Misty Taste of Moonshine, Teardrops in My Eye

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Trip Start Dec 04, 2005 Previous
Entry Trip End Jun 16, 2006 Next
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  Ha Giang, Vietnam
Monday, April 3, 2006

DISCLAIMER: We have a few things we will be adding (names of locations and hills tribes that we can't remember right now) in the next week. So if you care about that level of detail, check back.
M: Well, this was a bit of an adventure. A great adventure, although probably not really as "adventurous" as other things we've done, but the fact that it was so different... I'm going to try not to use adventure again as I describe the past week. One of Jessie's co-workers was great enough to set us up with the name of a guide with whom she went into the mountains of northern Viet Nam. Jessie e-mailed him and we arranged to meet up with him when we arrived in Hanoi. Here's the thing about Hung, he has been indescribably patient and supportive, not to mention he has REALLY helped us A LOT. More than a lot. We're getting spoiled with how great he has been. He helped with both the camera and Western Union situations (both of which have now been completely resolved, thankfully!) and has been great about being the translator

Boys Fishing

. Especially when we were in the mountains.

J: I have to take a couple of lines to second this. This is what we keep talking about with people being unbelievably generous and helpful even when unsolicited. Hung has gone above and beyond "guide." And seriously he is quite possibly the most animated person I have ever met. He is 31 and has the energy of an 8-year-old, and also that sparkle in his eyes when he talks about things he loves. And he LOVES the mountains and people in the mountains in Vietnam.

M: We left Hanoi on Wednesday morning and started driving, well, Cuong, our driver, did the driving in this crazy old army jeep. The first day, we stopped for lunch in a small town and then stopped for the night at a very strange hotel. Apparently, it has seen its heyday as a bit of a resort where they bring the hot water down from the mountains into pools, but it is now vacant with weird "statues" of tigers in berets and some poor, exhausted animals in cages. Luckily, we didn't hang out there for long because Hung wanted to walk into the village. (J: It was a bit like a vacant/deserted carnival. It had a kind of high creepy factor.) In Viet Nam, there are a number of ethnic groups who live in the hills in the north and central areas. The tribes have different languages and dress and many of them maintain their traditions of dress and customs relating to religion and culture

Enjoying the View

. The first village was a Thai village. We walked through rice paddies and past water buffalo admiring the houses. Hung stopped at a stilt house and began to walk to the door. Jessie and I were apprehensive about barging in on a family, especially around dinnertime and especially because we didn't just want to walk into some poor unsuspecting people's home, two white girls clearly out of their element. But Hung persevered. As it turned out, he knew the family. And they were the nicest people in the world. Through Hung's translations, they asked us questions, we asked them questions and we spent a thoroughly enjoyable evening sipping their homegrown green tea and enjoying ourselves immensely. They invited us back for breakfast in the morning.

So, early the next morning, we walked back to the village, chatted for a while longer and had a very nice breakfast of sticky rice (yum!) and cabbage. And the neighbors came (J: in hordes). Word leaked out that there were two white girls around and people just started to appear to talk to us (via Hung) or about us (in a nice way) and to hang out. It was really lots of fun and we were a bit sad to leave, but Hung insisted we press on. (J: It was particularly hard to leave because everyone was so inviting and kind and many suggested we spend a day working with them and celebrating the next day's cake festival. Yep, that's right, the cake festival

Family Dinner

. Don't think we didn't want to stay, because we did. But Hung assured us that there would be cake where we next went. We did leave quite reluctantly since the family and the neighbors were so amazing.) We stopped to buy some crayons and books for village kids and climbed back into the jeep to continue the journey into the hills.

The second night, we walked through the rice fields and watched the villagers planting and tending to the plants. The family we visited that night had two incredibly sweet girls who we spent a bit of time with. However, this was not one of the highlights. There is a tradition of offering people shots of moonshine (based on corn) when sitting together, either before a meal or in the evening. Hung says that people in the mountains end up drinking considerable amounts, which can definitely be a problem. The moonshine really grossed us out. We attempted to drink some with the first family, but it was SO vile that whenever we saw a moonshine bottle and shot glasses we just started shaking our heads. The father in this particular family was really put off by the fact that none of the three of us would drink. He said, if we were in the US, we would adhere to your customs, in Viet Nam you should adhere to ours. We were both particularly bothered by this. We feel like we generally try to be pretty culturally aware, but pressuring someone to drink is completely unacceptable

Fun Times on the Boat

. As much as we tried to be kind about it, there are only so many things you can do in another language. It ended up getting fairly uncomfortable and eventually we left. But the two girls were really sweet. (J: I actually think the girls were a bit embarrassed by the father/grandfather's insistence. Hung told us that they each said something to the dad/grandad about just leaving us alone. So sweet, yet not so much with having much influence over him.)

The third day, we went to see the Hmong castle and then we climbed up a tower on the Chinese border (so we technically saw China). Finally, we stopped at a small town where Hung knew a tailor and was getting some traditional Hmong jackets made. On the way to the jeep, we passed a woman frying something that looked like logs of bread. This was the yummiest treat! Part of the family of "cakes" or at least that's how Hung translates it, the bread consists of fried dough filled with bean. The woman frying it pulled it from the oil, degreased it and gave it to us. Hot cake. Absolutely delicious. (J: She was cooking for the cake festival. Honestly, this was by far the best fried dough I have ever had. It was a fantastic, unexpected treat.)

On day four, we drove into a town where the villagers had come to the market

Gathering at the Market

. It was an amazing array of colors, goods and people milling around, socializing, buying what they needed for the week. We saw puppies change hands, people buy different cakes (of the sticky rice dough around beans either fried or not, variety) and a woman acting as a pharmacist. In this town, the woman comes to market on Saturday, people come to her with money and she doles out the meds. There were packets of amoxicillan and tetracycline, among others, that she was handing out to people who were describing their ailments. It was strange and unsettling. What kind of training did she have? Where did she get the drugs? Who was actually checking the patients? All a bit unnerving. (J: But on the health/public health topic, one thing that was really interesting was all the public health billboards/signs up around the towns and villages. There were numerous signs about TB, malaria, and many about family planning. It was so great to see, really quite impressive. And much more reassuring and uplifting.)

Between each of these encounters and little towns were gorgeous vistas from twisty insane roads. Cuong was an absolute hero with the jeep. Especially when we got to the areas of road that weren't exactly paved and were barely wide enough for the jeep. A hero. And he's hilarious. Despite not speaking much English, we managed to have a bit of fun and some good laughs.

Ho Ba Be with Mountain Reflection

Let me make a few generalizations about the trip. First, Hung, Cuong, Jessie and I sat down for every meal together, which was great. Hung has done this enough times that he had already picked the restaurants and was really excellent about ensuring that there was at least one vegetarian option. He also ordered everything, so we were never forced to do charades for food, which can be a bit sketchy at times. He also spent a good deal of time actually monitoring or participating in the cooking, which was funny and probably helped avoid some potential health risks, since we were definitely far from tourist restaurants. Second, visiting the families was really interesting and insightful and off the tourist track. We were frequently stared and pointed at and, interestingly enough, someone asked us what ethnic minority we are. People were completely fascinated with Jessie's hair. (J: So sad as it is in such a horrible state of dirty...) Our otherness was so apparent all of the time, but not in a way that felt uncomfortable. Third, Jessie said it best: it was amazing to note that the people who had the least were often the most generous offering meals and tea and a place to stay. I don't think I've ever contemplated the idea of how amazing that is.

J: Just to add to what Missy was saying about how giving people were/are: I just feel like Americans are the least welcoming people I know. I mean we are the most afraid and paranoid and least likely to just invite total strangers into our lives and homes. I kept thinking that if anyone (especially foreign) just waltzed up to someone's home unannounced and unknown in the States, we would totally freak out. These people who probably have more reason to be afraid and have less to give were the most welcoming. They were so interested in us (just as interested as we were in them) and so willing to bring us in to meet their families and enter their private lives. It was remarkable. We have been trying more and more to encourage people to come our way or send their friends/family our way if they are ever in Seattle (or wherever we are living). And we are hoping that we can open our homes the same way others have to us. Until then, we gleckel on.

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Hung at His Best - Typical Moment	Old Woman at the Market	Over Here Better	Selling Sugarcane
Traveling Party	Vile Drinks for Sale	Women in the Market

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