April 25 Bac Ha Market

We were in Bac Ha for the Sunday market. This market was for real. By 7 AM all the vendors were set up and the market was in full swing. Native women were buying and selling. A few foreigners had slept in Bac Ha and were also in attendance. The livestock market was the best. Ducklings, piglets, dogs, horses and water buffalo were all for sale. There were lots of wiggling sacks around.
There were at least 20 charcoal stoves set up with various foods available. I tried bean curd for breakfast – It was ugly when served cold, but okay when it was hot. There was an impressive choice of meat cuts for sale. The Vietnamese do not waste any part of a slaughtered animal.
Joan and I bought some wall hangings as souvenirs. We are used to bargaining by now, but North Vietnam is different. The first price the vendors ask is triple to 10 times the going price. You need try a few vendors and walk away to find out the lower range of the goods. We bought the wall hangings for one-third the initial asking price and I still overpaid.
In the afternoon we took a motorcycle ride up into the mountains and walked back down. This downhill stuff is easy.

April 24 North Vietnam:

We returned from China and waited in Lao Cai, in North Vietnam, for Katherine to join us. She showed up at 8:00 in the morning after taking the all night train from Hanoi. She had neglected to book early and it was a holiday weekend in Vietnam, so she had to sit on a hard wood bench for the 10-hour trip. She looked a little tired. We got a bus to Bac Ha up in the mountains and Katherine had a nap while Joan and I went for a walk. The north of Vietnam is mountainous and is the home of several hill tribes. Vietnam has 55 minority groups and most are based in the north. We walked about 3km to visit a small village. Around Bac Ha most of the women wore traditional clothing, whether they were working in the fields or selling at the market. The men never wear traditional garb, but they all wore army fatigues. The women tend to carry big baskets on their backs or their baby. Often older sisters will carry younger brothers on their backs. We never saw the reverse.