The main drag, Yen Chau, Vietnam

Taken on: 17th April, 2006. Copyright: All Rights Reserved - See travelfishery's page of Flickr

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In the tale of Son La's two 'Chaus' told by generations upon generations of travel writers, or well, maybe just us, Moc Chau is very well regarded for its tea, and Yen Chau is the place to go for something quite different — mangoes.

As we found out though, while tea is fine year-round, mangoes are only worth their mettle in season — on our previous trip in late winter, there were none to be had, though this time the streets were lined with overflowing baskets of the fruit. So, if mangoes are your thing, be sure to manage your mango calendar.

If you're travelling on your own, and you get a late start out of Mai Chau en-route to Son La, you're likely to take a shine to Yen Chau as a good place to hole up for the night and finish the last 60 km in the morning — especially ... Read our complete Yen Chau travel guide

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