Most people familiar with Mai Chau associate it with a quick city
getaway, isolated deep within a mountain valley, shrouded in mist and carpeted
in green rice fields. They also think backpackers and home stays, uncomfortable
sleeping quarters and dirt cheap prices.
No more.
What has already happened in other parts of Viet nam in Nha trang
and Sa Pa, in Mui ne and Da lat is at the very brink of happening in Mai Chau:
development.
It has begun, both to the benefit and detriment of the region
depending on one’s perspective, with Mai Chau Lodge, the first high-quality
sleeping option for miles and miles, located in Hoa binh Province, around three
hours from Ha noi
Opened in September 2007, the lodge is a potential resort in that
it possesses far more land than it currently occupies and has a management team
with clever and ambitious expansion ideas. Even as it stands, the lodge is
luring a new demographic, those uninterested in "roughing it" with local people,
however anaesthetised that experience might actually be.
With that new demographic unfortunately comes a new pricing
system. A one-night package (transport included) exceeds US$100 per person, but
for what the package offers, the place is still quite reasonable.
The lodge occupies a large swath of land bordering rice fields and
stands opposite a nearby Thai ethnic minority village. The building resembles a
large stilt house, coloured in browns and yellows that melt into the background.
Room, restaurant, and even pool views are spectacular, opening up onto verdant
green patches and Majestic mountains. A private bungalow sits amid the fields,
beckoning honeymooners. The beds are comfy, if small, and there is a sauna and a
Jacuzzi you can literally swim around in if you’re not feeling the pool. All of
the key amenities, business centre, meeting room, gift shop, private cave (no
joke), mountain bikes, and so on, are at your disposal.
Still, why not stay in a stilt house for six bucks? Sleep near the
locals? Hang out with the families?
Two reasons, in particular, stand out and even set the lodge
package apart from similar regional packages to destinations like Ha long bay
and Sa Pa: the food and the guide. The food, particularly for somewhere with a
set menu, is shockingly good, and there is consistency across the range of ample
dishes. Highlights were the herb salad with thin strips of white meat chicken,
the ribs, and the desserts. And though it may not be quite what locals eat, many
dishes were traditional Vietnamese, specifically the vegetable and beef
preparations.
Usually at set tour meals there are horrendous Western
preparations or bland, over-cooked Vietnamese items that a com stand
could prepare ten times better at a fraction of the price. Not here. The only
complaint was that diners wished they had the option of ordering a-la-carte,
getting less food but creating less waste.