A very special day in Tu Le

The Tú Lệ rice fields after the harvest season.

The Tú Lệ rice fields after the harvest season.

1. Although this place is just a sparsely populated village, with about 700 people, mainly living off rice farming. Here, except for the newly built resort, there are few guesthouses, and the one we booked was only on the 4th floor, and there was no elevator. But that's okay; sometimes a little hardship is worth it to enjoy a new experience.

Tu Le is 50 km from Mu Cang Chai, and leaving the village will lead you up the Khau Pha pass. The village is nestled in the middle of a road that slopes down like a hammock, with houses right next to the road, and behind them are rice fields, and further inland are the villages of the Black Thai, Hmong, Dao... ethnic groups with their stilt houses.

There are no scenic spots, apart from a sign indicating only one destination: Fairy Cave, but this place doesn't seem to attract many tourists . People come to Tu Le for the rice fields and the local specialties: sticky rice cakes and steamed sticky rice. Sometimes, when you come to a place and encounter its simplicity, without fancy decorations or luxurious restaurants, you can find joy in it.

2. We followed the winding road, past signs advertising the goods of the shops. The houses were multi-functional, selling fertilizer, sticky rice, and even groceries. There were no fancy restaurants; the shops only served familiar dishes like stir-fried vegetables, stir-fried meat, and crispy fried stream fish, but they were still delicious. In Tú Lệ, the locals are used to tourists strolling through the streets; they readily greet visitors with smiles and offer to sell rice and sticky rice. During the harvest season, the entire road is lined with houses making cốm (roasted rice flakes), creating a festive atmosphere and encouraging tourists to buy. Tú Lệ cốm, made from the first harvest of sticky rice, is very delicious and famous. In the twilight of the night, under a small awning, a cast-iron pan with a blazing fire burns brightly, and the locals pour the rice in to cook it, let it cool, and then pound it into cốm. The mortar is placed close to the ground, designed like a lever; visitors are welcome to join in making cốm, and no one forces them to buy. However, it's clear that no tourist misses buying puffed rice, as it's a precious gift to give to friends when returning to the city. I also tried pounding the rice in a mortar for fun, but of course, only for photos because making a batch of puffed rice is very laborious. Another thing that everyone buys to take home from Tu Le is Tu Le sticky rice. You can buy it at any shop, and after you buy it, the seller will put it in a vacuum-sealed bag, which is very convenient for carrying it far away.

3. Leaving the stalls, we turned onto a small road leading to picturesque rice fields, captivating our attention. The rice paddies, ripening in the season, were a vibrant yellow, and smoke from burning fields rose into the air. Cows grazed freely, surprisingly eating even the blooming cosmos flowers, the fresh green grass, and the fragrant straw that had just been laid out. It is known that over 70% of the rice paddies...

The rice fields here grow glutinous rice, and after the harvest, the quantity is almost always limited, so if you want to buy authentic Tú Lệ glutinous rice, you have to go there in person. And it was really fun when, one morning before leaving this beautiful little village named Tú Lệ, we stopped at a place for breakfast. It was hot, sticky rice served with shredded pork or sausage. The rice was left on the plate, we washed our hands, picked up some rice, dipped it in sesame salt, and ate it – it was so delicious.

The rice paddies are nestled in the valley, with a hot spring flowing through them. The stream meanders through rocky areas, its water consistently at 45 degrees Celsius—a truly special blessing for the local people. The resort has designed a separate area next to the stream for its guests, while the locals choose a convenient spot to gather and bathe in the stream every afternoon, creating a rare and beautiful sight.

That's Tú Lệ for you: just the winding road, the fragrant rice fields in season, the famous sticky rice flakes, and a handful of sticky rice for breakfast—all enough to make for a truly special day here.