Bắc Hà Sunday market

Asia » Vietnam » Northwest » Lao Cai » Bac Ha
September 8th 2009

Published: September 8th 2009

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 popu... Read Full Entry

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Hanoi_girl

theRedRiver

I am a Hanoi_girl who loves to travel. When working for a Japanese construction company in Hanoi, I had the chance to travel to 28 countries and to all the 63 provinces in Vietnam, including 25 trips to Huế city. Egypt, Mongolia and Italy are my love, and other favorite countries are Australia, France, New Zealand, Nepal, Fiji, Japan, India, Indonesia, Belgium, Netherlands, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, China (8 trips, 15 cities), South Korea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Cambodia (3 trips), Brunei Darussalam, the United Arab Emirates, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Laos (3 trips), Malaysia (4 trips), Singap... full info

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I think these are the belts

At Bản Phố village

This H'mong boy is playing with his toy.

At the market

Selling corn wine (rượu ngô)

The locals make and sell corn wine. I've tasted it, it's very strong. (Người bán rượu dùng một chiếc gáo dài nhỏ bằng gỗ rồi múc rượu vào phễu và can của người mua).

Peanut selling

A shop at the market

Favorite food "thắng cố" of the locals

This food is a mixture of all parts of horses. I don't dare to try it, since I feel it's not safe for me.

At buffalo selling area

At a house of H'mong people

The H'mong woman is standing at the door between two rooms of her house.

On the way to the market

Bắc Hà town

Some boys are waiting outside the barber-shop for their turns. There are some hotels and guest houses on this street opposite the market.

Special hat of H'mong girl

One of these H'mong girls wears a special hat. They are standing in front of a food stall in the market.

A house at Bản Phố village

This is the second house we visited and we drank corn wine here.

Next to tourist mini buses

Many tourist mini buses stop outside the restaurants on the street opposite the market.

Lào Cai railway station

I travelled between Hanoi and Lào Cai 3 times by train and once by bus between Hanoi and Sapa. Now the night train is a good choice for tourists.

Train ticket Hanoi - Lào Cai

I have travelled on Ratraco 3 times. There are different companies owning wagons on the train between Hanoi and Lào Cai, for example, Ratraco, Tulico, Et-pumpkin, Livitrans, etc. On this train ticket, you can see a photo of Sapa in the fog, Bắc Hà market and rice terraced paddies. They are the symbols of this area.

8th September 2009

John Strathearn
non-member comment

BAC HA
Thanks for the helpful advice about rail travel from Hanoi. Great photos of H'mong people and the market.

8th September 2009

Hideyuki Kobayashi
non-member comment

H'mong minority
Thanks for your report and photos. Bản Phố village looks like somewhere in Japanese rural area. I wonder how they think about the other side of H'mong people in China each other.

8th September 2009

longthai
Long Thai

Bắc Hà experience
Thanks for sharing your experience in Bắc Hà. We have not been there yet but we will visit it next time. We have been in Sapa in Jul/2009 and the scenery is so beautiful there with its rice terrace fields and the ethnic people mainly black H'Mong and Red Dao. What would be the best time to visit North West Vietnam ? In July, it was pouring and we can hardly see anything. Luckily, it was sunny the last day so we can visit Cat Cat village and Ham Rong. I also observed that the black H'Mong people does not speak Vietnamese language people at all compared to the Red Dao people where they can understand and even reply back to you in Vietnamese. How about the H'Mong Hoa people in Bắc Hà ?

8th September 2009

Rob_n_Lorenza
Rob & Lorenza B

Thanks so much for sharing this entry with us, as always a well written entry with great photos!

9th September 2009

theRedRiver
Hanoi_girl

Reply to Long Thai
What would be the best time to visit North West Vietnam ? - April, May, September and October in my opinion. In other months it may be foggy, cold or rain resulting in the landslides. How about the H'Mong Hoa people in Bắc Hà ? - Some can speak a little Vietnamese. When I asked them "Is this thang co food?" and they understood my question. I heard that Dong Van Sunday market in Ha Giang province is more interesting than Bac Ha Sunday market. However, it's difficult to find a room in Dong Van on Saturday night and you have to travel far away to get to this town. The normal route to the northernmost province is Ha Giang - Meo Vac - Dong Van - Lung Cu. I also want to do this route someday in the future.

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Bắc Hà Sunday market

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