Explore and relax in Yen Bai

Unique travel experience in Yen Bai . Photo: Tran Nhat Huyen

Possessing beautiful natural landscapes and still retaining its pristine beauty, Yen Bai is an attractive tourist destination in the Northwest. About 180 km from Hanoi, this is an ideal short-term tourist destination, with many activities to experience such as adventure games, camping to watch the sea of clouds, bathing in hot springs,... Below are interesting Yen Bai travel suggestions that visitors can refer to for their upcoming trip.

Move

From Hanoi , tourists can easily find buses from My Dinh, Giap Bat, Yen Nghia bus stations... to Yen Bai province. Bus ticket prices range from 100,000-200,000 VND/person. In addition, if you want a more private and time-saving journey, tourists can choose a limousine with a price of 300,000-400,000 VND/person depending on the vehicle class and number of seats. The travel time by road from Hanoi to Yen Bai lasts about 3 hours and 30 minutes.

Tourists can also travel by train on the YB3 train going straight to Yen Bai or the SP1 - SP3 train going to Lao Cai, stopping at Yen Bai station. Travel time by train is about 4 hours and 30 minutes with ticket prices ranging from 100,000 - 320,000 VND depending on the compartment and seat class.

If traveling by personal vehicle, visitors can head to Noi Bai - Lao Cai highway, turn off at Yen Bai bridge, then follow the directions for about 3 km more to reach Yen Bai province.

When traveling between attractions and experiences in Yen Bai, riding a motorbike is a reasonable choice because the scenery on the road is very beautiful. However, visitors should note that they should only choose to ride a motorbike if they are confident enough to drive, because the steep mountain pass is quite difficult and dangerous.

What to play, where to play

Not only famous for its beautiful natural landscape, Yen Bai is also known as a land of many unique travel experiences. Coming to Yen Bai, visitors can both enjoy a relaxing break admiring the poetic natural scenery and experience exciting adventure sports. Below are some places and activities to experience when traveling to Yen Bai.

Aeris Hill - Tu Le

Located in the Le Champ Tu Le resort - Aeris Hill is an entertainment complex with many exciting adventure games. This is the place with the longest zipline in Vietnam with a total length of more than one kilometer, connecting the two districts of Van Chan and Mu Cang Chai.

Zipline at Aeris Hill. Photo: Aeris Hill

Besides ziplining, visitors can also experience other exciting physical activities such as artificial rock climbing, overcoming the difficult to easy levels of High Rope or challenging themselves with Zorbing in the pine forest. This is a suitable choice for those who love adventure sports and are looking for a new and dynamic travel experience.

Lau Camping - Phinh Ho

Located in Phinh Ho commune, Tram Tau district, Yen Bai province, 80 km from Yen Bai city center, Lau Camping is a favorite camping spot as well as a cloud hunting coordinate. With a panoramic view of the valley, this is an ideal place to relax and watch the sky with a magical sea of clouds.

Mountain and forest view from Lau Camping. Photo: Tran Nhat Huyen

Visitors can choose to camp during the day to enjoy the scenery, or stay overnight to wake up early and start the cloud hunting journey. However, visitors should consider when choosing to stay overnight here, because the campsite is located on a high mountain, the temperature will drop at night and there may be cold winds.

Hot mineral spring - Tram Tau

Tram Tau Hot Spring Ecological Area - also known as “miniature Bali” - is a place not to be missed when coming to Yen Bai. Here, there is a hot spring pool with a direct view of the majestic terraced fields, helping visitors relax in the hot water while enjoying the poetic natural landscape.

Tram Tau hot mineral spring. Photo: Tran Nhat Huyen

Visitors can choose bungalows or dormitories in the eco-zone with prices ranging from 200,000-700,000 VND/night to rest and enjoy the relaxing feeling of soaking in the hot springs at any time.

Khau Pha Pass - Mu Cang Chai

Khau Pha Pass or Cao Pha Pass is a mountain pass on Highway 32 in Cao Pha Commune, Mu Cang Chai District, on the border with Van Chan District, Yen Bai Province. With a length of 30 km and an altitude of 1,200 m, this is one of the famous "four great mountain passes" of Vietnam.

Khau Pha Pass seen from above. Photo: Trang Pear

Although you can capture the majestic scenery of the Northwest mountains and forests, the Khau Pha Pass experience is only suitable for steady drivers with extensive experience in mountain climbing, because this is one of the most dangerous mountain passes with high slopes and many continuous, sudden hairpin bends.

Terraced fields - Mu Cang Chai

If you have the opportunity to visit Yen Bai during the rice harvest season, Mu Cang Chai is one of the destinations that tourists should not miss. Coming here, visitors will enjoy the beauty of the Mu Cang Chai National Landscape Complex of terraced fields with a total area of 330 hectares, mainly distributed in 3 communes: Che Cu Nha, La Pan Tan and De Su Phinh.

The poetic beauty of Mu Cang Chai terraced fields. Photo: Jerry Vo

Visitors can fully enjoy the scenery here when riding a motorbike through the mountain passes, or choose to paraglide to get a beautiful view from above.

What to eat

Besides typical dishes of the Northwest such as plums, buffalo meat, Chinese sausage... Yen Bai also has many other unique and attractive dishes that tourists cannot miss.

Considered as "the pearl of heaven", this is one of the must-try specialties when visiting Tu Le valley, Yen Bai. From Tu Le sticky rice, the locals here have processed many dishes such as Tu Le five-color sticky rice, Tu Le green rice... fragrant and soft, very easy to eat.

Tu Le young rice. Photo: Bich Phuong

Tran Yen bamboo shoots are also a highly appreciated specialty in Yen Bai with their attractive crunchiness and sweetness. The most famous dish is bamboo shoots rolled with meat - the pride of Yen Bai people - with a harmonious combination of the unique sweet and bitter taste of bamboo shoots, the richness of Northwestern wild boar meat and the light aroma of Vietnamese coriander.

In particular, when coming to Yen Bai, visitors should enjoy Muong Lo fern - also known as pac Nhut - a unique wild vegetable favored by local people. With a harmonious, sweet and fatty flavor, there are many different ways to prepare fern, of which fern stir-fried with beef and fern salad are the two most popular dishes.

Like other regions in the Northwest, Yen Bai cuisine has rustic, simple but very rich and attractive features. There are many other foods and drinks that visitors can enjoy when visiting this land, such as ant egg sticky rice, Shan Tuyet Suoi Giang tea, grilled chicken with mac mat or longan flower honey...

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