Today, you will get well and truly off the beaten track as you trek through tropical rain forests, using the local tracks and passing through cornfields as you descend into the Mai Chau Valley. Along the way, you will encounter the local villagers as they go about their daily business, whether it is tilling the fields, logging or herding buffalo. The trek usually takes around seven hours and is quite steep in places. Lunch will be provided en route, and weather permitting, you will have a picnic near a babbling brook at the bottom of the valley. From here, you will pass through several White Thai villages and are sure to attract attention as this part of the country receives very few visitors. You will arrive at Van Village by late afternoon and have time to walk around this charming little village, enabling you to understand a little more about how the people live. The village is home to the Thai people, and tonight you will be their guests in one of their traditional stilt houses. There, you will be toasted as honored guests and will be able to sample some of their homemade rice wine!
