Pho Doan Market (Chợ Phố Đoàn)
Pu Luong's twice-weekly highland market, held on Thursday and Sunday mornings since French colonial times, where Thai and Muong villagers trade forest produce, hill chickens and sticky rice.
Overview
Pho Doan Market (Chợ Phố Đoàn, also written Phố Đòn) is a highland market in Lũng Niêm commune, in the old Bá Thước district on the edge of Pù Luông Nature Reserve. It only runs on Thursday and Sunday mornings, and it has been held here since the French colonial period, when it was the trading point for villages from Lũng Niêm, Thành Sơn, Thành Lâm, Lũng Cao and Cổ Lũng.
It's a working market, not a show for tourists. People walk or ride down from the surrounding Thai and Muong villages with baskets of produce, trade for a few hours, and are mostly gone by mid-morning.
Get There
The market is in Lũng Niêm commune on the Pù Luông side of Bá Thước. Most visitors come over from Bản Đôn on a Thursday or Sunday morning by motorbike or with a car arranged by their homestay [TODO: confirm the distance and driving time from Bản Đôn]. It fits easily into a morning on the Pu Luong Loop, and the long trek from Kho Muong to Hieu Waterfall passes the market too.
Hotels
There's nowhere to stay at the market itself. Most people base themselves in Bản Đôn, where the eco-lodges and homestays are, and plan their Pù Luông days so a Thursday or Sunday morning is free. See our Pu Luong travel guide for where to stay.
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What you'll find: Forest spices like wild pepper seeds (mắc khén) and dổi seeds, which are ground into the dipping salt for grilled meat. Sticky rice, forest honey, fresh herbs, hill chickens and stream fish, plus stalls of everyday goods for the villagers.
When to go: Thursday or Sunday, as early as you can. Sellers set up from about 5:30–6am, and many start packing up by 9:30–10am. If you arrive at 10:30, you'll catch the end of it.
Good to know: Bring small notes, and ask before you photograph people. If you want to bring dổi or mắc khén home, buy it from the person who gathered it rather than a shop in town.
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