Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Sapa Love market

Sapa love market

May 18, 2011 about News, Travel

LookAtVietnam - Through flute sounds, young girls coming to the love market can realize boy’s love for them. However, the Sapa love market is losing its identity because many people come here not to seek love but money.

Sapa love market is lightened up every Saturday night.

Locals say that the love market is a unique tradition of the H’mong

and Dao ethnic minority people in Lao Cai province.

After market-days, many couples have got married.

Villages of ethnic minority people are very far from Sapa town,

so they often leave their home on Saturday afternoon and sleep

at the market on Saturday night to wait for the market-day on Sunday.

After girls and boys perform umbrella dances and khen (flute of ethnic minority people),

one collected money from visitors to share as “performers”.

Giang A Su, 15, told a couple of tourists from Hanoi that he went
to this love market every week to practice English with foreigners
and exchange information with girls and boys from other villages.

Local boys who seek for girlfriends at the love market said that the current love

market has lost its true meaning. Some boys play flute to earn money, not to seek girlfriends.

Souvenirs sold at the market.

A Dao do woman invites tourists to buy brocades.

Some young girls showed their skills at the market.

Tourists taste grilled eggs at the market.

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They say "

“I can’t say what made me fall in love with Vietnam - that a woman’s voice can drug you; that everything is so intense. The colors, the taste, even the rain. Nothing like the filthy rain in London. They say whatever you’re looking for, you will find here. They say you come to Vietnam and you understand a lot in a few minutes, but the rest has got to be lived. The smell: that’s the first thing that hits you, promising everything in exchange for your soul. And the heat. Your shirt is straightaway a rag. You can hardly remember your name, or what you came to escape from. But at night, there’s a breeze. The river is beautiful. You could be forgiven for thinking there was no war; that the gunshots were fireworks; that only pleasure matters. A pipe of opium, or the touch of a girl who might tell you she loves you. And then, something happens, as you knew it would. And nothing can ever be the same again.”
― Graham Greene, The Quiet American

Tips on Travel to Vietnam

It's always warm in Southeast Asia apart from high mountains, so leave the heavy clothing at home. Cotton and breathable fabrics are always better than synthetics -- although cotton does wrinkle a lot when traveling! December through April is roughly the dry season in that region, although it can still rain a little. December is a good time to go in terms of temperature -- cooler than in the humid summertime. Either way, wearing more clothing (shirt sleeves and long pants) is always more respectful towards the Asian culture, especially when visiting temples and rural areas.