Mai Chau Day Tour: Cycling Past Rice Fields, Stilt Houses & Thung Khe Pass from Hanoi

The minivan peels away from Hanoi’s Opera House before dawn, and the city’s roar gives way to a softer soundtrack: a diesel lullaby, the rattle of mountain winds and, eventually, a long ribbon of green. By the time you climb Thung Khe Pass the air has a snap to it; the valley below opens like a folded map of rice paddies, stilt houses and river threads. The guide leads you into a traditional Thai stilt house where tea is poured and smiles are measured in long silences—an uncomplicated welcome to rural northern Vietnam.