Mai Chau has long been a destination for travelers in search of beauty. The French soldiers, or so the story goes, would make special trips from their outpost at Dien Bien Phu in the far northwest reaches of Vietnam to the village ome 200 miles away. They didn't come to take advantage of the breathtaking scenery of the surrounding mountains, but rather the beautiful women of the Tai hill tribe who inhabited the serene valley.

That was during Vietnam's colonial era more than half a century ago. Today, visitors, typically outfitted in Gramicci climbing wear and Vasque hiking boots, arrive by minivan in search of a few peaceful days away from Hanoi. They are infinitely more welcomed by the ethnic tribe people, distant relatives of Thailand's mountain people, who in their spare time away from the rice paddies will cook, lead hikes and pull out a sleeping mat for wandering guests.

Although Mai Chau is definitely on the north Vietnam tourist circuit- it's the closest tourist-ready mountain village to Hanoi which is 80 miles away - we found that most travelers just passed through the town and surrounding hamlets, staying maybe a night in one of the stilt houses before going trekking or an hour to shop for embroidery work before returning to the comforts of a hotel.

Few tourists stayed past 9 a.m. That was just about the time we were pulling ourselves out of bed - actually, up off mats on the bamboo floor of a stilt home, the typical abode of Vietnam's mountain people. The living quarters are about six feet off the ground, to provide better ventilation and shelter for the family's fowl and water buffalo below.

We hadn't come to Mai Chau to hike, we had come to vegetate. We had been in Vietnam for more than two weeks when our Hanoi host, a Vietnamese journalist who had stayed at our home in San Jose two years earlier, suggested we head for the mountains. We'd seen the sights of Vietnam's capital and made the must-see stops at Halong Bay and the Perfume Pagoda. We'd been to Central Vietnam, bodysurfing at China Beach, doing the Imperial tomb tour in Hue and soaking up the sun in Hoi An, Vietnam's version of Carmel. We were ready for a little change in altitude and attitude.