Traveling to Sapa attracts tourists from all locations by the beauty of natural and majestic landscapes as well as indigenous people here. The attractiveness of Sapa tours must include the beauty of the highland fair.
Cao Son Market is located on Cao Son Commune, Muong Khuong district, Lao Cai province. Here, visitors will have the opportunity to interact, talk and learn more about the daily life of ethnic people living in the four biggest villages of Muong Khuong district.
In order to visit Cao Son Market, visitors can take many routes. However, if visitors want to have the opportunity to cruise on the river and enjoy the poetic and charming natural beauty with the sun, clean water, and majestic mountains of the northwest on the river banks, visitors should participate in tours on Chay River.
Cao Son Market is the market of the ethnic Hmong, Phu La, Black Dao and Chinese living in the 4 biggest villages. Each week, the market is gathered only on Wednesday.
Upon entering the fair, right from the early morning, there is a lot of people going to the market from all roads around. They go into groups, pairs and sometimes one by one. Some people are shippers, some use horses to carry the packages or some go to markets by motorcycles, bicycles. The girls of Hmong, Dao wear dresses and umbrellas opening like mushrooms on their heads with sophisticated motifs, vivid colors which make a lively and appealing painting for the market.
Cao Son Market is beautiful by people, goods, and natural scenery. In the vastness of space, the immensity of the mountains, people are so small. They are carefree to buy, to sell and to exchange goods with each other. Some people buy rice, buy brocade, vegetables, fruits or just enjoy specialties in highland regions. Like some other upland markets, Cao Son Market is divided into several areas:
The items bring the flavor of mountains such as vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, black mushrooms, honey, wine, corn, upland rice, housewares, jewelry are concentrated into one area and are organized beautifully by type of items. In this colorful space, standing out is the range of brocade products with colorful, lively patterns. These are products showing the skills and talent from planting, making fiber, weaving, dyeing to embroidering of Hmong, Phu La, and Dao women.
However, the most attention is the sale of livestock, poultry such as buffalo, cows, pigs, chickens, dogs, horses. The air in this area is very boisterous, with the scene of buyers, sellers standing, sitting and bargaining with each other.
A few hundred meters is the zone for ethnic cuisine. Here, visitors will easily be overwhelmed by the glamorous flavors of cuisines from several dishes including the smell of ‘Thắng cố’ pan made by buffalo, horse meat and beef of the Hmong, the flavor of certain ethnic alcohol such as wine corn of Coc Dam, Coc Ngu. In this bustling and attractive atmosphere, visitors will have to stop, sit down and enjoy the ethnic cuisine of the ethnic people.
Discover Cao Son Market of Sapa, visitors can buy many lovely items, enjoy cuisine and learn many interesting points in mysterious Sapa. Tourists can have the opportunity to enjoy the interference among cultural identities of some ethnic groups living in villages along the Chay river, on the territory of Muong Khuong district. Besides, visitors also have a chance to cruise on the Chay River and sightsee on both sides of the river.
