You may have gone to the markets before, but most people have never experienced the local border market before. In the early morning on Sunday, Craft Link invites you to join us for a bike ride through the mountains to Nam Can Border Gate, Ky Son District, Nghe An Province An.

Like many other markets, Nam Can Border Gate market only opens on Sunday morning, from about 5 am to 12 noon. When going to the border market, you must remember to bring your passport or travel document to report if you are not a local citizen.

You’ll meet ethnic minority people such as Thai, Hmong, Laotians, Khmu and so on. They dress simply when they go to the market to purchase and sell, forgoing the more ornate outfits they wear for the highland markets.

Nam Can Border Market takes place on spacious grounds, each area clearly and carefully divided, taking care not to separate themselves too much, because “a life without a friend is a life without sun”. Stepping into the market, you will find many types of melons. All fruits are packed and displayed beautifully. The packaging is eco-friendly. Most of the fruits and vegetables are grown in home gardens or picked in the forest, wrapped in fresh banana leaves, as well as many products imported from Laos.

Going inside, on the right side is a variety of clothes with all kinds of colors and styles for the elderly and children, from the Kinh and Thai to the Laotian.

Opposite the clothing area is a food court area with all the scrumptious typical Lao dishes: Chicken / pork / grilled sausage on charcoal, roasted bird, white sticky rice served with papaya salad, “cham cham cheo” (fish sauce mixed with chilli, lime leaves, and wild forest pepper) with raw vegetables, Lao beer, and the delightful warm pastries that are made from glutinous rice and wheat flour.

In the distance, there are grocery stores stocking everything from bamboo and rattan products to household plastic goods and spices such as garlic, paprika, chilli and bottled salt. Many houses have trucks deliver to them to save them time from going to the pavilions.

Near the end of the market, raw meat, beef, pork, and chicken are displayed. This area is the largest in the market because most people want to come here to buy something to make at home. There are wooden tables for the sale of firewood or herbal medicine taken from the forest, with a few small hand-made and eye-catching pieces of jewelry made by Lao women.

The sun gradually rises as the boisterous sound of excited greetings at the border market increases, with the gentle hum of motorbikes and cars coming and going with goods to be bought and sold that day.