Tour Code : CBHM- 01:CAN CAU - BAC HA MARKETS (2days/ 3 nights)

Everyday departure by night train on

Night 1 :

8h30pm Sapatours 's taxi take you from your hotel in Hanoi to Hanoi Railway Station for the night train at at 9:15 PM to get to Laocai Station. Sleep on the train.(4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request)

Day 1 : Lao Cai Station - BacHa - Can Cau Market(B.L,D):

Picked up at Laocai Train Station to transfer to CanCau market. It takes more than 2 hours to get to CanCau - a small market situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and only 7 km from China. The market deeply shows the typical cultural features of the minorities in remote mountainous areas in Vietnam. Further more, you can enjoy seeing boys and girls in colourful costumes - different colours of the mountains. They attend the market in the hope of finding "the other halves of their lifves" and this is also the time for them to chat, to exchange everything among different ethnic peoples through cups of wine sold in the market. Say goodbye to the market and transfer to BacHa. On the way, spend time visiting a village of the Flower H'mong and then check in hotel in BacHa. Free to explore the town. Lunch in CanCau or in BacHa and dinner in BacHa.

Day2(Sunday):Bac Ha Market-Lao Cai Station-Ha Noi:(B.L,D)

A walk to BacHa market. Visit one village and an old building called The H'mong king's house. Breakfast and the beginning of the day on which you visit a big market filled with many different hill-tribe peoples. This is the most colourful market in North Vietnam. At the market, you have chance to enjoy BacHa people's simple but unique kinds of food with special wines made from rice, cassavas, corn and different sorts of fruits such as plumps, apples, peaches... talking to the minorities through the guide's interpretation. Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920. Return the town for lunch. In the afternoon, spend time visiting another village (BanPho village) Say good bye to BacHa and get back to Sapa. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbor Mouth in LaoCai . Overnight Train back Ha Noi . Arrive Ha Noi at 5 h00 . End of great trip.

Tour price include:

• Food (All meals on the tour)
• English speaking guide
• Entrance fees
• Accommodation (Hotel and home-stay)
• Train return tickets Hanoi-Laocai (soft sleeper with air-conditioning)
• Jeep go and back as the program

• Insurance
• Drinks
• Phone calls and other private expenses

Notes: Advised to take good walking shoes, raincoats, jackets, torch, insect repellent and sunscreen...

Tour Code :CBHM- 02:CAN CAU - BAC HA MARKETS - SAPA (3days/ 4 nights)

Everyday departure by night train on Friday

Night 1 :

8h30pm Sapatours 's taxi take you from your hotel in Hanoi to Hanoi Railway Station for the night train at at 9:15 PM to get to Laocai Station. Sleep on the train.(4 people/cabin or 2 people/cabin on request)

Day 1 : Lao Cai Station - BacHa - Can Cau Market(B.L,D):

Picked up at Laocai Train Station to transfer to CanCau market. It takes more than 2 hours to get to CanCau - a small market situated in a valley surrounded by mountains and only 7 km from China. The market deeply shows the typical cultural features of the minorities in remote mountainous areas in Vietnam. Further more, you can enjoy seeing boys and girls in colourful costumes - different colours of the mountains. They attend the market in the hope of finding "the other halves of their lifves" and this is also the time for them to chat, to exchange everything among different ethnic peoples through cups of wine sold in the market. Say goodbye to the market and transfer to BacHa. On the way, spend time visiting a village of the Flower H'mong and then check in hotel in BacHa. Free to explore the town. Lunch in CanCau or in BacHa and dinner in BacHa.

Day2(Sunday):Bac Ha Market-Lao Cai Station-Ha Noi:(B.L,D)

A walk to BacHa market. Visit one village and an old building called The H'mong king's house. Breakfast and the beginning of the day on which you visit a big market filled with many different hill-tribe peoples. This is the most colourful market in North Vietnam. At the market, you have chance to enjoy BacHa people's simple but unique kinds of food with special wines made from rice, cassavas, corn and different sorts of fruits such as plumps, apples, peaches... talking to the minorities through the guide's interpretation. Leave the market for the H'mong King's house (King Hoang A Tuong) built by the French colonists and the Chinese in 1920. Return the town for lunch. In the afternoon, spend time visiting another village (BanPho village) Say good bye to BacHa and get back to Sapa. On the way back, drop in to see the Vietnamese and Chinese Harbor Mouth in LaoCai . Transfer to Sapa , check in hotel , dinner and Overnight in Sapa .

Day 3 : Laocai -Catcat -SinChai ( B, L , )

Trek around 7 km to visit 2 villages of the Black H'mong (CatCat and SinChai). Picnic lunch at a waterfall and this is a chance to see the hydroelectric power station established by the French.Walking back Sapa , Transfer to Lao Cai Station for overnight train back Ha Noi . Arrival at 5h00 Am . End of great trip. Arrive Ha Noi at 5 h00 . End of great trip.

Tour price include:

• Food (All meals on the tour)
• English speaking guide
• Entrance fees
• Accommodation (Hotel and home-stay)
• Train return tickets Hanoi-Laocai (soft sleeper with air-conditioning)
• Jeep go and back as the program

Excludes :

• Insurance
• Drinks
• Phone calls and other private expenses

Notes: Advised to take good walking shoes, raincoats, jackets, torch, insect repellent and sunscreen...

Can Cau Market

Sprawling near the banks of a river, Can Cau Market is a clearly defined shantytown, packed with crude stalls covered with thatched roofs. The start of a few simple settlements can be seen high above, many of whose residents now make their weekly pilgrimage to the market. We are only 9kms from the Chinese border and some traders make the journey across from China on horseback. Unfortunately foreigners are not allowed to reciprocate this set-up, however tempting it may seem. By 9 am, the market is crammed to capacity. It's lively and surprisingly fun. The locals are mostly of the Flower Hmong minority group. You can't miss them -their traditional costume of green checked headdress and multi-colored, meticiculosly stitched and layered garments are simply stunning. Few foreigners make it to Can Cau; those that do brave the journey come either with a small tour group in four-wheel drives, or - if half-mad and on a tight budget like me -on the back of a motorbike. The handful of Westerners here this morning are the object of intense - though friendly- scrutiny. There is much laughter as we try to make basic conversation. Although the majority are painfully shy and not accustomed to seeing foreigners, some cheerfully allow photographs to be taken.

Can Cau is predominately a livestock market and not the sort of place to buy some choice gifts for the folks back home. Beyond the fenced-in perimeter, pot-bellied pigs, chickens and water buffalo wait patiently by the river to be sold. They rub shoulders with magnificent wild horses, some of whom will be transporting their masters back over to China. But the market also sells the basics: traditional clothing, sacks of rice, bundles of coarse, raw wool and ironware. Some stalls sell fresh tobacco and a rather sad array of root vegetables. Many women sell their wares from large, wicker baskets and sit weaving whilst waiting for a sale. I note that there are many giant plastic containers lying around with attached tubes. I mistakenly think this is gasoline, but it is in fact the omni-present rice wine and some folk are spotted wisely filling up their water bottles for the long ride home. Food stalls serve bowls of steaming fat noodles in broth and indescribable plates of what I can only assume are some sort of animal innards. It is almost like being transported back in time. There are few traces of the outside world, save the occasional soccer tee-shirt cast off and digital watch. As I observe the incredible costumes, deep shyness and the dark, weather-beaten skins, it is hard to imagine that this is the same country as freewheeling Saigon City in the south. It might as well have been on another planet.