Found in far northern Vietnam in Lao Cai province, this regional market is important for locals and tourists alike. As with most areas in the country, there are small villages scattered all over the area, and everyone that lives in these villages congregates together in one place to buy, sell, and barter anything and everything from clothes to dogs to bulls to fruit to glasses to tin for roofing. It is a whole array of products, goods, and services available in one crazy mass of people. While it has become a bit of a "touristy" market at this point it is still very authentic, and it's well worth a day to drive into the mountains and see it.
Our original plan for a northern Vietnam vacation including Bac Ha was for me to arrive in Vietnam, spend a couple of days in Da Nang, and then Kels, her folks, Logan, (all of whom were already in Da Nang) and I would travel to Ha Noi for a six day tour of Sa Pa and Ha Long Bay in northern Vietnam. But, due to an unexpected medical issue, Kelsey's parents were forced to go to Ho Chi Minh City, and eventually back home early. So Logan, Kels and I decided to keep going and make a trip of it anyway and just go with the three of us. It started off well when Logan missed our flight to Ha Noi, and we ended up having quite a time reconnecting with him, but you can read about here, as that's another story.
Back to Bac Ha: So, it was the three of us, Kelsey, her twin brother Logan, and myself. After getting off the night train from Ha Noi to Lao Cai, we met up with our guide, Thu, and our driver, who's name I never caught. Off we went into a van for an hour drive to Bac Ha. Along the way and in true form Kelsey and Logan both immediately fell asleep, leaving myself and the guide talking about the local area. Turns out he was a local; he had grown up in Lao Cai and was spending half of his time living with a girlfriend in Sa Pa and half at his family's home in Lao Cai City. He had trained to be a guide at school and was eager to show off his local area to us. Little did he know what we had in store for him.
The day started off nice, with a leisurely stroll through the markets. Logan took a full bamboo bong rip of local tobacco and got his ass handed to him, and later on he found some rice wine that he really enjoyed (and got him drunk to boot). We saw many women and girls dressed in the traditional attire of the local hill triibes, although they only do it now for money for photographs, as usually they wear sweat pants and t-shirts just like the rest of us. Finally we finished and it was time for us to go on a hike around the local villages. We had a driver and Thu was going to take us along some back roads on foot to see some ethnic people in their local villages, and the driver would pick us
up later.
The day started off nice, with a leisurely stroll through the markets. Logan took a full bamboo bong rip of local tobacco and got his ass handed to him, and later on he found some rice wine that he really enjoyed (and got him drunk to boot). We saw many women and girls dressed in the traditional attire of the local hill triibes, although they only do it now for money for photographs, as usually they wear sweat pants and t-shirts just like the rest of us. Finally we finished and it was time for us to go on a hike around the local villages. We had a driver and Thu was going to take us along some back roads on foot to see some ethnic people in their local villages, and the driver would pick us
up later.
One thing our guide probably didn't anticipate was that we were from Colorado, and thus, like to indulge in certain kinds of tobacco and cigarettes that can produce generally euphoric and enjoyable sensations. So when we lit up a cigarette of Crested Butte tobacco, we offered him some. He readily took a few good puffs, and we were off down the trail. About fifteen minutes later, our guide calmly asks us “what was going on and how long was this going to last?” It was clear that he was quite ….ahem....euphoric, and appeared somewhat dazed, although he was trying to focus hard. He kept saying “phe, phe.....” over and over again. We asked what this means and he said it means “Party”, as in, there is a party in his head. We laughed, clapped him on the back and told him it would go away in a couple of hours. This calmed him down and we kept hiking.
The only downside to this was that our guide was now fairly useless- while he could tell us “left” or “right” at the few intersections, he wasn't much help. Fortunately, Logan and I are both impossible to lose, so we ended up guiding our guide (and ourselves) to the proper pick up point, where we made our rendezvous flawlessly. It was neat to walk around and see these small villages. In some ways they are as authentic and foreign and historic and amazing as you would expect. The houses are old designs, and the rice fields are staggeringly beautiful, especially with small clusters of houses punctuating the green here and there. The fact that it was a very misty and cloudy day helped immensely, as the greens of the jungle and the hills really came out, and was almost overpowering at times. One of the better hikes in Vietnam that I've done.
The only downside to this was that our guide was now fairly useless- while he could tell us “left” or “right” at the few intersections, he wasn't much help. Fortunately, Logan and I are both impossible to lose, so we ended up guiding our guide (and ourselves) to the proper pick up point, where we made our rendezvous flawlessly. It was neat to walk around and see these small villages. In some ways they are as authentic and foreign and historic and amazing as you would expect. The houses are old designs, and the rice fields are staggeringly beautiful, especially with small clusters of houses punctuating the green here and there. The fact that it was a very misty and cloudy day helped immensely, as the greens of the jungle and the hills really came out, and was almost overpowering at times. One of the better hikes in Vietnam that I've done.
Back in the van, we headed downhill a short ways and did a short hike down a road and into a broad, flat green valley hemmed in by massive limestone mountains rising into the mist. Way freakin' cool, and our guide missed it because he was asleep in the van. We walked a ways across the valley to a small monastery, at which point we hopped on some sketchy looking boats for a thirty minutes, ~3 km float back to our van.
Once we hit our van it was quite comical. Our guide, Thu, who had woken up to get us back on the van, promptly passed back out, and Kelsey and Logan (it's a McDonald thing, the whole narkolepzy in cars thing) quickly followed suit. So it was just me and this driver who spoke no English and whose name I didn't know. I had been in Vietnam at this point for a total of about six days and spoke no Vietnamese. So I tried to talk to him for a bit but it was met with a nervous laugh and a smile so we both just laughed and enjoyed the quiet drive. Once we hit Lao Cai again we went over to a park where we just so happened to be on the border with CHINA! The big scary dragon, right there. Maybe some day we'll go in.
Once we hit our van it was quite comical. Our guide, Thu, who had woken up to get us back on the van, promptly passed back out, and Kelsey and Logan (it's a McDonald thing, the whole narkolepzy in cars thing) quickly followed suit. So it was just me and this driver who spoke no English and whose name I didn't know. I had been in Vietnam at this point for a total of about six days and spoke no Vietnamese. So I tried to talk to him for a bit but it was met with a nervous laugh and a smile so we both just laughed and enjoyed the quiet drive. Once we hit Lao Cai again we went over to a park where we just so happened to be on the border with CHINA! The big scary dragon, right there. Maybe some day we'll go in.
All photos copyright Kit Davidson unless otherwise noted.