At the high hill A Luoi (Thua Thien – Hue), there is a special market of the Pa Kôh, Ta Oi, Pa Hi … people to sell the products of the Annamite mountains. The market is also more bustling on days near the Lunar New Year.
The carefree smile of a Pa Kôh mother at A Luoi product market PHOTO: NGUYEN THO
Many locals said that this produce market had met more than a decade ago. Initially, the market “sprung up” on the street next to the HA Luoi Central Market, gathering people from all over the communes to buy and sell.When the central market is built, the produce market also “moves” along to the temporary market in the central bus station area of A Luoi. The market is located on a street next to the bus station, starting to get crowded around 4am each day.
 A Luoi produce market meeting on the side of the road, gathering the Pa Kôh, Ta Oi, and Pa Hi women …PHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
It is said that the product market because the “small traders” who come to the market bring the products of the mountains and forests that they had earned from the previous day. People bring tubers, banana buds, forest pepper, monoliths … People go to the market for cucurbits, tomatoes … grown naturally on the field.There are not only plant products, but also stone snails caught in the market, which the junglers catch in streams or endemic fish species in Truong Son such as green fish, bitter fish …
 Mountain and forest products are gathered by people along the road to exchange, tradePHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
Mrs. Ho Thi Nhung (residing in A Ngo commune, HA Luoi) said that after each day of fieldwork, what her husband earns, she brings it to the market the next morning. In particular, each season has different products , sometimes fish in the dry season, sometimes wild honey bottles, sometimes only a few kilograms of myrtle fruit …
In the rainy season, it is ripe, wild bamboo shoots …”In the days before Tet, the market sells a variety of forest products such as: squash leaves, leaves to pack cakes, and wine to drink again on the occasion of Tet …”, Ms. Nhung said.
 The little ethnic minorities in A Luoi wake up early to go to the market to help their familiesPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
Initially, the market was just a place where local residents came to exchange, buy and sell. Gradually, visitors who know this market have tried to get up early when they had the opportunity to visit A Luoi.Mr. Le Van Duy (residing in Hue city) and his friends come to the market just to buy vegetables. “This is a wild vegetable growing in the forest that my whole family loves. At the market, I also bought some wild pepper and chili to bring home to use gradually for barbecue meals… ”, Mr. Duy shared.
 People who come to markets to sell products often get up very early because the forest road is quite far awayPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
Because it is a roadside market, the market is usually crowded for about 2 hours (from 4-6 am every day). After that, the seller clears it to return a clear route for commuting.
Visitors coming to A Luoi, besides experiencing and visiting landscapes such as A No waterfall, A Lin stream, Viet Tien tourist village …, the product market will be an interesting destination for the trip. At that place, each visitor can bring back hard-to-find products elsewhere, and prepare dishes for the family of highland flavors.Here are some pictures at the unique produce market in A Luoi high street.
 Tourists enjoy strange productsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 The simple market on the roadside attracts many buyersPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 The market sells almost all the forest products, most notably bamboo shootsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Potential products of the Pa KôhPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Wild pepper – a special spice eaten with barbecuePHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Ginger “super spicy” of the ethnic minorities in A LuoiPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Lettuce is picked from deep forestsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Cucumber with yellow skin – an agricultural product found only in A LuoiPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Only in this market can we sell banana budsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Agricultural products are grown by local people on the fieldsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Monochrome – a vegetable found only in the deep forest of Truong SonPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Beetroot – a forest product like the trunk of a coconut tree, eaten with a special tastePHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Prepared salt from dangerous chili, forest pepper is very convenient for tourists to buy as giftsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Many types of fish are also market specialtiesPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 The famous famous snail of A LuoiPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Endemic fish in A Luoi is caught from deep forest streamsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 Products market with bold identity of the people of A Luoi highlandPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
 The upland sale and purchase scene at A Luoi produce market impresses many visitorsPHOTO: NGUYEN THO |
Thanh Nien