Discover top 5 best Sapa Markets you love at the first sight
Sapo: The Sapa markets are one of the most interesting highlights of this town, with prominent examples such as love market, fair, buffalo market, night market,… Each market brings you a different experience, it is so great to visit at least one of them.
Amazing Journey Of Exploring Top 5 Famous Sapa Markets
Besides the majestic scenery and many historical architectural works, Sapa also has a traditional feature of the highland areas that is the markets. Each of them has its own unique features, selling diverse and different items, creating many experiences you can hardly find anywhere else. Below is information about the 5 most famous and known Sapa markets, you can refer to and include in your Vietnam trips.
Love market – one of the most unique Sapa markets
When the sun disappears behind the mountains and Sapa is engulfed in a dense fog, ethnic boys and girls come to the love market. Previously, this Sapa market Vietnam only took place once a year because youngsters had to work hard all year round on the fields, only having this short time to take care of love affairs. But now it’s different, this occasion has become a unique tourist product of Sapa, taking place every Saturday night at the large yard in front of the Stone Church. Therefore, if you want to join the love market Sapa Vietnam, you should plan your trip on the weekend.
More unique than other Sapa markets, the main items sold here are not actual and tangible items, but the feelings of participants, ethnic boys and girls. Dressed in the most beautiful costumes and jewelry, they come here to find themselves a soulmate, using love songs and dances to attract each other. Girls would wear brocade dresses and glittering silver jewelry, while boys choose indigo clothes and carry a trumpet, a Hmong flute or just a leaf to make music. If the girl is satisfied with someone, she will give them an engagement item before leaving, such as a bracelet or handkerchief.
Bac Ha market Sapa Vietnam
Source: vietnamembassy-newzealand
Coming to Lao Cai Province, you should not forget to visit Bac Ha fair, one of the largest Sapa markets in the Northwest, mostly dedicated to ethnic minorities in the region. It is held every Sunday, with the unique feature of the market itself being divided into smaller ones, convenient for trade and exchange of a variety of goods between local people. Bac Ha market Sapa Vietnam happens in the town of the same name, with items just placed on the stalls in a simple way, but always crowded with people coming to have fun after a week of working and farming.
The main items sold here and other fair Sapa markets are the unique items of the ethnic people collected after forest trips, a few farmed or hunted items such as bunches of vegetables, cattle, poultry, etc. Ethnic people here are honest and do not care too much about buying and selling, so you will not need to over bargain but just buy what you want to keep a good mood for everyone, avoiding arguing. At this Sapa market Vietnam, you also have the opportunity to enjoy the traditional Thang Co dish, drink fragrant corn wine, apple cider made by the ethnic people, buy a variety of typical spices, and so on.
Sapa town market – the special Sapa sunday Market
Sapa markets have long been a unique cultural feature, forming a place to promote the local charm and develop the economy very well for ethnic minorities. Sapa town market belongs to the H’Mong and Dao people, usually meeting on Sundays, right next to the stone church in the town center. This is the most famous market in the Northwest highlands, where you will be able to buy goods comfortably and without pressure on prices. Prominent products here include brocade, clothing, scarves, hats, bags, wallets, and bracelets that are carefully sewn, woven by ethnic women.
Top popular Sapa markets to visit
A few years ago, a new and beautiful Sapa market was also built in the center of this town, mainly trading and providing products for residents and visitors. In front of the entrance of this place is the Sapa bus station, convenient for you to buy quality products, specialties, and unique souvenirs before leaving. Right at the first floor is an area selling herbal medicine, dry goods such as shiitake mushrooms, red artichokes, Dao bath medicine,… Sapa town market is the largest market here, so don’t forget to stop by to buy gifts for your loved ones and learn more about the regional cuisine.
Sapa night Market – top Sapa markets to visit at night
Every weekend, Sapa night market is colorful with countless stalls of the H’mong and Red Dao people, overflowing with unique handicrafts with bold colors of the highland ethnic minorities. Besides products such as brocade, flute, silver jewelry, bronze, goatskin drum, the highlight that makes this place different from other markets in Sapa is the food chain parallel to the row of stalls. After walking around the traditional stalls and buying things, you can visit the smoky eateries, enjoy the delicious grilled dishes in the cold weather such as skewered meat, chicken wings, corn, potatoes,…
Can Cau Buffalo Market – an attractive Sapa market you should not miss
The special name of this market is because it is held at Can Chu Su slope, in Can Cau commune, Si Ma Cai district, specializing in the exchange of large cattle such as buffaloes, cows and pigs. Unlike other famous Sapa markets, which sell products for tourists, this place has the products selling mainly for the local people, held every Saturday but especially bustling after each harvest season is over. This market not only is a meeting place and exchange of the Mong, Dao and Giay people in Sapa as well as Lao Cai, but also has an area of food and local agricultural products for tourists to check out. Can Cau Market contains many ethnic cultural beauties that cannot be found anywhere else, gradually becoming a unique feature of the tourism of Northwestern Vietnam.
Visiting the misty Sapa town, in addition to its majestic beauty, this place is also famous for the special highland markets with many unique products. Each of them brings interesting and different experiences in this foggy land, also letting you freely take photos to keep your own memories. Above is the information about the 5 most famous Sapa markets so you can refer to your future trip to the unspoiled Vietnam Northwest region.