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passing YEN CHAU – a town famed for its fruit – and some very pretty Black Thai villages on the right after about 80km, particularly LA KEN, which can be visited by crossing swaying suspension bridges over the river. From here the road climbs onto a thousand-metre-high plateau where the cool climate favours tea and coffee cultivation, mulberry to feed the voracious worms of Vietnam’s silk industry and herds of dairy cattle, initially imported from Holland, to quench Hanoi’s thirst for milk, yoghurt and ice cream. Just less than 120km out of Son La, the sprawling market town of MOC CHAU provides a convenient place for a break. For the next 4km heading towards Hanoi, the road is dotted with stalls selling local milk products such as three kinds of flavoured milk, and blocks of condensed milk (which they advertise as chocolate when cocoa is added), as well as green tea. The rigid lines of tea bushes that border the road round Moc Chau create curious patterns, and though there are few side roads, this is a region in which some might want to linger. Most, however, head on down Highway 6, through valleys where the Hmong live in distinctive houses built on the ground under long, low roofs, and surrounded by fruit orchards, to MAI CHAU, which lies up a side valley south of Highway 6.

The far north | The northwest | Highway 6 |

Mai Chau and around

The minority villages of the Mai Chau Valley, inhabited mainly by White Thai, are close enough to Hanoi (135km) to make this a popular destination, particularly at weekends when it’s often swamped with large groups of students. The valley itself, however, is still largely unspoilt, a peaceful scene of pancake-flat rice fields trimmed with jagged mountains.

The far north | The northwest | Highway 6 | Mai Chau and around |

Arrival and transport

Most people visit Mai Chau on an organized tour out of Hanoi, which usually includes overnighting in a minority village, or as part of a longer trip into the northwest mountains by jeep or motorbike.

Mai Chau is not the easiest place to get to by public transport but it is possible. From Son La take any bus heading east to Hoa Binh or Hanoi and ask the driver to let you off at the Mai Chau junction, around 65km after Moc Chau; at the junction pick up one of the waiting xe om for the final 6km up the valley. From Hanoi, there are a few daily buses (1.15pm; 35,000đ) from My Dinh bus station to Mai Chau. Leaving Mai Chau, a local bus departs at 5am, 6am and 6.30am bound for Hanoi, arriving four hours later; alternatively, take a xe om to the junction with Highway 6 and flag down a bus going in your direction. You could also take a long xe om ride to the border at, though this will cost at least $20.

The far north | The northwest | Highway 6 | Mai Chau and around |

Mai Chau Village

Mai Chau is the valley’s main settlement, though it’s still just a village – a friendly, quiet place which has a bustling morning market when minority people trek in to haggle over buffalo meat, star fruit, sacks of tea or groundnuts. Unlike in Sa Pa, the minorities here have largely forsaken their traditional dress, but there’s plenty of colour on the road outside the market where bright hanks of yarn, freshly dyed in primary hues, hang up to dry.

Tour groups tend to stay in the villages of Ban Lac and Pom Coong to the west of Mai Chau and go on organized walks around the valley. If you are one of the rare independent travellers here, a tempting choice is to turn left (east) at the “Guesthouse” sign in the middle of Mai Chau, walk a kilometre across paddy fields to the village of Ben Van, which is hemmed in by mountains and has great charm and friendly inhabitants, and stay at a stilted guesthouse. The Number 1 Ban Van Guesthouse (0218/386 7182; US$10 and under), the first guesthouse on the right, has a nice setting next to the rice fields. By far the most salubrious accommodation in Mai Chau itself is at the Mai Chau Lodge (0218/386 8959, www.maichaulodge.com; US$76–150), which sits somewhat incongruously amid bucolic scenery: though a little overpriced,