Location
Sapa market is located right at the heart of Sapa town, just a short walk to Sapa stone church built by the French in the early 20th century.
Characteristics
Though there are few stalls during the week, the main Sapa market is organized every Sunday at the main square.
In the early morning, streets in Sapa downtown are filled with hundreds of Hmong and Red Dao people in colorful ethnic attire heading to Sapa market. The traditional Sunday market, which is bustling until late afternoon, is not only for trading, but also for socializing and unwinding after hard working days.
The market consists of both indoors and outdoors space. While stalls along the stone stairs outside sell flowers, fresh produce, groceries and food; little workshops on the second floor offer ethnic fabrics.
Once getting inside the market gate, tourists will see stalls full of mountain fruits like peach, apricot, pear and plum. Buying some fruits for the dinner dessert or enjoy during the trip is a good idea. Dropping by the right hand side stalls, tourists will find trinkets (ethnic silver jewelry), medical herbs and local products that are good for health like forest honey, notosingeng and ganoderma.
For the ones who are enchanted by colorful costume of H’Mong, Dao people in Sapa, and looking for authentic ethnic fabric, the second floor of Sapa market is a must-visit. Here, one can find a number of embroidered skirts, handbags, blankets, pillow shams and table covers with unique patterns, made by the indigenous. Ethnic women who sell brocades here can converse quite well in English.
Visiting Sapa market in the morning, travelers will see a lot of local people gather at food stalls to enjoy favorite breakfast of “mèn mén” (steamed corn wheat), “thắng cố” (horse soup) and corn wine. These are traditional food and beverage of local people in Sapa, and must-try for any tourists who come here.