Photos from Mai Chau, Vietnam

beehives / Beehives in rural Vietnam village

bicycle-mai-chau-valley / Bicycling through Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley. Low traffic makes it a good place for cycling, and bicycles can make their way along most rice paddies.

bicycling-mai-chau-valley / Bicycling through Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley. Low traffic makes it a good place for cycling, and bicycles can make their way along most rice paddies.

boy-haircut / Boy having a haircut next to a Thai-style stilt house in the Mai Chau Valley

caged-ducks-for-sale / Caged ducks for sale in village between Hanoi and the Mai Chau valley

carrying-baskets-rice-paddies / Carrying baskets along rice paddies in the Mai Chau Valley

ducks-ducklings / Ducks and ducklings alongside rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

ducks-mai-chau / Ducks in Mai Chau Valley. Land in Vietnam is privately owned, and sometimes areas of water are fenced off to protect private property rights.

green-hmong-boy / Boy with traditional knit clothing, part of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group, in rural village

green-hmong-boys / Two boys, one more shy than the other, part of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group, in rural village

green-hmong-girl-village / Girl in rural village inhabited by members of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group

green-hmong-girl-washing / Girl washing linens at community bathroom and water source, in rural village inhabited by members of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group

green-hmong-girls / Three girls, part of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group

green-hmong-pair-girls / Pair of two girls, part of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group, in rural village

green-hmong-sewing / Youths in village inhabited by members of Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group sewing patterns onto cloth, presumably for resale

green-hmong-village / Village inhabited by Vietnam's Green Hmong ethnic minority group, about an hour's drive from Mai Chau

hoa-binh-province / Province of Hoa Binh, a mountainous area in the northwest part of Vietnam

hoa-binh-province-rest-stop / Rest stop at Hoa Binh province, at crest of mountain between Hanoi and the Mai Chau valley, with vendors selling mostly steamed corn

hoa-binh-province-valley / Valley in the province of Hoa Binh, a mountainous area in the northwest part of Vietnam

hoa-binh-valley / Lush, verdant valley in the Vietnamese province of Hoa Binh, a mountainous area in the northwest part of the country

human-water-buffalo / Human water buffalo plowing rice paddy in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley. Plowing is necessary to eliminate weeds that could otherwise grow in the flooded field.

mai-chau-boy / Boy in Mai Chau Valley

mai-chau-boy-scarf / Boy in Mai Chau Valley who's selling a scarf, which could also be used as a table runner, on behalf of his mother. The cost is about three U.S. dollars.

mai-chau-cafe / A cafe selling cold beer, Bia Hoi, overlooking the rice paddies in Mai Chau Valley

mai-chau-girl-wheelchair / Girl in Vietnam's Mai Chau valley on wheelchair, used by her mother, who is crippled because of malformed knees

mai-chau-rice-paddies / Women planting rice sprouts in intentionally-flooded arable land used for rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

mai-chau-thai-dancing / Be warned, or possibly excited: Your hotel may organize an hour-long traditional Thai dance after your dinner

mai-chau-town / Town of Mai Chau in the eponymous valley, about 150 kilometers from Hanoi to the northwest

mai-chau-valley / Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley, home to a verdant landscape, small villages, Thai-style thatched huts, meandering streams, and countless rice patties

mai-chau-valley-fog / Fog shrouds morning over the rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

mai-chau-valley-overhead-view / Overhead view of the picturesque Mai Chau Valley, with rice paddies separated by thin green strips of earth

mai-chau-valley-rice-paddies / Overhead view of the picturesque Mai Chau Valley, with rice paddies separated by thin green strips of earth

man-carrying-plow / Man carrying plow that he used in muddy rice fields demonstrates this truism: If you don't own a water buffalo, you are one.

man-pulling-plow / If you don't own a water buffalo, you are one. This man pulling a plow demonstrates it's back-breaking work.

man-with-rake-mai-chau / Man with rake on rice paddy in Mau Chau Valley

mechanical-water-buffalo / Mechanical water buffalo used to plow a rice field in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

men-working-rice-fields / Men working in rice fields, or paddies, in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

naked-vietnamese-villager / Naked Vietnamese villager, part of the Green Hmong ethnic minority group, in rural village

planting-rice / Planting rice in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley. In some areas, rice is planted densely, and manually separated as it grows, making for terrificly repetitive work

planting-rice-in-paddy / Woman in Mai Chau Valley planting rice in paddy

planting-rice-paddy / Planting rice in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley. In some areas, rice is planted densely, and manually separated as it grows, making for terrificly repetitive work

rice-paddies / Rice paddies, intentionally flooded arable land that takes about three or four months to grow rice, in Mai Chau Valley

rice-paddy-field-women-1 / Women planting rice in paddy field in Mai Chau Valley

rice-paddy-field-women-2 / Women planting rice in paddy field in Mai Chau Valley

rice-paddy-field-women-3 / Women planting rice in paddy field in Mai Chau Valley

satellite-dish-rice-paddy / Satellite dish adjacent to a rice paddy. Many Vietnamese still rely on terrestrial broadcasts for TV, but this village is in a deep valley.

thai-style-thatched-hut / Thai-style thatched hut in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley, where immigrants from Thailand settled generations ago

vietnam-boys-with-ipod / Boys riding by rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley with white earphones, probably meaning an iPod, or perhaps a knockoff

vietnam-rice-paddies / Rice paddies in Mai Chau Valley, Vietnam

vietnam-rice-paddy-fields / Rice paddy fields in Mai Chau Valley, Vietnam

vietnam-road-safety-lessons / Lessons in road safety, overloaded trucks, and mountain roads, Vietnam-style.

vietnamese-children-mai-chau / Vietnamese children near the rice paddies of Mau Chau Valley

vietnamese-children-running / Vietnamese children running in the Mau Chau Valley

vietnamese-hair-salon / Vietnamese hair salon in village between Hanoi and the Mai Chau valley

vietnamese-mother-and-children / Vietnamese mother and children at edge of rice paddy in Mai Chau Valley

vietnamese-rest-stop / Vietnamese rest stop at crest of mountain between Hanoi and the Mai Chau valley, with vendors selling mostly steamed corn

water-buffalo / Water buffalo being led along rice paddy in Mai Chau Valley

water-buffalo-girl / Girl herding, more or less, a pair of mild-mannered water buffalo along rice paddy in Mai Chau Valley by means of a wooden switch

water-buffalo-plowing / Water buffalo plowing

water-buffalo-rice-field / Water buffalo being led along rice field in Mai Chau Valley

water-buffalo-rice-paddy / Water buffalo plowing rice paddy in Mai Chau Valley

woman-basket-mai-chau-valley / Woman with basket in Mau Chau Valley

woman-rice-paddies / Woman working in flooded arable land used for rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley

women-rice-paddies / Women working in intentionally-flooded arable land used for rice paddies in Vietnam's Mai Chau Valley