There are few scenes throughout the country more recognisable than Bac Ha Market. The weekly Sunday market run by the H’mong hill tribe of Sapa is a festival of buying, selling and socialising in the foreground of forested mountains and flecks of mist. The Bac Ha Market – Sapa 2 Day tour from Incredible Asia Journeys shows you the colourful whirlwind of activity at Bac Ha Market before we spend the next day trekking around the otherworldly Sapa region.
Along with Bac Ha, Sapa is also famous throughout the country, here for its picture-perfect scenery of undulating rice paddies descending from steep hillsides to the floor of the Muong Hoa Valley. The Bac Ha Market – Sapa 2 Day tour gives you plenty of time to relax in both destinations but also features excursions around these hubs to other beautiful attractions such as the Palace of the H’mong King, the Muong Hoa Valley and Ta Van Village.
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Activities: Explore Bac Ha Market’s colourful parade, and then head to the Palace of the H’mong King and Ban Pho Village.
About 05.30 – 06.00 AM: On arrival in Lao Cai Station, we will collect you from the exit gate of Lao Cai train station and head to a local restaurant in town for breakfast.
We start the drive to Bac Ha Market after breakfast, arriving at Bac Ha Town to colourful and jubilant scenes as the market gets underway. We walk around the market, keeping an eye out for bargains on strange and exotic merchandise. Our guide will point out several interesting facets of the market, including the livestock section and the groups of H’mong men enjoying bottles of rice wine.
The morning will be spent exploring the range of food, clothing, souvenirs, and working tools before we sit down for a local meal at a local eatery, sampling hill tribe food in Bac Ha Market’s colourful parade.
We re-board the bus to head to the Palace of the H’mong King, exploring this large home of King Hoang A Tuong and admiring the blend of Western and Vietnamese architecture used in its creation.
Our final stop of the day is Ban Pho Village, famous around the region for its corn wine and views over the Bac Ha Highlands.
We head back to Lao Cai, taking a look at the Vietnamese and Chinese harbour mouth on the northern border of the town before transferring to Sapa. You will have the rest of the evening to find some food and check out the nighttime charm around Sapa Lake.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Activities: Trek to Y Linh Ho, Lao Chai, Ta Van Village to explore the local life of the ethnic minority people here.
Breakfast will be served in your hotel as you wake up to the backdrop of misted mountains.
We begin today’s trekking at about 08.00 with a 6km hike into the Muong Hoa valley, reaching the Black H’mong village of Y Linh Ho.
Trekking the 2km to Lao Chai Village, we walk around the verdant rice fields for which Sapa is most well known.
Grabbing as many pictures as we can on the way, we relax at Ta Van Village, home to families of the Giay ethnic group. We will sit down with one family to enjoy a traditional lunch in a very unique setting, a bamboo house that backs onto a stunning view of descending layered rice paddies.
Our final 2km of trekking is to the main road, where you can take the last of your photos before boarding the jeep back to Sapa Town.
Our bus will pick you up at about 17.30 to transfer you to Lao Cai, from where you can get your overnight train back to Hanoi.
Incredible Asia Journeys would like to thank you for choosing our esteemed company for your Bac Ha Market – Sapa 2 Day tour. We sincerely hope that we have the opportunity to serve you again in the future.
Meals: Breakfast, Lunch
Notes: + The Bac Ha Market – Sapa 2 Day tour only runs on Sunday because of the weekly nature of Bac Ha Market.
+ The return night train between Hanoi and Lao Cai can be booked upon request.
+ The Bac Ha Market - Sapa 2 Day tour can be operated as a private tour or a group tour
Download this tour’s PDF brochure and start tour planning offline
The extensive and gorgeous exterior of the Sapa Legend Hotel & Spa suggests just some of the opulence and comfort to be found within. This immaculately adorned hotel has grand marble and burnished wood running throughout, extending to the many rooms spanning four accommodation options. Along with warm decoration, each room is fitted with comfortable bedding, modern amenities such as air conditioning and TV, large windows and a very well appointed bathroom, ensuring an extremely pleasant stay in beautiful Sapa.In further pursuit of this aim, our restaurant and café encapsulate a luxurious atmosphere for your enjoyment of international and Vietnamese food and beverages. In addition, the Legend Spa provides an excellent means of relaxation and a space for tranquility in the bustling town. With one of the most central locations in all of Sapa town, you will find travelling around the area to be of the utmost ease and cafes and restaurants just beyond arms’ reach. Just to the left of the front doorstep is Sapa Lake and community garden, with Sapa Park just 300m away and Ham Rong Mountain 400m beyond that.
The glorious, skyscraping peaks of Sapa’s many mountains contain a majesty only matched in architectural equivalence by the Amazing Hotel Sapa. This 4-star hotel in beautiful Sapa town is located with one eye towards the mountains and steeped rice paddies, and another eye towards the bustling town. Our many mountain-view rooms offer perfect luxury accommodation, with contemporary amenities and comfortable furnishings, all placed to enhance your enjoyment of the stunning views around you. You will find a local flavour amongst the hill-tribe textiles employed in our rooms, but enjoy the convenience of modernity through sleek bathrooms with elaborate showers.Just a few minutes’ walk from Ham Rong Mountain and Gardens, Notre Dame Cathedral and central Sapa Lake, the Amazing Hotel Sapa is perfectly located for your total convenience. Restaurants and shops abound around the hotel, giving you the perfect chance to prepare for your hike or a fantastic excuse to relax after it.Aside from 81 stylish guest rooms and suites, the Amazing Hotel Sapa boasts a heated indoor swimming pool, beauty and spa services, fitness centre, an elegant restaurant and an exquisite bar, offering uninterrupted views of one of Vietnam’s greatest natural assets.
Set outside of the general bustle of Sapa town, Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel takes up an advantageous position atop the Muong Hoa Valley, offering stunning views to one of Vietnam’s most majestic natural scenes. Throughout our range of rooms, we ensure that your view of Sapa’s forest-clad limestone mountains, as well as the golden rice paddies that descend through the valley, is at the forefront of each well-appointed room’s design.From the Deluxe Room to Sapa’s most luxurious offering, Red Dao Suite, you will find comfortable furnishings in a modern room, with a focus through the wall-length windows and universal balconies to the scenery outside. 223 rooms in Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel are some of the most comfortable accommodation options throughout the town, and here you can discover the Sapa that suits you, through TVs, working desks, large bathrooms and palatial seating arrangements.The convenience of Sapa town lies just under 2km away and contains attractions such as Sapa Lake, Ham Rong Mountain and Notre Dame Cathedral. Stock up for your trek here before returning to Pao’s Sapa Leisure Hotel to ease into Sapa’s most magisterial accommodation.