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Bac Ha Sunday Market

Bac Ha is famous for its Sunday market, it is a trading centre and meeting place for couples, friends, and relatives every Sunday.Every Sunday, Bac Ha hosts the biggest fair near the mountainous highlands and the Chinese border. The market was very crowded, local products for sale or barter are carried on horseback. Besides the usual items like pigs, cows, chickens, and ducks, the Bac Ha market sold dogs. As dogs were available as cuts of meat, they were also available live, right next to the live pigs, chickens, and other livestock.

Rounding the corner and pungent fumes of alcohol accosted our senses of smell, from corn whiskey, a Bac Ha specialty. The potent moonshine is decanted by vendors from large white plastic jugs to used bottled water containers. If you doubt the ability of a vendor’s hooch to peel paint or light your senses on fire, you can try a shot for free.
At the fair, adventurous gastronomes can try thang co blood porridge, a popular dish of the H’Mong and other local people.

Bac Ha Market, approximately 80km from Sapa, is the most colorful and biggest fair for minority groups. At the market, visitors can see colourful ethnic people such as Flower H’mong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen gathering to buy and sell very lively. It is a chance to take nice photos. Nearby Bac Ha, it’s the Ban Pho village inhabited by the Flower H’mong, you can do a light trekking to the village and meet hospitable, friendly people. Other villages are also close by Bac Ha including Trieu Cai, Na Ang and Na Hoi.

Coc Ly Hill Tribe Market

This market is also well known as Tuesday Market in Lao Cai province. This Tuesday market is about 35km from Bac Ha. You can get here via a fairly good road, or by road and river; Sapa Tour Expert or hotel in Bac Ha can organise trips. Coc ly is a small village on the Chay river inhabited by the Flower H’mong Minority people. The Flower H’mong traditionally wear a distinctive and bright coloured costume. They are a gentle, softly spoken people who live in the steep mountainous country close to the Chinese border. Because Coc Ly is more remote than Sapa, the dress and way of life is more traditional than in the large centers. The market deals in fruit, vegetable, pork and chickens, in addition to colourful fabrics and items of traditional dress. There is a buffalo sale in progress and many of these placid animals are tethered close to the market. Buffaloes are still widely used in the growing process, especially in the mountainous regions. Horses are an important form of transport in the North West and a quite a few, sturdy ponies were tied to tree around the market. The horse carry a light timber frame on their back to carry produce to and from the market.

There are no dancing or singing, but Coc Ly Market in Lao Cai Province always turns colorful and festive on Tuesdays, when ethnic people gather there to buy and sell goods, dine and drink, or just wander to enjoy the ambience of the montagnard market.

Many ethnic traders from Bac Ha and other parts of Lao Cai Province dress up in colorful costumes and bring horses, chickens, buffaloes, vegetables or whatever they can sell to the festive market in the wee hours, and will not return home until 1pm.

Certainly, what catches the eyes of visitors most are the different colors of the costumes worn by ethnic people and the handicrafts they sell at the market, about 50 kilometers from Lao Cai City in the northern province.

You can see young and old H’mong women, wearing skirts and hats with different types of embroidered flowers, crowding the market during the opening hours of Coc Ly. Scarves, clothes, decorations and other items made of tho cam (ethnic fabric) on sale also add color to the bazaar by the Chay River.
The colorful items are put on sale not just for locals but also tourists, particularly foreigners. However, you should remember to bargain when you want to buy your favorites, and the items at the booths located at the start of the path you walk on always have higher prices. Keep walking toward the end of the traditionally ethnic market until you find a real bargain.
A good idea is to stroll every corner of the once-a-week bazaar as you listen to unexpected conversations, see nice surprises and learn how ethnic people sell and buy farm produce, life necessities and other things.

After visiting the market, which is the most fresh and unspoiled market of the region, offering a wide range of different colorful ethnic minorities such as Flower C’mon, Black Dao, Tay , Fula, Lachi, Sandui and Nung….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 caves and tiny minority …A picnic lunch box can be prepared for your most convenience….

Cat Cat Village

Cat Cat Village is 2km from Sapa Townlet, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province This is an age-old village of H’Mong ethnic group remaining unique customs and practices that are lots in other villages.

Visitors to Cat Cat have an opportunity to admire a lively and colorful picture. That is the image of young women sitting by looms with colorful pieces of brocade decorated with designs of flowers and birds. When these pieces of brocade are finished, they are dyed and embroidered with beautiful designs. A noteworthy is that H’Mong women use plants and leaves to dye these brocade fabrics. And then they roll a round and smooth section of wood covered with wax on fabrics to polish them, making their colors durable.

Cat Cat Village – Travel Sites in Sapa VietnamIn addition to the brocade weaving craft, many residents in Cat Cat are good at manipulating gold and silver jewelry. Their products are fairly sophisticated, especially jewelry for women.
Tourists to Cat Cat are most attracted by its unique customs, including the custom of “pulling wife”. A man can ask his friends to lure a girl he likes to his house and keeps her there in three days. During these days, if the girl agrees to become his wife, a wedding will be held. However, the girl can happily go home after three days if she does not like him.

Traditional houses of H’Mong people in Cat Cat have three rooms with three doors and covered with po mu wood roof. In the house there are three columns that stand in round or square stones. The walls are madefrom sawn timber. The main door is always closed and only opens when people in the house organize important events. Altar, inlaid floor containing food, places for sleeping, kitchen and receiving guests are indispensable parts of the houses. Visitors to Cat Cat Village can discover countless unique features of H’Mong.

Fanxipan Mountain

Located 9km south-west of Sapa Townlet in the Hoang Lien Mountain Range, Fansipan Mountain is branded “the Roof of Indochina” at the height of 3,143m; Fansipan is to be approved as one of the very few eco-tourist spots of Vietnam, with about 2,024 floral varieties and 327 faunal species.

The topography of Fansipan is varied. Muong Hoa Valley, at the lowest altitude (950-1,000m), is created by a narrow strip of land at the base on the east side of the mountain.

Geologists say the Hoang Lien Mountain Range, with Fansipan as its highest peak, did not emerge in the mountainous North West of Vietnam until the neozoic period (circ. 100 million years ago). Fansipan, a rough pronunciation of the local name “Hua Xi Pan” means “the tottery giant rock”. The French came to Vietnam and in 1905 planted a landmark telling Fansipan’s height of 3,143m and branded it “the Roof of Indochina”. Very few people climbed to the top of Fansipan at the time. Then came the long years of war and Fansipan was left deserted for hunting and savaging. The trail blazed by the French was quickly overgrown by the underbrush.

In 1991, Nguyen Thien Hung, an army man returned to the district town and decided to conquer Fansipan. Only on the 13th attempt did Hung, with a H’Mong boy as his guide, conquer the high peak by following the foot steps of the mountain goats. Scaling the height was meant to satisfy his eager will and aspiration to conquer the mountain without expecting that his name would be put down in the travel guidebook. After that the Sapa Tourism Agency started a new package tour there. It seemed the Fansipan Tour was meant only for those who wished to test their muscular power.

Fanxipan Peak – Adventure Tourist site in Sapa

The summit of Fansipan is accessible all year round, but the best time to make the ascent is from mid-October to mid-November, and again in March.

Ham Rong Mountain

Located in the center of Sapa Townlet, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province; 33km from Lao Cai City, Ham Rong Mountain is an attractive tourist area in the center of Sapa.

Legend has it that in the distance past, all animals lived together in a chaotic environment. One day, Jade Emperor gave an order that every species of animal had to find for them an area to live. Having heard the order, they scrambled for a place to reside. The three brothers of dragon who were living in a large lake hurriedly ran to the east but could not find any place; they then ran to the west. The two older brothers ran fast and came to the destination first. The youngest brother ran slowly and strayed into the crowds of lions, tigers and big cats. Fearing that these animals would attack it, the dragon opened its mouth to defense itself. At that time, the order of Jade Emperor was no longer available, so the three dragons petrified. The two older dragons, which were waiting for their brother, face Lao Cai City, and the youngest one raising its head and opening mouth faces the Hoang Lien Mountain Range. So the mountain is named Ham Rong (Jaw of Dragon).

Visitors to Ham Rong have chances to climb up the San May (Cloud Yard) to enjoy the panorama of Sapa Townlet, visit the orchid gardens with beautiful and colorful flowers. In addition, Ham Rong Mountain has numerous caves and stones in extraordinary shapes.

Lao Chai – Tavan Villages

Lao Chai Village Located 7 Kms from Sapa, Lao Chai is a village of black H’Mong ethnic group. It is quite approachable from Sapa for a travllers who do not have much time. In this village which you will have a welcome feeling at any house of the hospitable people there. You can interact them, learn about their culture and customs.

Tavan Village

Ta Van is a small village set within a picturesque valley of Muong Hoa . A night stay here will give you a close-up experience of the life-style and culture typical of the area.

Lao Chai – Tavan Village – Sapa Travel GuidesConvenient to the town center, this popular day trip from Sapa is a good chance to traipse around the rice terraces and experience a bit of rural village life. Hire a car or motorbike for the 9km (5 1/2-mile) road down the valley from Sapa to the Hmong village of Lao Chai (some folks even walk it); it’s a nice ride in itself, with great views of the lush terraces. From there, you’ll just follow the valley for a few miles to the next town of Ta Van . Along the way, you’ll walk through terraced rice fields and among some picturesque villages, and experience a bit of rural life. (I even had the chance to help with some rice threshing — a process by which grains are separated from harvested stalks; you whack a handful of shoots, using a wooden holder, against a bin and loosen the grains onto a mat for collection.)

As you walk through different hilltribe villages (Hmong and Dao people), it’s helpful to have a guide to explain customs or practices to you and perhaps translate. You’re sure to see other tourists on the trail (which puts many people off), but this is a good example of the many great treks in the area.

Ta Phin Village

Located around 12 kilometers from Sapa town, Ta Phin is the village of the H’Mong and Red Dao minority people, a remote village which still retains traditional customs and lifestyles of ethnic minority groups. Something special awaits visitors at Ta Phin. The villagers will invite visitors to visit their homes to show how they live and what they have, and tell about their families.

Taphin Red Dao Village – Sapa surrounding travel siteWhen heading off to Ta Phin village from Sapa, hiking up and down the 12 kilometers of hilly terrain is a good choice as travelers will see local people working in terraced paddy fields, or traveling back and forth from the market to their homes or tourist can stop to see an old French monastery. Especilly after a long day of walking on the windy roads and hills around Sapa town tourist can soak your bones and muscles in a traditional Red Dao herbal bath at Ta Phin.

Sapa Market

Located in Sapa Town, Sapa District, Lao Cai Province, Sapa Market is the market of the H’Mong and Red Dao minorities takes place every Saturday night. The market is a place for trading and exchanging local goods and products, as well as a meeting place for young people who seek partners by singing love songs and playing pan-pipes and mouth organs.

When the sun goes down, the H’Mong and Red Dao boys and girls cluster together in groups of five to ten. Looking and smiling at each other, they sit side by side in the dim yellow light and sing and talk through the night. When they have met their soul mate, they exchange gifts and make plans to see each other again the following week.

This cultural activity has a long history and is still significant in the modern life of the minority people. The Sapa Market is an attractive place for visitors who are keen on exploring traditional cultures.