Our journey to the dream of bringing nature and humans closer was recently recognized by Guardians Of Earth when our BioScore reached the top 1 on their The Realms ranking. The Guardians Of Earth is a community for nature lovers who have the same desire to preserve nature and biodiversity. Getting the highest BioScore on this platform's chart is truly a great honor for us.

We would like to thank our guests for capturing the precious moments of nature and sharing them on The Realms. Your genuine photos and stories of biodiversity have helped us reach the top of the places with the highest BioScore scores.

From the empty lands to a new ecosystem that now is a home for many animals to live together in harmony is a whole process of love, nurturing, and care.

With the motto of always appreciating what we have, we protect and keep the gifts that nature gives to us in their original state by all means.

Avana Retreat promises to continue nurturing our love and passion for nature and strive for a friendly living environment, where biodiversity is diverse and nature is preserved

We are the Guardians of Earth, and so you can be. Let’s help us level up Avana’s nature - verse by sharing the moments at Avana here!

In the heart of the bamboo forest lies the beautiful home of our new 'residents'. Here, we have gentle friends who love rolling through the green grass, drinking from fresh streams, and bathing in sunlight. Visit our friendly animals and get snippets of their daily lives!

Avana Retreat’s Bamboo Forest is home to many native animals. Each animal has distinctive features, traits, and needs, yet all live in harmony in the natural sanctuary. By day, we let them out in the open air and let them interact with each other. Seeing chickens, goats, piggies, and peacocks roaming freely and peacefully, it feels like a diverse neighborhood! From being timid and untamed, these animals are more sociable with human interaction. They are more familiar with the mountain climate and more open to living with each other.

We have a phenomenal animal ‘whisperer’ Hạnh - who always shows up at the earliest, and leaves at the latest! He has his ways of connecting with them: he feeds them, communicates with them, learns their names, and shows them how to be around humans. Whenever it’s lunchtime, you can see a line of followers sticking to his back like a tail! With many mouths to feed, he is consistently occupied. However, you can tell that he loves his job by looking at how he treats wildlings! 

Bamboo Forest is one of our most promising projects to contribute to the vision of sustainability. Making use of the abundant land, we wish to encourage biodiversity, a healthy ecosystem, and positive conservation practices! By having hands-on experience with animals, we can help our guests learn about animal welfare, and be more aware of the environment and wildlife around us!

The Bamboo Forest is open from 9:00 - 11:00 and 14:30 - 16:30 daily.

Restore the forest, relive the land

Back in the day, the land where Avana lies was just a vacant, empty hill with little care, little notice, and barely any footsteps reaching. And yet, the potential it conceals is hard to overlook. The moment we decided that Avana will bloom here, we just know that it was up to us to relive the hill back to life. 

From a desolate hill, it is now a verdant land thriving in the life of lush evergreens. There were hardships, and there were disappointments, but these challenges only push us further to have the achievements today: 

More than 10,000 trees have set their roots here, with 10++ hectares were restored

Trees are not the fastest growers, so it's not every day that you see the changes, but it is definitely worthwhile to witness the impact in the long run. Coating on Mai Chau a green look is not simply planting a seed and letting it grow, it is a long-lasting effect that nurtures the land inside out. It’s the fresh air we breathe in, it’s the woods that kept the rains from flooding in, and it’s the abundant resource that invites the animals here, to create a new life in this beautiful land and make it their home.   

Every year after the Tet festival, Avana’s staff will gather at the retreat, planting new trees to keep the traditions going. But we are not doing this alone, with the help of local government, we are all in this together, and join hands to build a better, greener future. 

Avana’s journey still has a long way to go, but we believe that, once you set your heart and mind to something, good causes will happen and come back to you. As a saying goes: “To plant trees is to give body and life to one’s dream of a better world”

Visiting Mai Chau, apart from the pristine forests and natural cascades, you will be impressed by the poetic terraced fields, cultivated by the indigenous people here - the Hmong ethnic group.

With agriculture experience accumulated from thousands of generations, the Hmong people are unique field engineers. They are like the artisans of farming, they sculpt majestic terraced fields into nature, they master the crops, and they are out in the fields regardless of sun and rain. For them, it is not only a job but also a long-standing tradition, a cultural charm that has continued from time to time. 

You can catch that idyllic farming scene right inside Avana Retreat. Giving land to them to cultivate, cultivate and let them enjoy the fruits of the harvest, which are just simple and rustic joys that Avana wishes to cherish.

Terraced rice fields during the ripe season are a sight not to be missed. Admire the golden hue that dyed the whole land, sense the earthy, ripen scent that lingers in the air, and watch locals joyfully harvesting their fruits with stilt houses scattered between the fields, the experience just arouses a sense of tranquility that is beyond words.

There is a Vietnamese idiom: “Where there is a good land, the birds will come and settle”, and rightly so, fertile lands are where life thrives. At Avana, life here is always abundant and fresh all year round, and it is thanks to the animals residing here, all contribute to a rich and diverse ecosystem.

There are hard-working chickens laying eggs at the chicken farm.

There are ducks sunbathing under the trees, and rambling by the lake without a worry in the world.

There are schools of Koi fish swimming under the translucent stream.

There are vibrant butterflies and bees that collect nectar every day.

There are shy snails hiding in the wet, fertile ground.

After every winter, we often see flocks of birds migrating to the land, choosing the trees that Avana planted to nest, making it their home for many more springs.

With many animals living in harmony here, we are proud to be their forever home. Therefore, it is also our responsibility to protect their land with all of our might:

The primeval forest, where there are abundant streams and waterfalls all year round, the birthplace of many herbs and flowers, is preserved as it is.

We do not construct to destroy nature, we construct to respect it, as the curves of nature are beautiful. Wooden bridges leading to the spa are designed in winding shapes to avoid cutting trees.

The light is also at low power so as not to affect the life of plants and creatures

Avana is blessed with nature's best gifts, and that we never cease to cherish. Preserving the land’s ecosystem is also securing a sustainable, ever-lasting future.