSIDE COVERED BY ALL THE PURPLE OF MYRTLE FLOWERS

Yen Thuong is the deepest commune in Hoa Binh province, about 100 km from the city center. Yen Thuong is a small village in Cao Phong district, which is famous for its immense sugarcane growing area and sweet orange farms. Although there are human hands to build these sweet and fruity farms, the wild character is still preserved by the hill of wild weeds and the clear stream, murmuring night and day. And the terraced elds, with the green color of rice mixed in the dark green of the mountains and forests, with the simple stilt houses hidden behind the dark purple myrtle.

The hills of myrtle flowers
The hills of myrtle flowers endlessly in the afternoon Purple myrtle flowers
A sad purple a
fternoon

The wartime love story that poet Huu Loan has portrayed, makes visitors want to wander in the dreamy purple color and follow the feelings of love and affection of the people during the war.

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Myrtle trees often choose the arid mountainous areas for themselves and then grow up strongly. The roots are deeply rooted in the rocky ground, embracing the arid soils and then bursting with dark purple owers that brighten up the hillsides, the myrtle fruit is also sweet, like distilling all the essence from the barren soil, drops the rare dew of the sky and the dry winds of the forest. Walking in the middle of the myrtle forest, listening to the peaceful sound of the buffalo muzzle, then following people to the market along the small roads, blending in with the people and hiding in the mist every morning.

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The fair in this area is colorful like the dresses of the ethnic girls, participates in many interesting activities such as: stall dancing, throwing con, slanted dances of ai girls and many specialties of Hoa Binh mountainous such as glutinous rice wine, the village pork, mountain snails and many other specialties...

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