Mucangchai Ecolodge

Mucangchai Ecolodge was finished in 2017 above the rice terraces of Yen Bai, roughly 300 kilometres northwest of Hanoi and around 1,000 metres up. The owners wanted a comfortable base that did not scar the hillside, so the frames, trusses and columns follow Thai building traditions and the roof follows Hmong ones, using the same materials both communities still work with today. Rooms are simple and warm, with wide views over valleys carved into 500 hectares of terraces that were named a national heritage landscape in 2007.

The lodge is a short drive from La Pan Tan, Che Cu Nha and De Xu Phinh, where those terraces look their best. Guides run treks between villages, motorbike routes over the Khau Pha pass and visits to Hmong, Thai and Dao households. Two, three and four day packages include transfers from Hanoi. Come in June for flooded, mirrored fields, or late September for the gold of harvest.