Your Vietnam

Located about 80 kilometres from Lao Cai province in the northeast of Vietnam, Bac Ha and the neighboring Si Ma Cai district are a kaleidoscope of colours and cultures thanks to the vibrant markets where 14 different ethnic minority groups often converge.

This makes it the perfect place for tourists or visitors to gain a snapshot into the lives of the different ethnic groups in the north of Vietnam.

Weather wise you can have no complaints in Bac Ha, as this mountainous region is blessed with fresh air as well as a breathtaking landscape. On market days, from the early morning, the mountain paths are full of people and horses carrying goods towards the market.

On the way down market

Though it’s early morning, for many people living more than 20 kilometres from the market this means setting off in the middle of the night at 1 or 2am.

Travelling in groups, you will find families and friends trekking over hills and mountains with Chinese flash lamps on their heads to light the road.

Sleeping babies will be wrapped up on the backs of their mothers. It is an excursion everyone is clearly used to. Not even the more elderly ones seem to mind the distances covered.

Couples may have prepared forestry products, wine or handicrafts to sell at the market. All of this will be packed in bamboo baskets which are carried on their backs. Others might bring sugarcane, a pig or a chicken to trade at the market.

Most H’mong men are sure to drink ruou (rice liquor) and eat thang co, a hearty broth made from the bits and pieces of a horse that is not for those with sensitive stomachs, while women sit at their stalls selling thick brocades or silver trinkets.

Gender equality is clearly yet to be a factor at the market for H’mong people. Men mostly just drink and chat while women are busy either selling or purchasing clothes or supplies for the week.

Batik and hand embroidered skirts of the Flower Hmong, the
most colorful hill tribe of Northern Vietnam, at Bac Ha market.

Their trading method is rather unique as they do not need any scales; they weigh commodities by placing it in a bowl or a fist, or even just by looking at it.

“We consider coming to the market as fun. We cannot live without it. Sometimes we come to the market and don’t buy anything, but we need to talk and to see what is going on,” says a 44 year old H’Mong woman in Sin Cheng market, 20 kilometres from Bac Ha town.

The market is filled with goods made or grown by ethnic minorities but there’s a notable increase in the presence of Chinese goods, which are of course as cheap as they are abundant.

This vendor sells chilies to warm the belly during
the cold winter months in northern Vietnam.

As the day goes on the drink takes its toll on the men. However, there is no one as surprisingly calm as a H’mong woman when their husband is blind drunk. You’d have to think they’re used to it. Eventually some of the men will be found sleeping on the side of road while a wife sits beside him patiently waiting for him to sleep off the booze.

However, on the plus side of H’Mong men’s drinking style is their temperament. Unlike other cultures or ethnic minorities H’Mong men are pretty mellow when drunk, besides the odd raised voice.

After their roadside snooze in the shade, the husband will rise and return home with his wife. In cases where a man is comatosed, the wife will have to figure out a way to get him on the back of their horse, if they have one, so she can lead them home.

For the younger H’mong people there’s much more romance around. The market fairs are a chance for boys and girls to meet, flirt and woo each other. There will be dancing, singing or traditional music played with instruments such as dan moi (Jew’s harp) or dan nhi (a two stringed fiddle). The boys and girls will also dress to impress by wearing their most beautiful outfits.

“This sum is big but we only buy two sets per year. We save up to buy it,” she explains.

Ethnic minority people in Bac Ha are generally not shy. When tourists pull out their cameras people don’t run away or demand a tip. Though you might be expected to knock back a glass of liquor!

Source: Timeout-VIR

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