The Bac Ha Market is the most famed ethnic market in Vietnam. The market is where ethnic minorities in the whole district of Bac Ha (Lao Cai Province) have a gathering once per week (on Sunday morning) for trade and for socializing. Ethnic ladies come to the market in their best clothes and it helps to make the market so special.
Tour Overview
The tour to the market can be done all year round (every Sunday morning), but the best time to visit the market in the winter and spring, especially right before the lunar New Year (The Vietnamese Tet). Tet is when you can adore the most atmospheric moments at the market.
The market is best visited from 07:00 A.M to 09:00 A.M so it is best you start as early as you can. Our trip can be done from either Lao Cai Train Station or Sapa and concludes at either of the two places.
Flower Hmong ladies at Bac Ha Sunday Market
Trip highlights:
- You’ll be surrounded by ethnic people dressed up in colorful traditional clothes.
- You’ll get to know local people life: what they eat, how they do business in the market, items for sales in the market...
- You’ll have a glimpse of local food and see how people dine and socialize. You may like to taste some yourself.
- An opportunity to visit ethnic villages around Bac Ha Town and the Residence of Hoang A Tuong – once considered the King of the ethnic groups in Bac Ha.
{Inclusions
English speaking guide;
Private car for the transfer;
Admission fees;
}
{Exclusions
Insurance;
Food, drinks and personal expenses;
Others not mentioned as included above;
}
Detailed itinerary
0600 A.M Our trip takes ¾ of a day: Paradissa’s team picks you up from Lao Cai Train Station (or your hotel in Sapa) in the early morning and takes you to adore the amazing market of Bac Ha. The road is in good conditions and the road goes up most of the time as we climb into the Bac Ha Plateau with averaged altitude of over 1,000m above sea level. The road trip takes 2 or 3 hours if you start from Lao Cai Train Station or Sapa.
Once at the Bac Ha Market, we’ll visit different corners with different goods for sales: horse site, dining area, dry food and herbal medicine, brocades...You’ll be in a different world rubbing shoulders with ladies in amazingly colorful clothes. Try to relax, watch and take in the smells, noise, the visages of locals…
After the market, you have free time for lunch or we can go back straight to Sapa or Lao Cai. Alternatively you have a break, then our team takes you to visit a couple of Hmong villages just outside of Bac Ha Town. The whole trip should take 8-9 hours, and we trust by the end of the tour you had some ideas of local culture and plenty of memorable photographs.
