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Discover Vietnam Markets – Can Cau and Bac Ha

Highlights

  • Immerse yourself in tasting of Can Cau Market (20 km from Bac Ha), the local famous market for purchasing all kinds of goods
  • Explore on a big trek from Ta Giang Pho to Lau Thuy Ngai (12-15 km), and get the incredible views along the way
  • Enjoy a relaxing cruise along the Chay River
  • Trek through the verdant valley to visit two different villages belonging to the Black H’mong and the Dzay people, lunch with a local Dzay family.
From £688 Depending on group size)
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What you'll do

Overview

This four-day tour takes you to two of the liveliest (and less visited) local markets in the Sapa area. Visiting the markets, your senses will be overwhelmed by sights, sounds and smells coming from the maze of stalls. With your expert local guide, you'll experience things most won't as you meet people from many of the different local, ethnic groups in the area and learn about their cultures and traditional crafts. This amazing cultural discovery will all be set against the stunning back of Sapa's rice terraced mountains and sweeping valleys.

Hanoi ­ Lao Cai ­ Bac Ha

Your local guide will collect you from your hotel in Hanoi at earl morning, you will travel towards Lao Cai for lunch. Your first stop will be a visit to the H’mong King’s house (King Hoang A Tuong), which was built, by the French and the Chinese in 1920. This unique combination of European and Oriental styles is reflected in the grand architecture of the building. You’ll then trek to meet the Flower Hong community in Ban Pho Village. The Flower Hmong have the most colourful and extravagantly decorated traditional outfits in the area, most of which are made by hand. You can learn more about their culture as you have lunch in a local house. You will continue along the trails to Na Hoi Village where you will spend the night with a local family.

(Meals included: lunch and dinner).

Can Cau Market - Trek Bac Ha

Following the mountain road via Bac Ha Town to Can Cau Market (20 km from Bac Ha). Although Can Cau is smaller than some of the other markets, it is special as it has retained its local, authentic appeal. Few tourists come here, so you will be able to get a real feel for the local cultures. After exploring the many fascinating stalls, you will trek from Ta Giang Pho to Lau Thuy Ngai, this route features some  incredible views along the way, surrounded by wild and beautiful natural landscapes and terraced rice fields, you will be able to meet the local people who belong to the Red Dao and Black Hmong ethnic groups. The last parts of trekking takes place in the breathtaking views of the mountain ranges and rice paddies, before the transfer pick you up, to head back to homestay.

(Meals included: breakfast, lunch and dinner).

Bac Ha Market - Sapa

Today you will walk to Bac Ha Market, along with the local people also going to peruse the many enticing stalls. This is one of the most colourful markets in the area and looks more like a festival or celebration than a weekly market. The whole area is alive with activity, added to by the scuffle of pigs, cats, buffaloes, horses all being taken for sale.

After Bac Ha market, you can chill as you enjoy a relaxing cruise along the Chay River. As you float along the calm river, you will be able to sit back and take in the incredible views. When you disembark the cruise, your vehicle will be waiting to take you to Sapa for lunch.

In the afternoon, you will trek from Sapa towards the Muong Hoa Valley which showcases magnificent views of rice paddies which ripple across the mountains. You’ll then head for dinner at a homestay in Tavan for the night.

Sapa - Hanoi

After breakfast at the homestay, you will trek through the verdant valley to visit two different villages belonging to the Black H’mong and the Dzay people. You will stop for lunch with a local Dzay family before joining the jeep back on the road for the drive to Lao Cai. You will continue your journey back to Hanoi, arriving there at around 18.30.

What's included

Included

  • All accommodation stated in the itinerary
  • All meals stated in the itinerary
  • All tours and sightseeing tickets
  • Experienced, English speaking guide
  • All transport
Your local host

Nguyen Tuan Linh

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in Vietnam up in the rural areas of the tea country and growing up I developed a passion for the outdoors and just exploring the unexplored. I worked for my grandfather, in the rice fields in the Phu Tho province. And as I grew, so did my curiosity for the world, bringing the ambition of working to discover the world.

At 19, I took my first footsteps in following my dream, and travelled to Hanoi to study tourism at university and to learn English.

With a dream of becoming a professional tour guide, I continued studying tourism and spent three years working in the tourism industry as a tour guide for a number of travel companies in Hanoi. Responding to the travel aspira... Read All

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I was born in Vietnam up in the rural areas of the tea country and growing up I developed a passion for the outdoors and just exploring the unexplored. I worked for my grandfather, in the rice fields in the Phu Tho province. And as I grew, so did my curiosity for the world, bringing the ambition of working to discover the world.

At 19, I took my first footsteps in following my dream, and travelled to Hanoi to study tourism at university and to learn English.

With a dream of becoming a professional tour guide, I continued studying tourism and spent three years working in the tourism industry as a tour guide for a number of travel companies in Hanoi. Responding to the travel aspirations many international travellers seek, I sought out off-the-beaten-track places to show visitors, and approached many ethnic minority villages to arrange visits there too. I gained expertise in everything from giving travellers tips on how to get around the country, to itineraries ideal for business travellers.
The combination of volunteering, environmental protection and sustainable tourism development gave me the idea of forming my own tour company and have been doing this ever since.

What inspired you to work in travel? 

The one thing that sticks out as being the main inspiration has to be the country I grew up in, Vietnam.When I was working as a tour guide, I would ask people where they were going and it would always be the main tourists places. So I realised there was so much that people were not seeing and I wanted to change that.

I also love travelling myself, the people you meet, the stories you hear, and the things you learn are just fascinating. So I wanted to share this passion with others.

What makes your experiences special? 

Finding off the beaten path experiences has always been a passion of mine. I always make sure the experiences I offer are truly authentic, that you can’t find anywhere else.

All of our partners are local people living in and around the places that we visit. We make annual trips to all of our destinations to research and re-verify the quality of service provided, as well as spend time training and teaching the people how to best run accommodation and other services for visitors. When staying in luxury hotels, we always pick ones situated near nature, and the homestays we work with work exclusively through us, ensuring that we offer unique experiences through our partners that you can’t find with anyone else.

What our travellers are saying...

We started our journey with our guide Minh and our driver Long to the Ba Be lake where we stayed for two days. We did one fabulous trekking of 17 km through the mountaineous region around the lake. The second day we did some tough cycling and afterwards easy kayaking down the river. We also visited the amazing Dong Phuong cave. The next days was tiresome because of the many miles through North Vietnam. But it was worthwile due to the incredible s

Ryan

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