Blood-thirsty Natives

Still in the north-east highlands. Drove from Sapa to Bac ha to see the weekly Sunday market. This was 3 hours through some of the dustiest towns we have ever seen. Most people wear a cloth over their mouth to filter it out. Our trusty driver, Mr. Bau, is a recently retired military man with a limp thanks to the US army.

The market is colourful chaos because it's crowded with native women that wear multi-coloured head scarves. The native people from the surrounding hills come here to do their weekly buying and selling - everything from dogs (to eat), pigs, chickens, water buffalo, fruits, vegies, noodles, clothes... you name it. This market is all business, if you move to slow you get a sharp jab in the ribs to get out of the way by some small woman with a huge basket on her back.

We asked what the bowls of red "soup" were that you see in the market food stalls. They are bowls of fresh pig blood, garnished with crushed peanuts, mint, and herbs. By the looks of things, this is a popular item. What happens if there is a shortage of pig blood and they can't get their of blood? They will surely be looking for another source and smacking their lips over the over-fed tourists with their pig-like features. We fled the market as fast as we could and paid Mr. Bau double to get us back to the train station as fast as possible for the overnight train to Hanoi.



Paul