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Most of the buffalo here are male, huge and strong with quite threatening looks. Can Cau Cattle Market in the northern highlands province of Lao Cai is the largest of its kind in Vietnam’s northwestern region with hundreds of buffalo and cows put up for sale. It is organized every Saturday along the Can Chu Su Hill in Can Cau Commune, about 115 kilometers from Sa Pa It is not unusual for some of the aggressive-looking animals to suddenly start a fight. The market attracts many tourists, foreign and Vietnamese. Many people come to the market to sell and buy cattle, while some are just watchers. Some onlookers gather for chit-chats. Buffalo traders are recognizable with backpacks or shoulder bags, often made from traditional brocade. It is said that a trader can carry up to hundreds of millions of dong with them to the market Although buffalo are often considered an important asset of farmers, they do not have fixed prices. Instead, both sellers and buyers decide on the animals’ value and then negotiate with each other. This buffalo for instance is offered at VND40 million (US$1,800). Among the buffalo put for sale, many are sold specifically for breeding, while others for farming or meat. Can Cau Market often ends soon after noon. When traders have bought enough buffalo and left with them on trucks, many sellers stay at the market to buy necessities before leaving as well Sapa Travel is a team of experienced guides in Sapa Town and its villages. Sapa Travel is not a big company, and we do not pretend to be. Our work is to combine a personal touch with a high level of reliability, while maintaining excellent value for our inbound destination management services to Sapa and the North of Vietnam. We compete with a flexible and creative attitude towards travel, and by doing what we say when we say we will do it. While many large companies promise to have their ‘best’ team on the ground, we ARE the team on the ground, providing you unparalleled communication and attention you...
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On 21st January 2015 we have the announcement from Vietnam Trails Cooperation 10/CĐ VTHN that the SP 7 and SP 8 train will stop their services from Hanoi to Lao Cai and return. So, the previous train timetable will be only on the SP 3 and SP3 trains. Hanoi- Lao Cai: on SP 3, departing Hanoi at 21:50 and arriving Lao Cai at 6:25 Lao Cai- Hanoi: on SP 4, departing Lao Cai at 20:20 and arriving Hanoi at 5:20 So, if any of the passengers who have the vouchers for SP3 and SP4 will get the new departure and arrival as this notice. The services and seating will keep...
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One of the best experiences you can have is to by-pass all the hotel and travel agency organised treks and go straight to the source – the local hills-tribe women. By doing this, you will not only be able to choose your own itinery, have a small group (just you and your friends) and be able to set your own time-table, you will also be assured that all the money you are spending will go directly to the people who need it most – your guide and her family. Many of the trekking companies pay their guides a flat fee of around $12 USD irrespective of the size of the group – often charging each tourist over $25 USD. It is pretty easy to meet a local guide if you are in Sapa and willing to be mobbed by very persistent handicraft peddlers – just sit in the square, and it won’t be long before you are approached by a hills-tribe woman offering to take you to her village for a day trek. The guide may be able to offer multi-day treks and home-stays as well. Most guides will speak a bit of self-taught English. If you meet (or find) the right guide, she will also suggest lesser known villages without any tourist shops at all or indeed any other tourists. You will have to negotiate with your guide for the right price. Remember that most of the hills-tribe people are very poor by developed world standards and your money will be given directly to her family and extended community. Many of the older hills-tribe women are not literate but they will have a phone number. Younger hills-tribe guides are likely to have an email address as well. There’s even one in Sapa with a website and tripadvisor listing! However for the majority of hill-tribe guides, its pretty difficult to get to them outside of Sapa. You are likely to meet tourists who will give you the number of their guide – your guide will ask you to recommend her to your friends and other tourists. But that’s about the only way outside of Sapa. Sept 2014 For a wonderful 1/2 day Meme will guide tourists on the trek for 1/2 the price the agents charge and even arrange a taxi back to Sapa. Meme speaks great English (self-taught) and is full of information. She has2 daughters studying at the village school and can explain and demonstrate every aspect of how the women make their clothes from raw hemp to the finished product. She can even find some fresh local herbs which cured an upset stomach. Ask the Hmong women for Meme from Lai Chau village. One of the many guides in Sapa is Chu, she speaks English and French and her phone number is 01657256913. Feel free to add your recommended guides on this page! If you wish...
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As per the announcement of Vietnam Railway, the tickets will be sold online at the following websites: – www.vetau.com.vn – www.dsvn.vn – www.vietnamrailway.vn https://www.facebook.com/muavetau Hotline 19006469 Video how to buy train tickets online From 21st November 2014, Vietnam Railways will start to sell train tickets online via website www.dsvn.vn and you can buy train tickets like you do with the flight tickets. The method of selling train tickets on the website www.dsvn.vn of Vietnam Railway Coporation is applicable for individuals only. After holding tickets, you can choose the methods of payment: in cash or bank cards. The system is developped by FPT IS. Mr. Pham Minh Tuan, GM of FPT IS said that the system will be in used from 21st November...
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The elegant Victoria Express Train is known as one of the most deluxe trains on Hanoi-Lao Cai route, offering every visitor a wonderful travelling experience. The management constantly improves the service in order to offer the best outcome to customers; therefore, several added-services have been launched recently on the effort of improving passengers’ convenience during the trip. Passengers now can enjoy the freedom to read your email, surf and listen to online music thanks to the new Wi-Fi access on board throughout the whole trip. Moreover, a tasty crunchy French croissant as pre-breakfast treat is also offered for every passenger. Last but not least, passenger can sip on a cup of espresso while relaxing in the brand new mini library for their own leisure. With these latest offers, the journey with Victoria Express Train promises to be an unforgettable experience with exotic landscapes of North Vietnam and world-renowned services. For further information and booking please contact us at Sapa Travel Website: http://www.travelsapa.com Add: 18 lane 32 Chua Ha street,...
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We booked the Livitrans Carriages for our trip to Lao Cai (Sapa) and were quite impressed with them. We paid for 4 tickets so we wouldn’t have to share our cabin with strangers- I’d imagine it would be quite cramped with 4 people + luggage (as I’m sure would be the case for any of the private carriages). The toilets were always quite clean and well maintained. The beds were, well, hard, but we both managed to get some decent sleep during the trip. One thing- on the way to Sapa, the carriages are at the back of the train, so the trip was relatively smooth. But on the return journey, you’re at the front of the train, and at times, you felt as though you were in the spin cycle of a washing machine! We arrived in Lao Cai via train around 5am and had our pre-arranged guide waiting for us who took us via car to Sapa. We had breakfast at our hotel (Sapa Boutique- review written), a quick early morning exploration around the town (where we had our 1st taste of the determination of the local minorities to sell you something!), before we left on our trek to the village of Ta Van where we were having a home stay. We were able to leave the majority of our luggage at the hotel, and only had a small backpack for our 1 night at the homestay. Although we weren’t looking for it, the Sapa market was the only time in Vietnam that we saw dog meat being butchered/ for sale. So, at around 10am in the mist and fog, we set out on our trek which initially followed a main road out of Sapa. We had 4 women from the Black Hmong minority following us at one point until finally it dropped down to one. I suggested to my wife that we give her some money, get a photo and then tell her to go – so gave her 20,000 dong, took a photo…. and then discovered she was going to her village (Lao Chai) – which is where we were also going! We’re still laughing about this! Just before we turn off the road and started trekking through the hills and rice terrace we were again ‘picked up’ by four women and girls in traditional Black Hmong dress who walked with us to Lao Chai. They were most helpful in getting us through some of the ‘trickier’ spots although we probably didn’t really need their help- but they were also good company. The trek went through some beautiful landscape and we were the only ones out there walking at that point. By this stage, the weather had also started to clear, and we found ourselves in the most beautiful scenery, walking with these amazingly dressed minorities- just a fantastic experience! When we finally got to...
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