This was a four-day whitewater rafting/kayaking trip down the Nam Ha River in Laos…each day, we stayed in a different hilltribe village. The cast of characters was varied and quite hilarious…there were eight of us on the trip, and seven even made it to Thailand. 😉 (The eighth left us after the second day.)
Credits: About half the photos on this page were taken by Michelle, one of my fellow rafters. In particular, all the good shots of people were taken by Michelle.
Click here for Hilltribe Visits, Part 1
Click here for Hilltribe Visits, Part 3
Pigs are fed paddy (unhusked) rice and rice husks in the morning, too...
A Mien/Yao baby. Very cute. (Note the embroidered cap!)
I was fascinated by the hairdo, so I asked them to do up my hair like theirs. They thought this was great fun...
...and I went through a "Cousin It" phase along the way...
The finished result (and the artist, behind left). The jacket I'm wearing is not Mien, though--it's Black Tai. (I plan to wear it to my next Black Tai affair. ;-) )
View from behind. They put the hair up into a chignon, with a strip around the sides.
The pin is very interesting (you can get a better look w/the woman embroidering): old silver coins (circa 1900-1920) welded to a silver pin. Very neat.
In the morning, they took us up to the field where they practice slash-and-burn agriculture...this hut is where they rest during the heat of the day.
I tried getting some photos illustrating how slash-and-burn works, but was stymied by the fog.
The toilet. The door was a bit of latticed bamboo that one picked up and leaned across the opening.
This isn't from any of the villages we stayed in, but I include it because it's my absolute favorite toilet. Do take a closer look....
On the second night, we stayed in a Khammu village. The kids were terrified and fascinated by the Caucasians in the party...they followed us around to watch, but if any of the whitefolks moved or looked in their direction, they would run away...
...I, on the other hand, could wander around without more than a curious glance or two.
In the evening, we were invited to the chief/mayor's house, where we were regaled with lao lao (rice whisky), and required to sing for our suppers...the most hilarious part of the evening was the nannies doing the children's song, "Father Abraham", which involves flapping your arms and legs around rather like a dying chicken.
After that little episode, the kids had no more fear of us. I wonder why....
A bunch of kids watching us cautiously from over a pile of tree bark, being taken to the market.
I never did figure out what the tree bark was; they said it was exported to China to be made into some kind of fabric that was then re-exported to Laos, but I've never heard of any such textile. If anyone has a clue, please email me...
Kids work pretty hard in the Third World. Here, a pair of girls goes by carrying a big load of bark.
Notice the carriers: they're forehead-slings!
This village, in addition to rice whisky, also had "jar wine"...glutinous rice is put in, along with a little starter, covered in rice husks, and allowed to ferment. When guests come, they add several pots of drinking water to the top, stick long straws into the bottom of the pot, and presto! a communal pot of rice wine.
It's actually very good, quite sweet--like the slightly fermented glutinous rice you can buy in Chinese supermarkets.
More of the very cute kids, accompanied by an old grandma, smoking tobacco in her pipe. Tobacco is widely grown, as is opium.
A mother with baby...
...and an old woman with kitten. (Take a closer look...her face is very beautiful.)
The third village was considerably more cosmopolitan...they had a dirt road running through the village, with pickup trucks and motorcycles and everything....
...and cute kids. Lots of cute kids. About 50% of the population of Laos is under 15.
Believe it or not, this is a chicken coop. (I didn't believe it, until I saw the hens coming in and out.)
That evening, we discovered that lao lao (rice whisky) is really quite cheap...fifty cents a quart!
Two liters of the local moonshine (shared liberally with the villagers) was enough to get my compatriots extremely sloshed...
Click here for Hilltribe Visits, Part 1
Click here for Hilltribe Visits, Part 3
