This morning we said "see you later" to Hanoi. We will be back and staying at the Golden Rice Hotel two more times before this adventure ends. The next two visits will both be one night stays, but we'll still have a little time for some more exploring. So it was truly a "see you later"! We're looking forward to coming back in a week or so.
Our travels today took us by car from the large metropolitan area of Hanoi to the mountain region and Puluong Nature Reserve. The total driving time was a little under five hours. The drive was broken up into two parts. In the morning we drove from Hanoi to the small village of Mai Chau.
As we made our way the modern, multi-lane highways narrowed to four lane roads, then two lane roads and finally very narrow two lane roads. We were very happy to have Ang driving us, especially since the weather alternated between rain, mist, fog and low hanging clouds for most of the drive.
About an hour or so out of Hanoi we started to reach the mountain region. As we made our way over several passes we were driving in the low hanging clouds. It made for some incredible scenery as the clouds and mountains created an everchanging landscape.
Once in Mai Chau we enjoyed a delicious lunch of fish baked in banana leaves, pork, spring rolls, fresh green beans, papaya salad, rice and soup. It was served outdoors overlooking the green and gold rice patties. The golden colors at the top of the plants were from the husks surrounding the rice. The color indicated that the rice was ready to be harvested. In the next couple of weeks the fields will be full of workers manually cutting and bundling the tops of the plants. Once dried the husks will be removed exposing the tasty morsels that are the staple food for a big chunk of the planet.
After lunch and a brief but heavy downpour, we enjoyed roaming around the village for an hour or so before finishing the drive to Puluong.
The pictures today are all from the Mai Chau village.
Enjoy!
 |
| The rice in this small field had been cut and bundled |
 |
| Clockwise from the top...Papaya Salad, Spring Rolls, Pork Cutlets, Green Beans. Fish baked in banana leaves in the middle. |
 |
| All the homes in the village were built on stilts. Many were "home stays" (similar to a hostel). The downstairs was used as a dining and social area. |
 |
| Locally made hand woven skirts |
