MOC CHAU PLATEAU - AN IMPRESSIVE DESTINATION IN THE NORTHWEST REGION

Thanks to its pleasant climate all year round (with temperatures averaging 22-28°C), natural beauty and as home to several Hmong ethnic minority groups, Vietnam’s Moc Chau Plateau is a vibrant world of colour and culture.

Location

Moc Chau Plateau is in Moc Chau District, Son La Province, about 200 kilometres northwest of Hanoi. Located 1,050 metres above sea level, Moc Chau is a step with green tea hills, the largest and most beautiful fields in the North’s mountainous areas.

Best time to visit

If you just simply want to have a change of air, an escape from the crowded and noisy cities of the modern world, then Moc Chau will be welcoming your tired souls at any time. However, there are several occasions of the year when you can truly enjoy the unique beauty of Moc Chau, according to the seasons.

Before and after Lunar New Year is the season of peach blossoms and plum blossoms.
Around March is the time when white orchids bloom. In addition, on March 26, there is also Hết Chá festival of the Thái people.
Early September is the Independence Day of the Mông people.
December is the season of marigold flowers, you will meet them everywhere along Highway 6.

How to get there

There are many ways to travel to Moc Chau plateau, however the best way is travel by car or motorbike. From Hanoi, you go along National Highway No. 6. The road is a little bad and difficult to go, but surely you will get very beautiful views. Along the way to Moc Chau, you will pass many villages of H’Mong ethnic and very beautiful flower gardens of cherry and damson (in spring).

Things to see

You shoud rent a motorbike to travel around Moc Chau. The following are some famous attractions in Moc Chau

Ba Phach village

The road leading to Ba Phach village is a bit rough, especially in rainy season. However, in spring, the 2 sides of the road are covered with pink cherry blossom.

Ba Phach village

Thung Cuông Village (Thông Cuông)

Thung Cuông (Thông Cuông) is a Hmong village located between two communes of Đông Sang of Moc Chau and Xuân Nha of Vân Hô. The pathway to Thung Cuông has its two sides decorated with vast valleys of white cauliflowers. Between the flowers are lines of plum trees waiting for spring to come, along with waves of mountains creating a magnificent scene of nature.

Thung Cuông Village

Dai Yem Waterfall

Dai Yem Waterfall is amazingly phenomenal and deserves being a masterpiece of the Creator due to its natural arrangement of spring, trees, a limestone wall, and the flow of water. Reaching this wonder, certainly you can’t take your eyes off its poetic and grand look. Another fascinating feature is the story behind the waterfall. It is closely associated with the history of the Thai and tells about the brassiere of the young girl rescuing a boy from the flood.

Dai Yem Waterfall

Pha Luong Peak

Conquering Pha Luong Peak can help you come up with all confidence in yourself. Are you wondering if it’s true? The answer is absolutely yes as you must make your hard effort to do that.

Pha Luong Peak

Reaching the Pha Luong Peak requires you to go on a long hike through a dense forest with many severe slopes. Unlike other peaks of Vietnam, it just challenges you to the slopes without any valleys where you can recover your energy. It’s a big challenge, right? However, after the effort, your deserving reward is the nature beauty from a certain height. That is the combination of green trees, limestone, blue sky, mountains, slopes, and valleys. How amazing!

Pine Forest at Áng Village

Áng Village is home to the Thái ethnic group. It is one of the places to visit in Moc Chau, for sure. The reason is, there is the beautiful scenery formed from a unique pine forest and two imposing lakes. Not only do you admire the excellent and romantic landscape from the nature, but also enjoy fresh and cool weather when coming to this spot. The helpful advice is that you’d better experience homestay in a traditional stilt house instead of four or five star hotels to dip yourself into the real nature.

Pine Forest at Áng Village

The five caves of Ôn Village

The five caves consist of four main caves lying on a hill and an independent cave on the other side of the hill. The five caves are compared with the theory of the Five Elements: Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, and Metal. The stalactite shimmers with many unique shapes, crystallized over thousands of years. The third cave is the most extensive and also the only one, which is equipped with electric system by the transmitter. However, the electric system only works on holidays, so you will need to bring a flashlight when exploring the caves.

Beauty of the five caves of Ôn Village

Mộc Châu Tea Hills

Moc Chau Plateau is famous for its green tea plants stretching across all the hills. Tea is grown everywhere here and mixed with the beautiful small houses among them. Somewhere along the spring flowers, paper flowers are blossoming in the frosty mist like the poetic scenery.

Mộc Châu Tea Hills

Things to eat and drink

There are so many specialities of Moc Chau that I’m sure you will fall in love with:

Grilled stream fish

The fishes round of Moc Chau stream are very round. Some are little like the little finger, some are just bigger than two fingers. After cleansing, removing viscera, marinating with special spices… and using bamboo to stick the fish, grilled over charcoal for about 15 minutes until crispy. It is strongly recommended that you should eat both meat and bones of the fish because the bones are very tiny and sweet.

Grilled stream fish

Mán Taro

Some other lands also has this potato but in terms of deliciousness, the taros of the Dao people are the best and most delicious. According to many people, the taros can only be grown by the the Moc Chau Dao people of Moc Chau. Taro is usually eaten between July and October, November. If you have the opportunity to go to Moc Chau at this time, don’t forget to buy a little as a gift for your friends and family at home.

Mán Taro

Strawberry

Approximately one kilometer from the Áng Village, there is an area where attractive orchid and strawberry orchards have been planted and tested for fruit for several years. Many gardeners are expanding the area to export to the city and processing into jam and wine.

Moc Chau strawberry

Tea

At present, Moc Chau Province has about 3,000 hectares of tea of different kinds. The beautiful vast hills of tea plant has turn Moc Chau into a dreamy green pearl. Tea is one of the symbols of Moc Chau plateau, which is also increasingly attached to the lives of the peoples here.

Moc Chau Tea

Diary products

With hundreds of dairy cows on the farm, dairy products are one of the specialties you should definitely try when you come to Moc Chau. If possible, enjoy a glass of freshly cooked milk as soon as is leaved the cow (it’s Vietnamese’s favourite way of drinking milk). Other dairy products you should also try are yogurts (not the kind canned in supermarkets), butter, cream, etc. You can buy these products in any restaurant on the way to the Town.