It’s Friday the16th. So we’ve been gone six days and on the ground in Vietnam for four. We’re settling in.
Today we took a 4 mile hike through the Mai Chau valley, the town of Mai Hua and the tiny village of Kun. The hike wound through rural villages and between amazing limestone peaks. Shy hellos from the ethnic Tai and Mhong were on offer at every step.
The villagers here maintain personal gardens and typically a government lease-paddy of personal rice. Dogs (all related by the look of them) and psychedelic chickens rule the path. And one particular type of chicken had been carefully bred to satisfy the chicken feet market.
Every space in the narrow valley that isn’t green holds a stilt house. Every inch of green space that isn’t a flooded rice patty is planted with vegetables and fruit trees.
The Communists in their push to empty the cities and drive an agrarian proletariat pushed a concept called V.A.C.. I can’t give you the Vietnamese words to match the acronym but it means Garden-Pond-Barn. These are the “Three Friends” and the Party’s ideal for each homestead,
You can argue against the violently enforced banishment to this simple self sufficiency. You can point to how the model doesn’t provide education or life span or freedom to speak. It certainly require heavy subsidization.
But the net visual effect in this valley is kind of a trashy Eden.
Some pictures to tell the tale…
From the top of the valley we were scheduled to take a rafting trip down the Xia creek. “Rafting trip” turned out to be about a 1,000 yard float down a trash strewn creek on 10 bamboo poles.
Lunch followed overlooking the creek. It included some wonderful dishes. But it also included ants egg soup (not a fan). The proprietor offered shots of banana-rice moonshine – bad form to decline.
So let’s talk about death. Maybe it’s because of 150 years of brutal colonialism, a dozen wars, or lots of communist genocide and famine. Or maybe it’s just a cultural thing. But every tour or conversation here seems to get around to it.
The Thai tribes bury their dead with their heads uphill and unmarked rocks for headstones. Some Northern tribes like the Viet, dig up their dead after three years of burial to see how much flesh is on the bones. This, of course tells them whether they’ve moved on, or are still hanging around haunting them.
The Thai tribe also cut their coffins from logs the day they’re born and keep them front and center their whole lives. The Muong and other mountain tribes build small Spirit Houses in their yards with offering to keep the God of the Mountain from crushing them.
The Taoists think their dead influence daily life. They burn paper coins, watches or even model houses as bribes for intercession with their Gods.
The Buddhists recycle the dead. Hopefully you’ve done your Karma right and you’re reincarnated and on your way to enlightenment. Get it wrong and coming back as a poisonous snake is also a possibility.
The Tao-Buddhist that we learned about in Hanoi combine these last two practices but we never figured who they’re trying to impress with their offering since there’s no dead ancestors and no God.
We haven’t seen many Christian sites and we may not. But to be fair, I’m guessing these guys would find virgin birth, resurrected bodies, Holy Spirit possession, and the whole Catholic saint deal a bit whacky as well.
We haven’t gotten to the Hindu’s or Cambodian death cults yet. But we’ll keep you posted.
Another walk around town included some textile shopping and a random tour of a hotel site under construction “come see my house!”
We had an ok dinner at the Eco Lodge and then off to bed – both feeling a little tired and grumpy tonight. Maybe it’s just beauty overload or missing our Western normal.
Mac and Juju explore Southeast Asia 