1. Where is Bao Lac Night Market?
Bao Lac Night Market is located in the center of Bao Lac town, Bao Lac district, Cao Bang province, Vietnam. About 110 km northwest of Cao Bang city and about 322 km north of Hanoi capital.
2. How is Bao Lac night market unique?
Bao Lac town night market is held every Saturday. It is a place to introduce and promote culture, products, and unique cuisine imbued with the cultural identity of the western mountainous ethnic groups of Cao Bang province to tourists from all over.
Bao Lac Night Market is a place where you can experience the traditional culture imbued with the national identity here. Nestled next to the unique craft stalls are culinary stalls with fragrant smoke inviting you to stop and enjoy.
Bao Lac Market not only attracts tourists because of its poetic space, diverse goods, delicious cuisine,… But also because of its extremely unique culture. One of the typical cultural features here is the love market in Bao Lac Cao Bang. The love market in Bao Lac Cao Bang only takes place twice a year. On March 30 and August 15 of the lunar calendar.
At this love market, people not only come to buy and sell goods but also to convey their love, nostalgia, and secret feelings. To drink together a cup of strong wine or share sweet, passionate love songs with each other. This is truly a beautiful cultural feature of Bao Lac.
3. When is the best time to join Bao Lac night market?
Bao Lac Market opens during the day on the 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th, 30th lunar month. Each market in Bao Lac is a miniature image of the community life of ethnic minorities in the district.
Bao Lac night market will be held every Saturday. This is an interesting and attractive stop for tourists on their tour in Cao Bang.
The ideal time to travel to Bao Lac and participate in this unique night market is from September to April next year. This is also the dry season, the weather is dry and cool, creating favorable conditions for sightseeing. This is also the season of ripe rice, the season of blooming fragrant flowers. This is also the season of spring festivals that you must definitely participate in when coming to Bao Lac.
4. How to get to Bao Lac night market?
The road to Bao Lac is not too difficult, you can choose some types of personal vehicles to move from Hanoi to Cao Bang. Such as motorbikes and cars to save costs, you can be proactive in arranging your travel itinerary. In addition, you can also choose a passenger car or limousine, just catch a bus from My Dinh, Giap Bat, Gia Lam bus stations,… to travel to Cao Bang city. When you arrive in Cao Bang city, you can take a car within the province, rent a taxi or motorbike to continue moving to Bao Lac.
When moving from Hanoi to Bao Lac Cao Bang, you can follow the following route. You will follow National Highway 1A to the Northeast, passing through districts and cities such as Bac Giang and Lang Son. In Lang Son, you will continue to travel along Highway 1B to the North, passing Chi Lang and Loc Binh to reach Cao Bang. From Cao Bang, you can take branch routes such as National Highway 34 or National Highway 4B to get to Bao Lac.
Bao Lac Market is located on National Highway 34, near the town center of Bao Lac district (Cao Bang province). The peaceful Gam River flows through, making the scene of the highland market even more poetic and lyrical. With this geographical location, Bao Lac night market is always an ideal destination for tourists when coming to Cao Bang.
5. Exploring the beauty of Bao Lac night market
When you step into Bao Lac market, you will be overwhelmed by the diversity of goods here. All products from garments and raw materials to food and traditional specialties are sold in the market.
Bao Lac night market is organized with activities. Such as: Cultural and artistic performances, including traditional musical performances of local ethnic groups. Cuisine features local specialties and folk games. Demonstration of handicrafts such as knitting, brocade weaving, etc.
The space of Bao Lac market is very large, airy and divided into 4 main areas:
5.1 Food court:
This is a place specializing in selling and trading all types of food and drinks. In particular, the market is full of famous specialties of Bao Lac in particular and Cao Bang in general
5.2 Commercial sales area:
This area sells local commercial items such as clothes, fashion, shoes, food, spices, etc. Coming here, you don’t forget to choose a national costume for yourself or your relatives and friends. They are made by the hands of the local people themselves.
5.3 Entertainment area, folk games and traditional ethnic art forms:
In this area, you feel like you can immerse yourself in the village atmosphere, returning to your childhood with many games. Such as mandarin umbrellas, jumping rope, stilts, bag jumping, board shoes, etc. In addition, this place is also a stage. to take place traditional ethnic art exchange activities.
5.4 Picture display area:
This is probably the most attractive space at Bao Lac market. Because it is full of images of famous tourist attractions, national costumes and specialty dishes of Bao Lac district.
6. Specialty dishes when visiting Bao Lac night market
Ttraveling to Bao Lac night market, you will not only be immersed in the unique cultural space here. But you will also have the opportunity to enjoy the specialty dishes of this beautiful land.
6.1 Roasted duck with mac ma leaves
Mac Mat leaves are a plant commonly found in Bao Lac and are used for grilled dishes. Because Mac Mat leaves contain very fragrant essential oils that help eliminate the fishy smell of duck. Coming to Bao Lac, you don’t miss the opportunity to enjoy this delicious dish
6.2 Bao Lac grilled fish
Walking around Bao Lac market, it is not difficult to see carts carrying glowing pink charcoal stoves, above which are fragrant golden fish. This fish is caught on the Neo and Gam rivers so it is very fresh and delicious.
6.3 Black sticky rice cake (Banh chung den)
The cake is made from upland sticky rice that Tay people often call “Khau Pai” and charcoal ash of pickled plants, wild dong leaves, pork meat and green bean filling. This type of cake is not only a specialty of Bao Lac but also an indispensable product during holidays. Especially during the Lunar New Year of the people here.
7. Accommodation when traveling to Bao Lac night market
Because Bao Lac night market is located right in the center of Bao Lac town. Tt is convenient for you to stay right in this town. Here are some accommodations that you can refer to:
7.1. Hotels:
- Viet Hoang Bao Lac Hotel. Address: Area 6, Cao Bang province, Bao Lac town, Bao Lac, Cao Bang.
- Quy Anh Hotel. Address: Area 3, Bao Lac town, Bao Lac, Cao Bang.
- Phuong Linh Hotel. Address: Area 2, Bao Lac town, Bao Lac, Cao Bang.
7.2. Homestays:
- Bao Lac Traditional Homestay. Address: Cau, Bao Lac town, Bao Lac, Cao Bang.
- Sunny Bao Lac Homestay. Address: Road 217, Bao Lac town, Bao Lac, Cao Bang.
Bao Lac Night Market is one of the ideal and extremely attractive destinations beside Ban Gioc waterfall during a trip to Cao Bang. You will experience unique cultural features, enjoy traditional flavors. You can also discover many new things about this lyrical land.
Origin Vietnam – a professional tour operator, is always ready to provide all useful and necessary information for your upcoming trip to Bao Lac Night Market. We always accompany you in every step of your tour in Vietnam to discover the travel beauty of Cao Bang and commit to bringing you the most interesting experiences.
