MaiChau is located in Hoa Binh province, approximately 135 km from Hanoi and 60km from Hoa Binh. From the top of Cun Mountain, one can admire the superbpanorama of MaiChau surrounded by a green valley and stilt houses. Many minorities,including the Thai ethnic group, live in Mai Chau.

Stilt houses border both sides of the roads. The houses are quite large withpalm leaf roofs and polished bamboo-slat floors. The kitchen is located in thecenter of the house; the cooking as well as the making of the colorful tho cam,the material used by Thai minority to make their clothes, takes place in thekitchen. The windows are large and decorated with patterns. Each house also hasa pond to breed fish.

The Sunday market brings a lot of people into town. People from differentminorities living in the mountains come to Mai Chau market to sell theirspecific products: honey, bananas, corn, and tho cam made by skilled Thai women.The Sunday market is also an occasion to enjoy traditional Thai dishes and toparticipate in traditional dances.
Mai Chau can be a base for some trekking tours tothe villages around, this is with homestay overnight on the traditional housesof the H\\'Mong and the Thai. Worth a guided treking tour there.

Hoa Binh is a mountainous province located in the North. It is bordered by SonLa in the West, Phu Tho and Ha Tay in the North, Ha Nam and Ninh Binh in theEast, and Thanh Hoa in the South. The culture of Hoa Binh combines sixminorities with their own languages, traditional literature, and festivals.

Tourists especially enjoy the minority specialty dishes including rice cookedin bamboo and grilled meat. They also enjoy watching traditional dancing, musicperformances (bronze, drums, gongs), and Thai minority singing and dancing. Theremote minority villages are attractive sites for tourists.