Bac Ha Market is held every Sunday and is the biggest minority peoples market in Northwest Vietnam. Alive with the bright colours and extravagant costumes of the local people, here you will meet Flower Hmong (Red Hmong), Black Dao, Tay, Nung, La Chi, Phu La and other minority groups who come from far and wide to buy and sell a wide variety of goods and livestock, to exchange news and to renew friendships. In the past the market was a centre for trading horses but now that motorbikes have replaced them it is more common to see buffalo, cows, goats, fish and other livestock being traded....
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4 Days 3 Nights
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Tour price: 260 $
Bac Ha Market is held every Sunday and is the biggest minority peoples market in Northwest Vietnam. Alive with the bright colours and extravagant costumes of the local people, here you will meet Flowe...
Favorite tours:
3 Days 2 Nights
Acommodations:
Tour price: 200 $
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Tour Ha noi – Sapa – Can cau market – Bac ha 4 days 3 nights
Tour code: VMTHNSPBH0403
Duration: 4 Days - 3 Nights
Tour price: 260 $
| Acommodations |
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| Tour type | Private transportation |
| Departure | Private tour |
CAN CAU OR BAC HA MARKET ?
That was the question we asked ourselves recently when in the enviable position of being able to choose while dallying in northwest Vietnam. If you too are able to juggle your schedule and be in the area on a Saturday (Can Cau) or Sunday (Bac Ha), which should you opt for?
Variety is the spice of life.
The simple answer is: either. The markets are remarkably similar in many ways. Both are predominantly attended by Flower H’mong and both sell a similar range of products. So if your timings only enable you to get to one, don’t worry that you’re missing out — you’ll get a good experience whichever you visit.
Like it spicy ?
That said, some notable differences between the two may sway your decision.On a practical note, Can Cau is further from Lao Cai train station or Sapa. It’s around a 45-minute drive from Bac Ha, or just under three hours from Lao Cai. This is not such a big deal if you’re using private transport, but if you’re on the bus you’ll need to change in Bac Ha, and as the buses only run at 08:00 or 09:00 — information was sketchy — that likely means an overnight stay. In theory it’s possible to arrive by train from Hanoi in Lao Cai, catch the 06:30 bus to Bac Ha and still make it, but we wouldn’t like to guarantee that. The bus back to Bac Ha from Can Cau is at 14:00.
Shop with a view.
Practicalities aside, the setting of Can Cau market is truly magnificent. Not only does the drive there afford some breathtaking views along the valley — if you’re on a motorbike, it’s worth the drive there alone — but the market itself has a backdrop of tree-covered mountains and villages. It’s a shame there’s no cafe or bar there in which to while away a few hours. Although the view across the lake in Bac Ha is impressive, it doesn’t have quite the same effect.Bac Ha is bigger, however. We were surprised at how compact Can Cau market was compared with the sprawling mass of Bac Ha market, which seems to take over the town. So although the basic goods sold are the same — hardware, meat, vegetables, livestock, souvenirs — Bac Ha has a greater variety of produce on offer and can keep you entertained for longer.
Bac Ha also has more options for sitting and enjoying a coffee or cold drink as a break from the market and although both have plenty of food stalls, if you prefer to sit in a chair and choose from a menu, Bac Ha is the place for you.
Deep fried rice anyone ?
The livestock section is one of the main attractions of both markets, and although Bac Ha is livelier and more varied, we really liked this section at Can Cau. We only saw cows and buffalo for sale — no squealing pigs or clacking chicken — but the setting is beautiful and at least five minutes can be spent watching the buffalo enjoy a mud bath. Song birds are also on sale in Can Cau, hanging from trees in a shady area overlooking the mountains.
We do so like photographing bovine.
So which did we choose? Of course, we went to both. Having arrived in Lao Cai on Saturday morning we took private transport straight to Can Cau — with a coffee and loo break in Bac Ha — stopping at a Phu La village on the way back to Bac Ha. We then visited Bac Ha market early on Sunday before heading to Sapa. We wouldn’t recommend putting yourself out to visit both markets, but if you’re planning on basing yourself in Bac Ha rather than Sapa — or have time for a stint in both — then a visit to both markets with a trek on Saturday afternoon would make for a good weekend. Can Cau can also be included in a two-day trek with homestay, starting on Fridays.Brief Itinerary
Day 1: Hanoi – Sapa trekkingDay 2: Ta Van – Giang Ta Chai village – Sapa town
Day 3: Sapa – Can Cau market – Bac Ha town
Day 4: Bac Ha – Hanoi
Itinerary
DAY 01: HANOI – SAPA – LAO CHAI – TA VAN VILLAGE
8:30: Our guide will pick you up at your hotel and transfer to Sapa by the new highway.
Arrive at Sapa round 12:00 AM. Have a lunch in a local restaurant. After lunch and relax, you start trekking down to Lao Chai village of Black H’mong ethnic people. Enjoy the overall pictures of the villages among terraces. Visit the H'mong living in wooden and bamboo houses. Continue going to Tavan village to visit the Dzay minority. Stay the night in Tavan village at a Dzay family.
Have a dinner and overnight in homestay
Meals: lunch, dinner
Accommodation: homestay
DAY 02: TA VAN – GIANG TA CHAI VILLAGE – SAPA
Get up early in the morning to enjoy the daily life of the ethnic minorities in the village. Breakfast; take the road to Giang Ta Chai village of the Red Dzao minority via the paths between terraces and through bamboo forests. Visit silver waterfall and suspension Rattan Bridge, visit the people in the village and then cross Muong Hoa River up to the mountain to visit the last village of the trek - Supan village of the H'mong. Get back to Sapa. Free time for shopping in Sapa market . Dinner and stay overnight in Sapa Town
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: hotel
DAY 03: SAPA – CAN CAU MARKET – BAC HA TOWN
8:00: After breakfast, transfer to Can Cau market. It takes more than 2 hours to get to Can Cau - a small market situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and only 7 km from China. The market deeply shows the typical cultural features of the minorities in remote mountainous areas in Vietnam. Further more, you can enjoy seeing boys and girls in colourful costumes - different colours of the mountains. They attend the market in the hope of finding "the other halves of their lifves" and this is also the time for them to chat, to exchange everything among different ethnic peoples through cups of wine sold in the market.
Say goodbye to the market and transfer to Bac Ha for visiting a village of the Flower H'mong .Check in hotel ,dinner and stay overnight in Bac Ha Town.
Meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner
Accommodation: hotel
DAY 04: BAC HA MARKET - HANOI
A walk to BacHa market. Visit one village and an old building called The H'mong king's house. Breakfast and the beginning of the day on which you visit a big market filled with many different hill-tribe peoples. This is the most colourful market in North Vietnam. At the market, you have chance to enjoy BacHa people's simple but unique kinds of food with special wines made from rice, cassavas, corn and different sorts of fruits such as plumps, apples, peaches... talking to the minorities through the guide's interpretation. Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920.
Return the town for lunch. After lunch, say good bye to BacHa and get back to Hanoi. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbor Mouth in LaoCai .
Arrive Ha Noi. End of great trip.
Meals: breakfast, lunch
Accommodation: none included
Quotation: (USD/person)
| Group of travelers | 2 pax | 3 pax | 4 pax | 5 pax | 6 pax |
| Private tour price | 450 | 370 | 300 | 280 | 260 |
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* INCLUDED
1. Hotel accommodation based on twin
2. Meals as specified in the itinerary
3. Private transportation
4. English- speaking guide (other languages are available upon request).
5. Sightseeing as specified including entrance fees
6. Travel insurance
7. Water (2 bottle/day)
8. Description of service in details
* EXCLUDED
- Tips for tour guide, driver
- Expenditure of a personal nature, tips, such as drinks, souvenirs, laundry, emergency transfers & etc
- International airfare to/ from Vietnam & International airport tax in Vietnam
- Others which are not mentioned in the inclusion
Attractions
Tour code:
VMTHNSPHL0605
Duration:
6 Days 5 Nights
Tour price: 250 $
Nowaday, Vietnam becomes a very popular destination for visitors for all over the world. Vietnam is known for beautiful country, good foods and es...
| Acommodations |
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| Tour type | Private transportation |
| Departure | Private tour |
Tour code:
VMTSPCK32
Duration:
3 Days 2 Nights
Tour price: 200 $
Vietnam's highest mountain, Fansipan ( 3143m ) lies within the reserve boundary, less 5 km as the crow flies from Sapa but an arduous three-to fiv...
| Acommodations |
|
| Tour type | Private transportation |
| Departure | Private tour |
Tour code:
VMTHNHGSPHG1312
Duration:
12 Days 12 Nights
Tour price: 600 $
Welcome to the roof of Vietnam, where the mountains of the Tonkinese Alps (Hoang Lien Mountains) soar skyward, their long shadows concealing some ...
| Acommodations |
|
| Tour type | Private transportation |
| Departure | Private tour |
Contact us
Online support:
Address: No.75 Phu Dien street, Phu Dien ward, Bac Tu Liem district, Hanoi, Vietnam..
Working time:
08:00 AM - 17:30 PM
Contact us:
+84 2462 82 88 22
Hotline:
+84 968.01.1234
Email:
info@vietmountaintravel.com
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