The weekly markets of the north are a kaleidoscope of colour and excitement, bustling with weird and wonderful activities. Vietnam OpenTour can take you to them so you can witness the trade and camaraderie of the local minority people. A perfect add-on to the last day of your Sa Pa trip!
an cau market on Saturday :
CanCau - 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.
+ CocLy market on Tuesday :
Leaving Sa Pa early in morning or picked up in Lao Cai arriving with
the train from Hanoi. The ride from SaPa will take us approx. 2 1/2
hours. We visit the market on Tuesday with all it"s colourful ethnic
people such as Flower H"mong, Phu La and Dao Tuyen who gathers to buy
and sell. We explore the market in full swing before boarding a
sampan on wild reiver though breathtaking scenery. We visit Tay village
and have picnic lunch by the river bank. From Coc-Ly you will
experience the magnificent sight of the beautiful landscape and daily
life in the mountain. We return to Sapa or to Lao Cai train station for
your overnight train back to Hanoi. From Sapa the ride tour takes
between 8 & 10 hours
+ Muong Khuong Sunday market
Leaving Sa Pa early Sunday morning.
We ride on the craziest dirt road around Sapa to Muong Hum market.
The ride takes approx. 2 -3 hours 40Kilometers to reach Muong Hum.
The scenery is amazing and no tourists are going by that way because
the road is stuck for a year by a landslide and only motorbike can pass
by that way. All the long the way you will see different minorities
Black H"Mong, Red Dao.
Arrive in Muong Hum we visit this very interesting local market
frequented by Tu Di, Dao Tuyen, Ha Nhi, Flower Hmong and Giay
minorities. We enjoy in a small local restaurant and after lunch we
visit Ha Nhi village.In the afternoon the ride trough the incredible
landscape will bring us to Sa Pa or to Lao Cai train station depending
of your wishes.
+ Binh Lu market & Tam Duong market
(Sapa - Heavens Gate - Binh Lu - Tam Duong- Phongtho - Sapa) ( Day trip
or 2 day trip from Sapa) We do organize the trip every days not only on
Sunday for the market, because we
pass trough some minorities villages and we can enjoy theirs daily life
and be amazed by the landscape. From the beginning of the day it is
uphill, where we will use a lot of energy. We have to rise about 350 m,
which will led us to the highest piece of road in Viet Nam, the Tram
Tom pass, also called Heavens Gate. We start out from Sapa at around
8.30 am, ready to explore some of the most fascinating scenery in
Vietnam. From Heavens Gate the scenery and views are amazing. We now
begin a sometimes steep descend towards the Nam Mu River. The road
conditions here are bother good and bad. We take it easy, we reach the
village of Chu Va which is inhabited by the Black Hmong minority. It is
still going downhill. And the ride will bring us to Binh Lu. In Binh Lu
we make a break for a glass of local beer and after look around in the
village and enjoy the local life. From Binh Lu we restart to Tam Duong,
on the way you will appreciate that amazing scenery and discover all
the long the way the Tai Lu, Tai Laos minority people whose textiles
are intriguing. After the village of Tam Duong will still have 15
Kilometers before to reach Phong tho, where we will stop to take our
lunch (visit the market on Sunday). In the afternoon we will return to
Binh Lu by inside land. A long day of activity, adventure, friendly
people and off course a fantastic nature experience is almost over. It
is now time for us to ride back to SaPa.
+ Bac Ha market - Sunday morning
Rising to the sounds of morning coming to life for another lovely day,
we have breakfast and head out for a stunning spectacular of bobbling
bazzar. Bac ha"s considered one of the most wonderful and colorful
markets in extreme north Vietnam where thousands of local people in
their traditional attires busily buy and sell the local produces. Dog,
cat, pig, horse... are all on sales. This is golden opportunity to take
best shots! Afternoon we have a pleasant walk to Flower Hâ mong
village of Banpho we then transfer back to Sapa.
