We were so sad to leave Luang Prabang, one of the most enigmatic places I’ve visited and a place I would love to return to. An impromptu decision saw us heading to the northern mountains of Vietnam. I felt that our trip would not be complete without a visit to the mountains and explore some of the lives and culture of the ethnic minority villages. We had no idea how this was going to pan out.
A deafening, tumultuous 6 hour journey up to the Ha Giang Province saw us deposited in a commune in the middle of nowhere. A chaotic and disorganised setup to say the least with terrible food. Through the morning’s chaos in walked Kevin… Calm, English speaking Kevin who whisked us off for a 2 day extravaganza. Kevin was a young Vietnamese who belonged to the Tai Ethnic minority and took us to some of the most remote villages off the Ha Giang Loop.
A border province and final Frontier of Vietnam, Ha Giang lies in the remote far northern region of Vietnam. To visit this province is to journey back in time and encounter some of Vietnam’s most rugged and grand landscapes, a limestone mountain range, covered with lush jungle.
Hidden from view are the villages of approximately 27 ethnic minority groups who live self-sufficiently across the mountains. Unfortunately we were unable to make the dates work to attend the market days scattered across the region so instead Kevin took us to meet some of the different groups.
The scenery was staggering. I was so pleased we hadn’t missed the terraced paddy fields shining a luminous yellow as far as the eye can see. Our first village belong to the Dao ( Pronounced zow) people. The Dao people have their origin in China and their migration to Vietnam began in the 12th and 13th centuries and lasted until the 20th century.
We climbed up and up the winding paths, we passed a school and the children called us in to see their classrooms. Eventually we abandoned the car and continued on foot to the Thon Tha village. Hamlets usually consist of five to seven scattered houses, and the building style can vary greatly depending on where they live, ranging from huts on the ground to houses set on stilts.
The rice farmers have started collecting the rice crops. All backbreaking, manual work as the mountains are not machine friendly. A small thresher is the only piece of machinery. A Buffalo helps with the heavy work. Corn is grown as the winter crop after the rice.
Cattle, pigs, and chickens, as well as goats and horses are raised in the mountains. The weaving of fabrics is also important to their daily life and their signature cloth is dyed indigo.
Kevin basically introduced himself to anyone that happened to be around their home and explained he was a Tay. This seemed enough to find ourselves being welcomed into their beautiful homes to have tea.
The handbuilt house we visited is huge. The corrugated iron sheets that formed the roof were removed a few years ago as it was too hot and were replaced by traditionally woven palm leaves. The house is one large room with curtained areas for bedrooms. The house is used to store the huge bags of rice after it has dried.
No wonder the house became too hot with a corrugated roof, each house has a fire in the middle of the room for cooking, making tea and smoking pieces of meat. The animal kitchen is outside.
The stilts allow a cool retreat for people, animals and incase of flooding but its main role is to protect them from wild animals.
Each house has a large pond, fed with fresh water from the mountain. Fish like carp are kept for food.
The Dao live in the middle area of the mountain range and have an abundance of specific trees which are used to make medicines. Rice and corn are their main crops.
We climbed a little higher up the mountain through the paddy field terraces and arrived In Xa Phin village, another Dao community, of no more than 10 houses.
There is an outside kitchen for animal catering and making Happy Water - a by-product from sweetcorn. A bit like Moonshine and equally potent. Pig corn is boiled in a heated vat to make pig porridge.
Outside the house we saw this shell casing - it serves as a reminder of the previous conflicts.
Another family we visited had the same set up. I cannot get over how huge these one roomed homes are. The gentleman who built his house was a Border Force officer during the Sino-Vietnamese war in 1979. His pictures hang in the roof.
Kevin said his wife says he needs to put on weight, he wanted to check on his progress.
It wasn’t long before Kevin had worked his magic again and we were having lunch prepared for us - stir fried fern - now that’s a first, yam soup - it may have been grey, but it was delicious, roasted sweet potato, carp and mushroom stew and of course rice!
Bananas grow everywhere as do pomelo, papaya and dragon fruit - all free food.
As I walked around I saw the traditional coats worn by the ladies on market day hanging out to dry.
The ferns growing on the left of the path are what we had for lunch.
Heading further up the mountain we came to Na Mau Village. Here tea grows wild, everywhere. You can see the tips are missing from the bushes - the best part has already been picked. Each of the teas we tried along our route tasted so different.
As we arrived a group of children started following us as we covered the last section on foot. They came and joined us for tea too. The gentleman had a little shop in his house so Kevin bought cake for them. They were very intrigued by us and loved seeing their photographs on the camera screen. I thought they lived in the house, but no the homeowner didn’t mind this gathering of children running round his house.
To end our first day. we popped in to see China, well, from the Thanh Thuy border gate. Still in the process of being upgraded, it was interesting to see. As we looked over to China, a group of people were looking at Vietnam. It is hoped this new International Border status will help open up new cooperation opportunities for the two countries. Border markets operate and day passes are offered to visitors.
How lucky were we to have a driver like Kevin who turned out to be the perfect guide. It was a joy to spend the day with him. Really looking forward to seeing what our second day will uncover.