Bac Ha Sunday market in Lao Cai province is considered one of the most exciting, interesting and colorful in the northern border area. Located about 120 km from the resort town of Sapa, the market is open only on Sunday and becomes very crowded just before Tet.
Market goers begin their trip to Bac Ha at dawn or even the evening before. This is the last market session of the year and many people want to sell off their items. Thao Theu De is bringing two back baskets of incense sticks. He said “I stock up on items for sale ahead of the New Year. I’ll use the money earned to buy pork and vegetables for Tet.”
Travelers can find many kinds of consumer goods, farm tools and animals here. Bac Ha, on market day, is splashed with red as the costumes of the H’mong people are mainly red. Most of the women congregate near the clothing market and the men hang around the cattle market. There are even places for repairing farm tools. To Cui hopes to sell 4 saddles:“I can make 4 saddles per week. I’ll spend the revenue on drink, meat and chicken.”
Weekend market tour
8.00 pm: We depart ODC's Sales Office to Hanoi Railway Station to catch the night train (soft sleeper with air conditioning) to Lao Cai.
Day 1: Lao Cai – Can Cau – Bac Ha (Saturday) (B, L, D)
5.00 am: Arrive in Lao Cai and be transferred by shuttle bus to Bac Ha, which gives yours eyes a massage with the endless blue sky and colorful terraced paddy field. The road is curved around the mountain and you will just go from one surprised to another. The further you go, the closer you are to the sky and to nature.
On arrival, you will stop by our office and leave your luggage and possibly take a shower in our partner hotel’s waiting room.
7.00 am: Have breakfast at a local restaurant.
9.00 a.m: Go to Can Cau market, set in the mountains near the Chinese border. Can Cau Market on Saturday have formed a kind of week end festival of local ethnic peoples in Bac Ha District. It's 20km North of Bac Ha and just 9km south of the Chinese border. There are peoples from some other tribal groups such as Black Zao, Tay, Zay to attend, but the colorful traditional costume of the Flower H’mong dominates this market, and their colorful dresses makes is a beautiful sight. Combining the market activities with visiting to some tribal villages set amongst beautiful nature for new culture discovery the trip is really memorable and yields good chance for photo hunters. Travel is often made by horseback as a way of carrying the heavy loads to and from market. Can Cau also attract a large number of Chinese traders, evidenced by the booming dog trade here. Not as the Bac Ha Sunday Market and the Coc Ly Tuesday Market, Can Cau market is held every Saturday. Set in the mountains, the market attracts tourists also because of the cool weather in the summer, the surrounding immense terraced fields, and the rolling pine forests.
1.00 p.m: Have lunch at local restaurant.
2.00 p.m: Back to Bac Ha and check in Hotel in Bac Ha.
In the afternoon, trekking to Thai Giang Pho village, this place was airport of French during the war.
7.00 p.m: Have dinner and walk around Bac Ha town. Overnight at Bac Ha.
Day 2: Bac Ha – Sapa (Sunday) (B, L, D)
7.30 a.m: After having breakfast, go to visit market market, all the activities of the locals are just natural and they enjoy eating ice creams, checking out and bargaining various things, talking with each other, eating noodles and "thắng cố" food which are a mixture of all parts of horses and drinking corn wine. For local men, Bac Ha market is also a place where they gather to drink together. Wine can be considered as a specialty of the H’Mong people. In the market session, you may hear the sounds of traditional songs and musical instruments of the local boys and girls. Foreign tourists are especially excited with the daily lives and the custom of hill tribe people. In the commercial age when most highland markets are influenced by modern style, Bac Ha is still a traditional market which reserves its unique features. This is a great place for those who love nature and love to explore the local traditional characteristics of the friendly hill tribes.
In the other area of the market, there are horses, buffaloes, pigs and even dogs on sale. The pigs raised on the farms are of small size. You can see a man holding the tail of a buffalo when asking the owner something in their local language.
12.00: After spending the whole morning exploring the market, your lunch will be served in a local restaurant.
In the afternoon:
1.00 p.m: Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920. It is a unique construction work, which harmonizes the Asian and European architectural styles. Over 80 years of existence, the old palace still stands imposing and outstanding in the town center. Its owner was Hoang Yen Chao of Tay origin. He was the father of Hoang A Tuong, a tribal mandarin under the domination of the French colonialists.
2.00 p.m: Spend time visiting another village (BanPho village, 4km from the market) and visit a couple of houses of H'mong people. In the kitchen of one house, the guide will explain how to make corn wine and in another house the owner will invite you to try this wine.
3.00 p.m: Say good bye to BacHa and get back to Sa Pa. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbor Mouth in Lao Cai.
6.00 p.m: Arrive Sa Pa, check in hotel in Sa Pa and have dinner. Overnight in Sa Pa.
Day 3: Sapa-Lao chai-Ta van-Su Pan-Ban ho. (B/L/ D)
7.00 am: Have breakfast at the hotel.
9.00 a.m: take 7 km by jeep to Lao chai, the first part is on the road but we soon turn to the right and walk on a small path down the valley to the Muong Hoa River along Y Linh Ho valley and from here lead to the Black H’mong village Lao Chai. There we are experiencing the richest traditional culture of Black H’Mong people in the region. The trekking route offers a breathtaking view of vegetable gardens and rice terraces with green mountains rising above. There will be time for visiting with local families and learning about their traditional fiber processing.
10.00 a.m: After this you continue to Ta Van village (1.200 m) to visit Zay people. Zay is a fairly small minority group of about 38.000 people who live mainly in the mountains in Northwest Vietnam. Ta Van is a small village set within a picturesque valley not far from the northern Vietnamese mountain resort of Sa Pa. The area is renowned for its colorful ethnic minorities, and Ta Van is home to two such groups.
12.00: Picnic Lunch by the side of the river.
1.30 p.m: After the village, get down to the river, cross it and keep going to Su Pan Village for 2 minorities – The H’Mong and the Red Dzao. Also located along Muong Hoa Valley like Lao Chai and Ta Van but Su Pan Commune can be referred to as “mountainous commune”. Occupying the highland on the east side of the main road about 17 Km from Sapa town, Su Pan including 4 small hamlets of the Black H’mong and Red Zao looks down to the Muong Hoa Valley and is one of the poorest commune to Sapa due to the thin and poor soil.
3.00 p.m: Get off the road to go downhill to Ban Ho village.
4.00 p.m: Arrive in Ban Ho village; Ban Ho is worth the somewhat difficult journey to get there, as the village rewards visitors with stunning views of unspoiled sites and an opportunity to discover the daily activities of the ethnic people Tay.
4.30 p.m: Walk out of the Lavie Stream in the scenic village Ban Ho, more than 26 kilometers away from the famous resort town of Sapa. The water was fresh and cleans in the stream which ran from rocks and hills where a few minority groups live.
Young citizens of Lao Cai Province Vietnam and foreign tourists often trek to Ban Ho to indulge in the pristine Lavie Stream, enjoy the sweet sound of running water from the Ca Nhay Waterfalls and other natural attractions of the tranquil village.
Enjoy dinner and overnight at homestay.
Day 4: Sapa – Coc Ly market – Hanoi (Tuesday) (B, L, D)
About 35km from Bac Ha, Coc Ly Market is a colorful Tuesday market in a mountainous area where ethnic people gather to buy and sell goods, dine and drink, or just wander to enjoy the ambience of the montagnard market by the Chay River.
Visiting Coc Ly Market in Bac Ha is also a chance for travelers to see ethnic people such as Flower H’mong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen in their colorful costumes. All of them are busy with buying and selling their homemade products, whatever they can sell to the festive market. Adding color to the bazaar by the Chay River also have scarves, clothes, decorations and other items made of ethnic fabric.
6.30 a.m: After having breakfast, you will travel by car to Coc Ly market for 4 hours follow national road 70 traveling through the lush farm of Lao Cai for 60 km to Phong Nien Commune. 9.30 a.m: Arrive the market; join local ethnic peoples for 2 hours of the morning to enjoy the exciting atmosphere as well as activities of this weekly market. Walk from section to sections, corner to corners, seeing and smelling of different local product, spices, vegetable, farming tools, handicraft even medicinal herb, all the activities of the locals are just natural and they enjoy eating ice creams, checking out and bargaining various things, talking with each other, eating noodles and "thắng cố" food which are a mixture of all parts of horses and drinking corn wine.
The market is always crowded for the whole morning and over after lunch time.
12.00: Have lunch at local restaurant.
1.00 p.m: We also can do a short trek to the nearby village of Sa Koun Ho inhabited by the Flower H'mong and Black Dao minority as well as visit Trung Do village, inhabited by Tay minority. Spend about an hour walking to explore this charming village before continuing the boat trip briefly to Bao Nhai. There will be an exciting boat cruise winding you through a breathtaking, out of this-world landscape where the mountain grow from water presenting their most hidden mysteries, including beautiful caves and bustling life on the riverbank.
3.00 p.m: Say good bye to Coc Ly market and get back 46km to Lao Cai. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbor Mouth in Lao Cai. Transfer to Station for overnight train back Hanoi.
7.00 pm: Dinner at Lao Cai station (paid by yourself).
8.20 p.m: Night train back to Hanoi.
5.00 a.m: Tour ends at Hanoi Railway Station
Tour includes:
• Transfer from the hotel to Hanoi Railway station
• Bus Lao Cai – Sapa – Lao Cai
• Return train tickets Hanoi – Lao Cai – Hanoi (Soft sleeper with A/C – 4 persons in one cabin)
• 2 nights at hotels in Sapa and Bac Ha
• 1 night home-stay in the village
• Full board meals
• English speaking guide
• Entrance fees
Tour excludes:
• Travel insurance
• Extra food and beverages
• Phone and laundry
• Tips and personal expenses
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