Bac Ha Things to Do

Stop a while beside the rice fields to see farmers hard at work. As the altitude of Bac Ha is lower than that of Sa Pa and climate less dry, rice can be harvested twice a year instead of once in the Sa Pa region.

The rice terraces are first flooded with water before planting season and cattle is prodded along to plough the fields. After which, saplings are planted and when they become taller and bigger, they may have to be replanted (giving them more space) to mature before harvesting. After harvesting, the rice will have to be dehusked before it is ready for daily consumption.

Now we know why our parents warn us never to waste rice.

If you like cows and horses, you will find no lack of them in the Bac Ha market. There is a field near the centre of town (not the market place), where many horses are left there to graze.

Look out for a local photo studio at the field and local Hmong girls decked in their best (with makeup et al) waiting to have their portraits taken.

If you follow a guided tour, the advantage is that the guide can lead you through a minority village, and visit a local house as he explains to you the lifestyle and living conditions of the villagers.

Most Hmong villagers belive in ancestral worship and you will see a small altar upon entering the mud house. On one side of the house, food such as corn is dried and stored on an elevated platform.

On the side of the house, you will see grinders, pestles and cooking utensils for making the local corn wine or for cooking for the livestock and family.

Most of these mud houses are small and dark with small windows carved out of the walls for sunlight.

Wonder what the locals eat? Walk around the market where vegetables are laid out on the ground for sale. You will probably see many villagers licking away at ice creams (even in the cold rain) and wonder when that became part of their local diet.

Around the centre of the market, traders gather their pigs for trade. The local black pigs squeal and writhe a lot, so try not to go too near them. Many of the piglets are bound to a 'pig basket' so that the traders have an easier time moving them around.

In old China, people who commited adultery would have suffered the same treatment by being bound to a pig basket (an ovalur basket encasing the entire body of the pig (or human i.e.)) and drowned in the rivers as punishment.

At the centre of the Bac Ha market , you can sit down local style and try out the local food (if you dare). Remember that living in the sanitized part of the world may not prepare your stomach for the local cuisine. Take precaution!

The women in the montain tribes embroider clothes and often these days, articles for sale like cushion covers and bed spreads. There was a range of thread available, obviously chemically rather than traditionally dyed, but all contributing to the colour.

Women everywhere used these traditional baby carriers.