Bac Ha market
Sunday 6 September 2009 - After an 8 and a half hour train ride from Hanoi, I arrived in Lào Cai. This city is very close to China, only 1km from the Lào Cai - Hekou international border crossing, also on the way to Yunnan province of China. If you look at a map, Sapa is on the left side, 38km from Lào Cai, and Bắc Hà is on the right side, 70km from Lào Cai. Both Sapa and Bắc Hà are popular tourist destinations in north west Vietnam. Tourists often go to Bắc Hà on Sundays to see the market of the flowery H'mong ethnic minority people (different with black H'mong people in Sapa based on their dresses). This market is held every Sunday from morning until 2pm. The locals bring their own products (corn wine, pigs, horses, even dogs) to this market for sale and they also buy necessary things for their families. It's not only a market, but a chance for them to meet, talk and enjoy their lives.
As I've been to Sapa (a good place for trekking) twice, my major interest on this trip was to see the Sunday market in Bắc Hà,
Bắc Hà market has Some H'mong women are standing on the stairs of the market area.
would go back to Hanoi on the same day. When I arrived at Lào Cai railway station, it was 5:30am. As I traveled alone on this trip, I booked my bus tickets in advance through a travel agent in Hanoi, so I could go from Lào Cai to Bắc Hà by tourist mini bus which is more comfortable than the local buses. This mini bus came from Sapa and only stopped over in Lào Cai to pick up some guests. Finally, after 3 and a half hours of waiting, at 9am, the mini bus came and I joined the trip with other tourists.
It took us one and a half hours to travel to Bắc Hà along asphalt road with many bends, especially on the last section when we were going up the mountains to reach an altitude 1500m. The mountain scenery is great, although there are not many rice terraced paddies like in Sapa. At 10:30am, we arrived at the market in the center of Bắc Hà town and started exploring the area. It was just amazing to be at a place full of colorful dresses of H'mong people and seeing the happiness on their faces. All the
Outside Bản Phố villageOutside Bản Phố village
Outside Bản Phố villageThey needed gasoline so they stopped at a shop for a few minutes. It's fun seeing one or two H'mong women sitting on a motorbike behind a local man.
activities of the locals were just natural and they enjoyed eating ice creams, checking out and bargaining various things, talking with each other, eating noodles and "thắng cố" food which is a mixture of all parts of horses and drinking corn wine. These foods which are cooked by the ethnic minority people and the corn wine are very famous in Bắc Hà. Some local women smiled happily, when I showed them their photos in my camera. I used to think I would like to taste "thắng cố" food, but when I saw it in reality, I gave up the idea of trying it since I felt it was unsafe for me.
In the other area of the market, there were horses, buffaloes, pigs and even dogs on sale. The pigs raised on the farms were of small size. I saw a man holding the tail of a buffalo when asking the owner something in their local language. After leaving the market, we went to Bản Phố village (4km from the market) and visited a couple of houses of H'mong people. In the kitchen of one house, the guide explained how to make corn wine and in another house the
A H'mong woman with ice creamA H'mong woman with ice cream
A H'mong woman with ice cream
owner invited us to try this wine. I also tasted it and felt it was very strong, even stronger than the Lao and Vietnamese rice wine. It was very sad as the owner said one of his daughters was kidnapped and sold to China. She was only 14 years old at that time. The guide said it happened in some provinces which are bordering with China.
When we got back to Lào Cai, the mini bus stopped at the border gate, so that tourists could see China from the Vietnamese side. I've been to this place 3 times, so it was no longer new to me. The mini bus continued its way back to Sapa, while I stayed in Lào Cai and spent 4 hours waiting for my train back to Hanoi. So I spent two nights on the train and one full day in Lào Cai and Bắc Hà. The trip to Bắc Hà took me only 6 and a half hours, while I had to spend 7 hours waiting in Lào Cai.
Travel tips: When you buy your train tickets between Hanoi and Lao Cai, there are various choices for you to go with different companies.
Favorite food "thắng cố" of the localsFavorite food "thắng cố" of the locals
Favorite food "thắng cố" of the locals"Thắng cố" (mixture of all parts of horses) and "rượu ngô" (corn wine) are famous food and drink of the ethnic minority people in north west Vietnam, especially in Bắc Hà. I was thinking I would try "thắng cố" before the trip, but when I saw it in reality (the brown bowl in this photo), I gave up the idea of eating this food. It may not be safe for me.
I always choose Ratraco, but there are other wagons owned by such companies like Tulico, Livitrans, Et-pumpkin, Victoria Express etc. A round trip ticket costs about US$45-48. The train leaves at night and you arrive in Lào Cai next morning. There are local mini buses waiting outside the train station in Lào Cai, but I'm not sure about their services. You can spend a few days trekking in Sapa to some villages of the ethnic minority people (black H'mong and red Dzao) and visit Bắc Hà on Sunday. The travel agent warned me about poor infrastructure in Bắc Hà. I saw some hotels and guest houses there, however they may be full on Saturday nights. Most tourists go to Bắc Hà just to see the market then go back to Lào Cai or Sapa.
As I've been to Sapa (a good place for trekking) twice, my major interest on this trip was to see the Sunday market in Bắc Hà,
Bắc Hà market has Some H'mong women are standing on the stairs of the market area.
would go back to Hanoi on the same day. When I arrived at Lào Cai railway station, it was 5:30am. As I traveled alone on this trip, I booked my bus tickets in advance through a travel agent in Hanoi, so I could go from Lào Cai to Bắc Hà by tourist mini bus which is more comfortable than the local buses. This mini bus came from Sapa and only stopped over in Lào Cai to pick up some guests. Finally, after 3 and a half hours of waiting, at 9am, the mini bus came and I joined the trip with other tourists.
It took us one and a half hours to travel to Bắc Hà along asphalt road with many bends, especially on the last section when we were going up the mountains to reach an altitude 1500m. The mountain scenery is great, although there are not many rice terraced paddies like in Sapa. At 10:30am, we arrived at the market in the center of Bắc Hà town and started exploring the area. It was just amazing to be at a place full of colorful dresses of H'mong people and seeing the happiness on their faces. All the
Outside Bản Phố villageOutside Bản Phố village
Outside Bản Phố villageThey needed gasoline so they stopped at a shop for a few minutes. It's fun seeing one or two H'mong women sitting on a motorbike behind a local man.
activities of the locals were just natural and they enjoyed eating ice creams, checking out and bargaining various things, talking with each other, eating noodles and "thắng cố" food which is a mixture of all parts of horses and drinking corn wine. These foods which are cooked by the ethnic minority people and the corn wine are very famous in Bắc Hà. Some local women smiled happily, when I showed them their photos in my camera. I used to think I would like to taste "thắng cố" food, but when I saw it in reality, I gave up the idea of trying it since I felt it was unsafe for me.
In the other area of the market, there were horses, buffaloes, pigs and even dogs on sale. The pigs raised on the farms were of small size. I saw a man holding the tail of a buffalo when asking the owner something in their local language. After leaving the market, we went to Bản Phố village (4km from the market) and visited a couple of houses of H'mong people. In the kitchen of one house, the guide explained how to make corn wine and in another house the
A H'mong woman with ice creamA H'mong woman with ice cream
A H'mong woman with ice cream
owner invited us to try this wine. I also tasted it and felt it was very strong, even stronger than the Lao and Vietnamese rice wine. It was very sad as the owner said one of his daughters was kidnapped and sold to China. She was only 14 years old at that time. The guide said it happened in some provinces which are bordering with China.
When we got back to Lào Cai, the mini bus stopped at the border gate, so that tourists could see China from the Vietnamese side. I've been to this place 3 times, so it was no longer new to me. The mini bus continued its way back to Sapa, while I stayed in Lào Cai and spent 4 hours waiting for my train back to Hanoi. So I spent two nights on the train and one full day in Lào Cai and Bắc Hà. The trip to Bắc Hà took me only 6 and a half hours, while I had to spend 7 hours waiting in Lào Cai.
Travel tips: When you buy your train tickets between Hanoi and Lao Cai, there are various choices for you to go with different companies.
Favorite food "thắng cố" of the localsFavorite food "thắng cố" of the locals
Favorite food "thắng cố" of the locals"Thắng cố" (mixture of all parts of horses) and "rượu ngô" (corn wine) are famous food and drink of the ethnic minority people in north west Vietnam, especially in Bắc Hà. I was thinking I would try "thắng cố" before the trip, but when I saw it in reality (the brown bowl in this photo), I gave up the idea of eating this food. It may not be safe for me.
I always choose Ratraco, but there are other wagons owned by such companies like Tulico, Livitrans, Et-pumpkin, Victoria Express etc. A round trip ticket costs about US$45-48. The train leaves at night and you arrive in Lào Cai next morning. There are local mini buses waiting outside the train station in Lào Cai, but I'm not sure about their services. You can spend a few days trekking in Sapa to some villages of the ethnic minority people (black H'mong and red Dzao) and visit Bắc Hà on Sunday. The travel agent warned me about poor infrastructure in Bắc Hà. I saw some hotels and guest houses there, however they may be full on Saturday nights. Most tourists go to Bắc Hà just to see the market then go back to Lào Cai or Sapa.
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