Bac Ha Market and Ban Pho Village Day Tour from Sapa

It is also possible to depart from Sapa, get off at Lao Cai, and then move on, so it would be a good idea to consider it if you have such an itinerary. It was fun to experience a true local market only available on Sundays. Because of the atmosphere, you can't buy anything, but there is everything from clothes, industrial products, food, props, and even livestock, and you can see ethnic minorities living in real places where they sell and buy, not in a touristic way. The lunch provided was also reasonable (water and beverages are calculated separately).

Rode minibus for about 3h to Bac Ha market, got to see various items on sale. then had lunch and short visit (about 30 min) to a small flower Hmong village and house (see them make corn wine). managed to go to the border between Vietnam and China. Was dropped off at Lao Cai upon request to take train back to Hanoi.

Communication is very clear of the pickup time and the mini bus arrives within time frame and is comfy and clean. Journey from Sapa downtown to Bac Ha took over 2.5 hours and there are no pit stops for toilet break. The road is meandering so be prepared if you’re car nauseous. Once at Bac Ha, guide will bring us into the middle of the Bac Ha market and show us the restaurant where we’ll be having lunch. Afterwards, we’re given about 1.5 hours of free time to roam around on our own. Lunch provided is also filling and good but drinks are sold separately. Just take note that they shifted the buffalo and horse market to Saturday because it was too crowded on Sunday. Originally all the action took place on the Sunday so I was quite disappointed when I don’t see the big animals on a Sunday. At the Ban Pho village, we learnt how they make the fragrant corn wine and it seriously taste good if you can take strong alcohol (40-60%). Lastly, we also dropped by the border bridge that connects Vietnam (Lao Cai) to China (Yunnan) for picture taking. Overall, I highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Sapa area for the first time.

I had a good time with my guide Su. She was nice and spoke really good English, providing us much interesting information about the culture and life of local people.

The tour offerings and the guide itself were very good. It is true that Bac Market is held on Sunday, but the most anticipated cattle market was moved to Saturday, so it was a pity that I couldn't see it. Instead, it was nice that the guide was really kind and interesting and took care of this and that. It was amazing and nice to go and experience a corn brewery in Banpo Village. At the end, crossing the river at Lao Cai allows you to take pictures at the Chinese border. Please note that it takes two and a half hours one way and five hours round trip.

This is a very far trip to make from Sapa town. About 3 hours one way. it is like going back to Singapore in the 1960s. We had a very enthusiastic guide who explained about the Bac Ha market origin and the products sold by the hmong folks and also the Ban Pho house that we visited. quite an interesting trip.

I was waiting at the meeting point, Sapasno Hotel, but I was impatient because the pick-up didn't come even after 30 minutes. There were 7 of us on the tour, and we visited Bac Ha Market, ethnic minority houses, and the border with China. I'm sorry for my harsh opinion, but I felt that it would be enough to go sightseeing on my own without having to go out of my way to join the tour.

It was a wonderful market. It's not easy to go to this market on your own, so I'm glad I joined the tour. There were clean toilets available. At the end, they also took us to the Chinese border and the tea plantations.

Good tour, very interesting, the guide was very helpful!

The itinerary was a little looser than I expected. I originally thought the tour guide would introduce it along the way, but it turned out to be a free tour. I didn’t see cattle trading, but I saw puppies being sold. The lunch was ordinary.