Rural Retreat: Explore the diverse markets of Northern Vietnam's highlands

PERUSE the array of food, alternative medicine and vibrant cloths on offer in Vietnam’s rural street markets

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The markets are thrown together using baskets, homemade stalls and umbrellas to add protection from the sun

Nomadic photographer Claudio Sieber, 34, ventured across Vietnam’s highlands to explore the culturally diverse markets of Northern Vietnam.

Claudio visited the highlands of Vietnam to avoid areas gradually becoming over populated with tourists and locals who have begun to ask for money in exchange for photos.

Alternative medicine, food, vibrant clothes, animals - both dead and alive - and rice wine are all on offer in the markets

Sieber said: “I always ask for permission if I do portraiture. Some disagree, I accept and also respect this reaction. I get better emotions from those real life models willing to be photographed.

“But street photography isn’t just about people facing the camera. I would never pay money for a photo.

The people of Northern Vietnam are always vibrantly dressed in their intricately woven clothing

“A good example of unsustainable behaviour is the over promoted area of Sa Pa where ethnic minorities already ask hobby photographers for their ‘paid business smile’.

“Even worse, children often chase tourism money instead of going to school.”

Some other areas of Vietnam have become tourist traps and locals often charge photographers for photos

Sieber visited the markets of Sìn Hô, in the rural district of Lai Châu Province, the Ha Giang Province and the Bac Hà District - capital of the region of the Flower Hmong, one of the six groups who make up the Hmong people.

The Hmong people are an ethnic group who originate in the mountainous regions of China, Vietnam, Laos and Thailand, they are made up of several sub-groups including Flower Hmong, White Hmong and Black Hmong.

Sieber said many of the markets were popular hangouts for teenagers looking for love

Visiting the lesser known markets of the North gave Claudio the ideal backdrop to explore the stunning and diverse cultures of Vietnam’s vast 89 million population.

Vibrant stalls offered swathes of intricately woven cloth, rice wine, alternative medicine, animals - both dead and alive - and home grown food from across each region.

Across Vietnam, there are 54 different ethnic groups

The photographer said: “A row of barbers on the sidewalk take care of their customers while shoppers flock around in search of new trends, traditional tribal clothes or just their weekly grocery shop.

“There are cows, puppies or birds changing ownership in the markets. Some market ladies reminded me of witch doctors offering their alternative medicine such as indefinable roots, dried mushrooms, wood bark or certain parts of fluffy animals.

Claudio visited markets populated by the Hmong people - who are made up of six sub-groups

“Most of those markets have one thing in common, teenagers dressing up to attract the opposite gender, since the size of small communes and distances in between makes it hard for them to find the ‘right one’.

“Nevertheless in most cases the parents choose the ‘right one’.”

Vietnam is a vast country with a population of approximately 89 million

The travelling freelance photographer, who left Switzerland three years ago to explore the world through his camera lens, was fascinated by the taster he got of the every day lives of Vietnam’s rural population.

Claudio said: “It’s a glimpse of ethnic life and I love the fact that it is 100 percent authentic. There is no show for tourists.

Sieber is a nomadic photographer who left Switzerland three years ago to travel the globe

“It’s more like a weekly event for the shoppers. People do business in the early morning, then go to eat Pho together - the typical noodle soup of Vietnam - smoke the bamboo pipe and venture back home.

“Some bought a cow, some a jerrycans of rice wine, some a bunch of glimmer clothes and some might have found a new boyfriend.”