不管男女老少，每个村民都会前来这个市集看看，买的买，卖的卖，各忙各的，连这个带着古老又厚重眼镜的老伯伯也来奏热闹。
关在百哈幼儿院的这个身穿华丽衣裳小孩，比起一般外面看到的小孩们可说是无比的幸福了...
少女的祷告：但愿天下太平，人人有工作，生活可以过得好一点......
市集上看到的小朋友们都是套在妈妈的背上，这样比较方便照顾，不用怕迷失，也不用担心小孩们被冷风吹着...
另一个住在山上的老伯伯，买好了一星期的日常用品后就回家去了...
不管人潮多拥挤，坐在一旁继续发呆的少女似乎心事重重哦。
看着这些井井有条的族衣，感觉就好像看见了他们是如何的过日子。
生活困苦的当地人，就在一星期只有一次的市集里摆卖着一些能够维持生计的手工品，因为这些都是他们生活唯一的希望。
令人愤怒：
正当我们从百哈市镇（Bac Ha）要乘搭当地巴士回去老街（Lao Cai）时，当地巴士司机先要求两倍的车费后再要求给三倍的价钱才能上巴士，我们当然不给，贪的无厌的他们联合其他搭客和当地人推开我们，当然除了生气还是生气！虽然我们赶着回去乘搭回河内的火车，我们还是决定不要上车，不让他们得逞，继续等待第二辆巴士的出现。可恶的是，他们竟然不开车，也跟着等待第二辆的巴士。看着我们跑去迎面而来的巴士时，他们竟然也抢快的跑过来，用当地语言阻止我们上车，吩咐他们也跟着一样的收费。虽然是贵了一些，可是我们想也不想地就直接选择了第二辆巴士，这就叫宁死不屈啰，好让他们心疼，赚不了我们的钱。结果，幸运的是，我们还是安全的抵达目的地哦......
最大收获：
能亲眼目睹当地的生活，尤其乘搭巴士时的一切经过，都令人惊叹！为了生活，他们把巴士成为他们的运输交通工具，不止巴士上排满了货物，就连座位，座椅下，走廊，司机位上下左右，或任何的空间都免不了挤满货物，实实在在的好像看到转递邮件中的印度货车般的照片呢！乘客们突然的呕吐，也只不过是件最平常不过的事也......
大开眼界：
当然，能够看到在高山上的市集，在飞沙黄土中的花蒙男士们为家畜作买卖，以及花蒙姑娘们作日常生活的小买卖，真的让我可以深入了解当地的风土民情，犹如自己身在古时候，真的不枉此行也！
How to go to the Lao Cai Town from Hanoi? It's easy, you just need to take a train from hanoi (which normally night train is taken to save the accomodation fee and the time) will do. But, you still need to take a bus from Lao Cai to Bac Ha. Why we need to go to Bac Ha? Because there is a very unique market that you must not missed it and it is called Bac Ha Sunday Market. If you take a tour package from agency, it will cost you around USD100 and if you go for the Sapa Tour package you need another USD100 more. But, I chose to take the public transport since I wanted to go for both Sapa and Bac Ha and it will save me a lot. There are too many markets. But, I chose 3 of them due to the limited time. Thefore, I spent 3 days in Sapa and 3 days in Bac Ha.
1. Can Cau Market (every Saturday)
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.
走的累了，就坐在山上的一角聊着聊着，休息够了在继续购物吧！
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 -taking the local public bus from Bac Ha town to the Can Cau market.
The collector asked for extra money from us but we did not give him what he requested because the bus fare is fixed actually. He tried to fierce to me but we did not bother him and just sitting there waiting to be there. At last he cannot do anything since the bus is already moving towards and he has to busy on the passenggers who are keep coming in and out. The local bus is still operating all the time is because they carry the goods for import and export from the Lao Cai train station to all the small towns by the bus. This is a good experience to see the locals life...
最天然的人奶自然是她们唯一的选择，省钱方便又健康！
A lady is feeding her baby in the market. I note that many of them do their feeding everywhere without considering in front of public or not.
老阿妈，休息在人群中，你不头晕的吗？
Can Cau is predominately a livestock market and not the sort of place to buy some choice gifts for the folks back home.
蛮上镜的她们比起在河内那些或是沙霸的那些，其实还满友善的。
Although the majority are painfully shy and not accustomed to seeing foreigners, some cheerfully allow photographs to be taken.
哇，在黄沙灰土中牵着牛只做买卖的男士们，就好比我们在购物广场看见那些男人们在观看最新款的汽车，女人就在血拼哩！
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.
从高处望下来，一片人潮在市集里。
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.
另一个角度观看这壮观的场面...
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.
2. Bac Ha Market (every Sunday)
The road zigzags along the foot of the mountain from Lao Cai provincial town of Lao Chai Province, which is 300 km north of Hanoi, to an altitude of 1,000 meters where there appears a small district town in a green valley of tall Samu trees. It is Bac Ha district town, home mainly to the Mong ethnic minority.
Bac Ha has long been known for its aromatic corn spirits, and now this reputation is added to with its market activities, which have strong cultural characteristics of the Mong. Tourists flock to this peaceful oasis because of its natural attractiveness and the distinct traditional and cultural identity of the local minority.
贩卖家禽的这个村民匆匆忙忙的赶着去交货，因为那时的天快要下起无情的大雨了...
The Bac Ha market opens every Sunday. All roads lead to the market on this day. From dawn, hordes of people in colorful costumes and baskets on their backs accompany horses loaded with goods to the market.
看着一间间简陋的档口，不禁想起那种武侠片中的茶水搁，走得累了就停下来喝口茶，吃个包，那样的情景...
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.
哇，又是人群呢！难以想象平时没看见几间屋子的小村庄，竟然有那么多的村民一群群的围着做买卖...
The most exciting place is perhaps the corner for men. Gathered around the flickering fireplace to heat Thangh Co, a favorite local soup cooked in a large pan with pork and pig bones and organs, are all sorts of people: the old, the young and couples.
纯朴的她们，个个都希望日子能好过一点，但是不知怎么才能帮得上她们呢...
People sit together talking, drinking and enjoying their traditional cuisine, and laughter and the sound of the melodic khen (a local traditional panpipe) resounds there. In other parts of the country, the market is where people purchase and exchange goods, but not so in Bac Ha, where market days are really festive days, representing the distinctive cultural activity of the mountainous community.
逐渐的可以看见他们开始进化了，年轻一辈的开始没有穿的很传统了...
In the market, one corner may be reserved for clothes and fabrics, while the next is for home utensils such as trunks, and baskets. Some yards away is a section for food--rice, corn, tomatoes, meat--and a bit farther on, one for domesticated animals: pigs, chickens, and horses.
融入他们的世界里头去了，我也变得羞答答的姑娘了....
One day trip to Bac Ha market gives me a chance to live in a mythical oasis of natural beauty and see with their own eyes the traditional costumes and lifestyle of the ethnic Mong. And the impressions from market day will not easily fade for any visitor. You should not miss it...
难得一见的打铁功夫，大家快来看看啊，不买也可以过来看看，奏奏热闹那！
Ding~ ding~ dong~ dong~...
Have you seen the knife or iron making? There is it...
这个卖猪肉的大娘，竟然翘起二郎腿拍苍蝇，还大大声地唱起民谣山歌呢！
The pose of the butcher is funny while she is waiting for business...
坐在地上的姑娘们卖的就是闻名各地的土酒，独特的秘方腌制的...
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.
从那间我住的房子望出去的角度，一大清早就布满了各式档口与人群了。
After a hard working week, this is a good opportunity for girls to display their best outfits. Only God knows how many couples have been matched on market days. People continue the exchange activities, men continue to drink their fill and the market keeps the hectic atmosphere till it gets dark. Many intoxicated husbands leave their wives and horses with big loads on their backs to wait a long time. When dusk falls, hordes of people and goods-loaded horses return home on the snaky paths to the mountaintop hamlets. Among them, one may see some wives walking beside the horses hauling weighty goods and their drunk husbands.
Bac Ha Town
One of the local house in Bac Ha town, it looks simple...
看似简单的一间屋子，令人想起“家”这个字的灵感来源，你有感觉到吗？
好久没看过这样子的老店了，印象中好像十几二十年前看过吧！
The view of the workshop for bike...
爸爸曾经带你去过这样子的理发店吗？
The only barbershop in the town...
算是满高级的餐厅，可是就是不敢进去，深怕吃了会肚子疼。因为明明看见他们在地上洗着生鸡，然后用着同一把没有洗过的刀子切着那些生鸡再继续切那些煮好了的熟鸡，直接放进饭里或面汤里，可怕可怕...
The view of the local restaurant in the main town. We did not try it because it looks like dirty. So, we always go for the biggest restaurant which is only open business for travellers for every meal.
这些等着帮忙运货的马车，每天重复的在这里等生意，有时很忙，有时却白等一场，生活真是无奈那！
The horses are used to deliver goods.
