The Market of Bac Ha

We spent a day and 1/2 in Sapa and then headed to a nearby village called Bac Ha, where there is a very popular weekend market. Bad Ha is a very small town of about 7,000, quiet during the week and only coming to life on the weekend when hordes of tourists cone to see the market.

Saturday evening we wandered around the town and met some very interesting people. We even ran into an old friend of Steph (of the French couple we were traveling with) who she hadn't seen or heard from in 7 years! Small world.

That night Jason and Fred wanted to catch a soccer games so we found the one little shop that had the game playing. We sat down with locals and watched the game. They were so excited that we all had something in common even though we couldn't speak the same language. The woman who ram the shop poured us all some tea and got out her English books to show us that she was trying to teach herself. We sat around and had an English/Vietnamese language exchange. They were such wonderful people and it was a gun and interesting evening.

Sunday morning we woke up bright and early to see the market before the bus loads of tourists would arrive several hours later. The market is huge, taking up the entire dental area of the town. And this is a real mountain market by the way, not one just created for tourists to gawk at. The tribal people come in from all the surrounding villages and buy and sell food and supplies. There are stalls with fresh picked bananas and oranges, shovels and back hoes, woven dresses in the ethnic colors, etc. etc.

And of course one major supply that the villagers need to buy and sell is animals. This is where I had a hard time and even started to cry and had to leave the area. I understand that there are cultural differences and that people need to eat, but the way they treat the animals is just horrible. I saw three scrawny , weak looking dogs in a small cage on the back of a motorbike. I saw burlap bags rolling around on the ground, either with puppies or piglets inside. All of the animals, from horses and water buffalo to pigs and chickens, appeared malnourished and poorly treated. Our friend, Fred, even watched as a dog's throat was slit and the chopped up for food (yes, they eat dog in Vietnam, as well as horse).

It was all too much for me to handle. I am such an animal lover and can't bare to see them treated badly. It's something I had a hard time with the whole time I was in Vietnam. I saw puppies kicked so hard that that they were rolling on the floor crying. The thinnest kitten you can imagine chained up to a busy street corner on Hanoi, too scared to move.

Any way, moving along. Besides the mistreatment of the animals, the market was very interesting to see. It was unlike any market I've ever been to.

After our morning in the market, we parted ways with Fred and Steph, sure that we will meet again in another part of the world. That afternoon Jason and I wandered around some small villages around Bac Ha and saw the beautiful farmlands as well as the beautiful children.

The next day we just hung out around town before making the long trip back to Hanoi and then flying to Luang Prabang, Laos.