KHAU VAI LOVE MARKET FOR MOTORBIKING

The famous Khau Vai Love Market, in Ha Giang province, takes place only once a year. It’s when the moon completely disappeared for the last time in lunar March, the night of the 26^th.

Legend Of Khau Vai Love Market

According to legend, the market’s early date back to the unrequited love between a young boy and girl. They fell in love deeply. However, as they were from different tribes, they were forbidden to be together. A bitter quarrel erupted between the two families, and the couple was forced to end the affair. Unable to bear the thought of never seeing each other again, they decided to meet on the same day every year in Khau Vai. Today, the site of the forbidden rendezvous is home to the love market.

The Old Days

The market is not just for a hopeful marriage. It is also the social event of the year, where old friends meet up and new ones begin. No matter their age, everyone looks forward to the chance to chat over sticky rice, grilled cassava, or rice dumplings. The celebrations begin the evening before, with a night of song and dance, and performances expressing fervent wishes for eternal love and romantic melodies fill the night air.

Whether they find a partner or not, the happy memories of the day linger in the minds of many of these mountainous people. At this market, goodwills are always ripe.

Sad Fact

Sadly, the Ha Giang provincial government recently just commercialized this market. Therefore, to many people, they never see the original market anymore.

It seems that the local government tries to promote tourism but in quite a wrong way. Recently, they also added a flower festival. As a result, traffic is quite bad and there are normally not enough rooms. Many of our customers complained about this but what can we do?

Overnight in a local family, we will enjoy the time with local people until the morning. Short sleep in the noisy market then we ride around to discover the most beautiful landscape of Vietnam. Then we come back to Meo Vac town for the night in guest-house.

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