Why you should pick Mu Cang Chai over Sapa
Ok, hear me out… most people have seen those iconic pictures from Sapa and all the tours available, BUT what if there was somewhere you could still see those magical rice terraces, without the large crowds?
Well, that’s Mu Cang Chai!
This place felt like a holiday destination for the local Vietnamese people, while still being relatively undiscovered by international tourists. We honestly felt like we were welcomed with open arms and had one of the best experiences we’ve ever had on our travels.
Our absolute highlights were the hotel (my gosh, it was pure luxury!) and a local hiking tour with Khua, who showed us his hometown, the rice terraces and shared so much about his Hmong culture. We even got to visit a traditional home and see what everyday life is like in the mountains.
It was one of those days we’ll never forget, and we had absolutely no idea just how much we were going to love this place.
Getting to Mu Cang Chai
It’s fairly straight forward to get from Hanoi to Mu Cang Chai, our hotel arranged our transfer. They picked us up from our hotel in Hanoi and took us right up to the front desk (almost). The resort is built on a very big hill so they use electric golf carts to get people from the front gates to reception. They also pick you up from your room to take you to the different facilities, for some strange reason we were very stubborn and didn't want to be an inconvenience so we frog marched up the HUGE hill MULTIPLE times a day!!! Surely it helped our fitness or leg strength. It’s good to note that they also have a standard transfer that leaves at 12 everyday so that you can head back to Hanoi.
Typically the transfer takes between 6 - 8 hours including 2 brief comfort breaks. The stops aren’t anywhere exuberant although they’re absolutely fine to get some quick snacks and a cold drink. Heading to a mountain resort does mean it’s not the quickest and smoothest ride to get there…it certainly wasn’t made by the Roman’s, I can tell you that for sure! Most of the route takes you along VERY winding mountain roads! We royally messed up and forgot travel sickness pills and boy did we pay for it!! The mixture of an electric car, the winding roads and the speeding up and slowing down resulted in us both feeling as sick as a dog. The best description we could fathom at that moment in time, was that we had been put in the washing machine on full for 8 hours! Forwards, backwards, left, right on repeat.
That said, it didn’t ruin our trip! The views along the way were absolutely beautiful, and despite feeling sick as dogs, we couldn’t stop looking out of the windows.
Tip: Travel with an iPad/iPhone and headphones, download a series and the time will fly by! You’ll be able to mix this up with the looking out the window as you head up into one of the most beautiful places you might possibly ever go.
The best hotel in Mu Cang Chai
Garrya Mu Cang Chai is hands down one of the best hotels we’ve ever stayed at! When you see the pictures, you’ll see why.
We honestly felt like we’d walked into a dream! From the beautiful infinity pool overlooking the rice terraces and mountains, to the spacious yet stylish rooms, to the many things you could get involved with every single day.
Imagine sitting outside eating breakfast with those incredible mountain views in front of you, while you sip on your delicious Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk
From yoga to the wishing tree, they really have thought of everything. The food was outstanding too, and the whole resort just felt so beautifully done.
We could have easily stayed there much longer. In fact, we didn't want to leave.
We paid £478.59 for 3 nights which included breakfast.
The best way to explore Mu Cang Chai
There are many places to explore in Mu Cang Chai and beyond, so it was hard to pick what we wanted to see.
Our hotel recommended Na Na Social Enterprise, a grassroots and circular-economy project focused on sustainable Hmong culture, local agriculture and responsible tourism. They had an amazing brochure full of different experiences, and were more than happy to put something together based on what we wanted to see.
From research online, I had a pretty clear picture in my head of the kind of day we wanted, so I shared this with them and they created our tour! I was adamant we would be exploring on foot, ensuring we got to walk right through the rice terraces. They obliged and created an amazing route for us to take. If you are not as active as us, there is an option of going by motorbike, where you’d be the passenger. Based on some of the tracks you would be going on, you might want to spend most of the time with your eyes closed!!
They were incredibly professional and quick to respond, and our guide was absolutely brilliant. He was so friendly and knowledgeable, and we learnt so much about the area and Hmong culture throughout the day.
Throughout the day, there were many moments where we just stopped and think, WOWWW, are we actually here?! We’d seen many pictures of the rice terraces before our trip, but actually walking through them, with those incredible views all around us, was something else entirely. We kept stopping to take it all in (I’m sure it took us twice as long as most because of all the stopping). It was exactly what we’d hoped Mu Cang Chai would be like, and somehow even better.
Dinosaur’s Backbone, Háng Sung Bamboo Forest & Móng Ngựa at Sunset
At 9:00 AM our amazing English speaking local guide and private car picked us up from our hotel and took us to towards Dế Xu Phình Village. From there we hiked up to the Dinosaur’s Backbone. (this was a very short walk, on a slightly exposed area). Here we were able to take some amazing photos and look back at the hotel we were staying at (Garrya).
After a quick refreshment break where we sampled sugarcane juice, we continued walking through the mountain landscape, heading towards Tà Chơand, through the rice terraces of Chế Cu Nha, before reaching Chế Kang Sa House for lunch. This was one of the WOWWW moments of the day, we were walking through the rice terraces and seeing the most spectacular views.
Our lovely guide, Khua, had brought some yummy treats in his backpack, chocolate pies. I would describe them as kind of being like a waggon wheel but much more chocolatey..so, two pieces of soft biscuit with white marshmallow in the middle. The perfect fuel to keep us going all day!
Lunch was equally delicious, there was sooo much food! We put that we’re vegetarians and they catered for this, and provided a mixture of local vegetables, soup, rice, tofu, eggs and so much more. More food than we could possibly get through! We also enjoyed mulberry juice, which is a very popular tangy fruit juice that’s heavily cultivated in suburban regions of Vietnam. After our feast, we then sampled a home-made alcohol from the berries which had a serious kick but did taste nice.
After lunch and a short rest, we took the private car from Chế Kang Sa House to Nhà Ngô in Màng Mủ. Here we got to see how the locals live, we were invited into someone’s home, and shown around. We also got to see the traditional methods of hanging corn to dry and store, and seeing how art is created using bees wax. It was so lovely to be welcomed into someone’s home and learn about a way of life so different from our own.
From there, we continued on foot through Háng Sung Bamboo Forest, before finishing the day at Móng Ngựa Hill to enjoy the sunset.
At this point we were feeling pretty tired, not Khua though! Fuelled by the English sweets, he was on TikTok live showing all his friends and co-workers our amazing day. I’m pretty sure they don’t get many people from England, never mind someone who says “LET’S WALK THE ROUTE!!”
After sunset, our car picked us up from the Móng Ngựa parking area and took us back to Garrya Resort Hotel. We arrived back at around 7pm ready for a shower, room service and bed!
Key Info
Price was: VND 5,800,000 for our private tour which can be paid via bank transfer or cash in-person on the day.
Total hiking time (moving): 5hrs 30minutes
Total elapsed time including photos and lunch: 8hrs 30
Total hiking distance: 8.45 miles
Total hiking elevation gain: 1,040ft
Calories burnt: 1,025 (whoop whooop!!)
What are the famous rice terraces like in-person?
In all honesty, they are exactly like the pictures!
We went in early September when the rice was still green but ever so slightly starting to turn golden. I honestly don’t know how we timed it so perfectly, but it just felt like it was the best it could possibly look, or perhaps it’s always that beautiful…I don’t know, it was just incredible to see nature at its absolute best.
We couldn’t stop taking pictures, although, I don’t think any of them quite do the place justice.
Was the journey to Mu Cang Chai worth it? 100% YES!
Getting there isn’t exactly quick and winding mountain roads nearly finished us off, BUT Mu Cang Chai ended up being one of the highlights of our entire Vietnam trip.
The scenery is absolutely beautiful, our hotel was incredible and spending the day exploring with Khua gave us an insight into this part of Vietnam that we simply wouldn’t have had on our own. We got to see into a completely different culture and way of life, it was amazing to spend a day with someone who was so passionate about his area and what it means to be Hmong.
If you’re trying to decide between Sapa and Mu Cang Chai and don’t mind travelling somewhere that feels much less geared towards international tourism, we’d pick this place every time!!
This was by far one of our best experiences to date!
Finally, kudos to Khua for completing the whole hike in sliders!!!
