Gave Me Some of That Good Ol' ...

In planning and scheduling our trip to the Tonkinese Alps of Vietnam last month, I was fixated on timing for the rice harvest.  We had previously visited the area in late April at the tail end of the rice planting  season.  I wanted to capture photos of the ethnic tribes people harvesting the rice by hand, or at a minimum if my timing was off - photographs of golden rice terraces ready to be harvested.

It was difficult to determine exactly when to go in order to achieve my goal.  I contacted some people in the area and did not get a specific answer. The harvest depends each year upon when the crop was planted due to weather conditions in April or May, the weather conditions during the growing season, and the weather conditions leading up to the harvest. The harvest even depends on the location of the crop - elevation and micro-climate can drastically affect the rice cultivation.  My research indicated that the harvest season was early September to the end of October.  I decided to err on the side of caution - preferring to be too early rather than miss the entire event.  I chose to travel to the Sapa region during the first week of September for the rice harvest.

I was very pleased upon our arrival on 5 September to discover that the rice harvest had just begun.  I was also surprised to find that we were just at the tail end of the corn harvest.  Corn is grown in the area by the Hmong people.

Harvesting Corn From Patch Along the Roadside

Cultivating corn in Northwest Vietnam is similar to rice cultivation.  It is all done manually.  Small plots of land carved out of mountainsides or along the banks of streams or rivers are used.  Even if the people could afford to purchase or rent mechanized equipment, the size of the plots prevent the use of machines.

Harvest Basket of Corn Straight From the Field

There are Hmong food dishes that use corn.  I suspect that since Hmong people raise pigs, that the corn is also used as animal feed.  What I did not appreciate, until this visit, was how much of the corn is used for the production of "corn liquor" - "White Lightning","Moonshine", "Hooch".

Bac Ha is famous for, besides its Sunday Market, its Moonshine and Tam Hoa plums.  The Hmong people have a very long tradition and culture for making corn liquor.  The Hmong people around Bac Ha are famous for the quality and quantity of the Moonshine that they make.

For hundreds of years, the Hmong people practiced and most definitely enjoyed this aspect of their culture.  There were attempts on the 1960s and 1970s to regulate Vietnamese traditional alcohol production but the attempts failed.  The government failed to recognize and appreciate the strong tradition of the ethnic tribes for their culture of making booze.  Sound familiar?

The most recent attempt by the central government to regulate, if not control, the production of traditional alcohol was in 2013 when people who manufactured traditional alcohol were supposed to register and obtain a permit.  Based upon my conversations in the area the people's reaction is very similar to the famous quote by the character "Gold Hat" from the 1948 movie, "The Treasure of the Sierra Madre"

 - “Badges (Permits)? We ain’t got no badges (Permits)! We don’t need no badges (Permits)!  I don’t have to show you any stinking badges (Permits)!”

I find it refreshing as well as reassuring that there are still places, but more importantly people, who resist the intrusion of centralized government into their lives and culture.  I am even more impressed to learn that some governments know better than to push their luck and not aggressively impose their will on traditionalists.

The baskets of corn from the field are brought to a central location where they are emptied and the harvest is consolidated into empty recycled sugar, rice, or fertilizer sacks.  Depending upon the quantity of the harvest and number of motorbikes available, the 50KG bags of corn are brought to the home on motorbikes or farm wagons.  I saw some horse drawn carts during our visit and I suspect that may be used too.

Once back at the farm house the corn is spread out to dry in the sun.  Provisions are made to shield the drying corn from the numerous rain showers that still occur in early September in the mountainous region.

After the corn is sufficiently dried, it is shelled - the kernels are removed from the cob by hand or with a specialized machine - either manually or electrically driven.  The corn kernels are then spread out on a tarp in the front yard and often times alongside the road that runs in front of the house to dry further in the sun.

 On our trip up to the Can Cau Saturday Market, I noticed many people buying 20 liter (5 gallon) translucent plastic bottles filled with liquid.

The next day at the Bac Ha Sunday Market, I saw many more of these containers being purchased.  At first I thought that they might be containers of cooking oil.  I knew that they were not bottles of diesel or gasoline because the liquid inside was clear.  Based upon the lack of color and sheer size of the bottles I eventually ruled out cooking oil.  Still somewhat confused as to why mountain people in an undeveloped area with plenty of rivers and streams would end up going to a weekly market I settled on assuming the people were buying drinking water.  It was only upon our return to our hotel that I found out that the people were buying 20 liter containers of moonshine - mountain dew, corn liquor, hooch.  Twenty liters costs $30 USD ($1.50 USD a liter).  Many people were buying more than one container too.  A good profit can be made selling smaller quantities out of the 20 liters and even better profit is made by aging it for a year and then selling it in smaller containers - so I was told.  The going price in a year is around $5.00 a liter.  I am still trying to figure out how storing alcohol in a plastic container improves it after one year. Well if that is what the people believe and it works for them, who am I to spoil it for them. Perhaps I should go back in a year and taste for myself  - if some of the 17 containers will still be around then.  Whiskey is aged in oak barrels to develop much of its flavor and all of its color.

Bac Ha is famous for its Moonshine and Tam Hoa plums.  What if the two were combined?  I know.  I know from experience.  With our dinner at Sa House on Saturday night, all guests were offered Moonshine and "Plum Wine".  The corn liquor was potent - I believe it to be 90 proof.  I tasted the "Plum Wine" and was surprised how strong it was.  It had a pleasant flavor but also packed a punch.  I asked if the moonshine had been added to the wine.  Yes, it had been "fortified" with corn liquor.

Duang does not drink so I ended up with two generous shots of corn liquor and two shots of slightly less potent "Plum Wine".

Duang had complained about having trouble sleeping in Hanoi because I was snoring.  Sunday morning I asked her how she slept or at least how she slept until the early morning thunderstorm.  She said that she slept "Very good.  You not make noise.  Whiskey good for you!"

Bac Ha Sunday Market



Breakfast At Bac Ha Sunday Market

Duang and I accepted Mr. Sa's offer to take us down the hill from Sa House to the weekly market down the hill in the center of Bac Ha.  We rode down on the back of motorcycles driven by Mr. Sa and his brother who works at the hotel.

In no time at all we were at the intersection of the village road and the main road in town that leads on to Can Cau and the border with PRC.  The center of town, which was quite quiet and boring just 24 hours earlier upon our arrival by bus from Lao Chai was now teaming with people and the air was charged with the excitement often encountered when people from rural areas go into "the big city" for periodic shopping excursions.  However the difference here was the unique cultural aspects of this local market.  Most of the patrons of the market were hill tribe people - typically Flower Hmong and Black Hmong.

Flower Hmong People Selling Produce From Their Family Garden

There were two main reasons that they had come into town for the market - to buy things and to sell things.  People came to sell fresh produce from their family gardens. People came to buy things such as rice threshing machines, ready made clothing, plastic toys, livestock, and large translucent plastic filled containers.  Side activities included socializing and getting haircuts with perhaps a restaurant meal.



Checking Out A Manual Rice Thresher

Unlike the Can Cau Market, 20 km to the north, which is set in a rural location, the Bac Ha Market is in a more "urban" environment.  I have researched the population of Bac Ha town but I have not come up with any statistic other than the population of the entire Bac Ha District which is roughly 50,000 people.  My guess is that the population of the town is around 5,000 - small by many standards but large enough to have  a couple hardware shops where foot operated rice threshing machines can be purchased and where people can get their chain saws repaired if they choose not to buy many of the new ones on display in the shops.  Other permanent town shops offer goods and services that the rural people are unable to make for themselves.

The Bac Ha Sunday Market is situated in the town square area and like tentacles of an octopus or squid reaches out along side streets as well as alleys adjoining the square.  It seems that every open space during the remainder of the week is commandeered on Sunday - merchandise is sold off of tarps and sometimes just an empty rice, sugar, or fertilizer bag set on the ground tended by vendors squatting next to their goods sometimes under a handheld umbrella for protection from the sun.

In the more "developed" sections of the market, stalls are set up underneath large tarps, typically blue, Suspended from temporary wood columns and tied off to just about anything that the people can find.

Shelling White Corn At Bac Ha Sunday Market

Woven Baskets for Transporting Animals - Small Animals and Tightly Packed Animals

At the edge of the market is the area where animals are bought and sold.  There were only a few water buffalo for sale but there were plenty of ducks, pigs, chickens and even some small dogs.  The pigs were small and spent most of their time in a gunnysack.  When an interested buyer showed up, the piglet was pulled out by its hind legs and displayed for the potential buyer to checked out.  No matter if a sale was concluded or not the pig, often with some difficulty, was returned to the recycled  rice, sugar, or fertilizer bag.



Bac Ha Pig Market

Ducks as well as chickens were kept in either hand made woven baskets or commercially made wire baskets.

Bac Ha Poultry Market

As you will find at all markets in Southeast Asia, there are plenty of stalls, booths, and outdoor restaurants where you can buy a snack or a "sit down meal"  The sounds and smells of ethnic foods being prepared as well as cooked adds to the exotic atmosphere of these markets for foreigners.  You want to know what the local people eat?  Go to a market and watch.

Markets are also a great location to people watch and for environmental portraits - portraits of people doing what they typically do and where they do it - a moment captured as well as a glimpse into their everyday life.

Markets are also a family affair - often 4 generations of a family along with extended members travel together for their "day" at the market.  They arrive on foot, in the back of pickup trucks, in the back of stake body heavy vehicles, on the backs of motorbikes (2,3, 4 and sometimes 5), mini-vans, mini-buses, with a few even arriving on horse back.

One of my favorite locations at the Bac Ha Market was a section where a couple of stalls were selling bulk tobacco.  The vendors had large mounds of chopped new tobacco on their tarp placed on the ground.  This chopped tobacco did not look like the tobacco that you find in commercial cigarettes.  The tobacco at the market looked exactly like shredded tobacco leaves direct from the outdoor drying racks that you can find outside of the homes where it is grown.  I guess it didn't have all the 599 ingredients that American companies have admitted to using such as ammonia, Ethyl - whole bunch of different stuff, Dimethyl - whole bunch of stuff, grape juice, Sodium - various things, Sugar - not components of tobacco but things that they added to THEIR tobacco.

Customers Sampling Some of the Tobacco Mounds

Customers are encouraged to sample the tobacco that is offered for sale.  The vendors had 4 to 6 bamboo bongs readily available for their customers to use.  Smoking for many people in southeast Asia, especially hill tribe members, is very different than what many foreigners are accustomed to.  First of all they do not typically smoke cigarettes or even in what we call "pipes".  The people smoke the tobacco using bamboo and sometimes PVC bongs 4 to 6 inches in diameter.  They also do not use a great deal of tobacco when they smoke - about 1/8 teaspoon placed in a very appropriately sized small bowl near the bottom of the bong connected at an angle with a small diameter tube.  The tobacco is ignited and the user sucks in with their mouth and nose the prodigious amount of smoke that exits from the top of the bong.  The smoker savors the smoke for a short while and then blows it out through their mouth and nose.

After spending time at the tobacco vendors, we walked over to the edge of the market where two men had set up competing barbershops on the opposite sides of the footpath just down from the pig markets.  As we approached, one of the barbers and his customer enthusiastically welcomed us and motioned us to sit down on the small home made wood bench at his area.  After walking around for at least three hours with my 15 pound camera gear backpack on, I welcomed the opportunity to take it off and to sit down.  Duang, however, had other ideas.  He walked over closer to the barber and off to his side.  After the barber and his customer finally realized that speaking Vietnamese to Duang did not do any good, they realized that she was just observing and not interested in sitting down.  If I had $1 USD or 22,000 VND for every time that people thought that Duang was Vietnamese, I would be writing this blog entry from Vietnam on our second trip to Vietnam in a month.

Haircut Time In Bac Ha

Why was Duang so interested in observing.  Nine years ago she graduated from beauty school.  Since then she has cut my hair every month.  She does a very good job but she is slow.  I have often joked with her that if she had a beauty shop, she would go out of business fast - doing 4 haircuts a day at $3 each.  Duang cuts my hair mainly with scissors and finishes it off with electric shear.  Most of the barbers that I have seen use the electric shears and finish off with the scissors.  Duang has her way and I do not complain - when you are retired, what difference does it make if it takes 30 minutes for a haircut or 5 minutes?

We had a nice time - the customer and barber trying to get me to have my hair cut while I kept telling them that Duang cuts my hair at home - for free.  We all gave as good as we got.  I kept busy photographing while Duang was observing.

A Satisfied Customer  "Hansum" Man

The other barber across the walkway was doing just as much business.  He also had observers but unlike Duang, they were actual Vietnamese people

We have been home back in Thailand now for a month.  Duang has cut my hair once - applying the technique that she learned back at the Bac Ha Market.  She now uses the electric shears for most of the cutting and uses scissors to apply the finishing touches.  She is thrilled and ... much quicker now.

In doing my extensive research for our trip to Vietnam, I came across several blogs and websites where people wanted to know about which market was the best to visit and if you could only go to one, which would you pick?  Some of the answers as well as some reviews of the markets talk about the markets in terms of losing their ethnic flare, becoming too commercialized (hmmm - rather odd for markets?), and being crowded with tourists - Vietnamese, Chinese, and Westerners.

Well - here is my quick answer - "It is up to you"  Personally I would go to both!  One is on Saturday and the other is on Sunday.  An overnight stay in Bac Ha is not expensive.  My attitude is typically - this is a trip of a lifetime and when do you think or expect that you will return.  Getting somewhere is typically the biggest cost - spending an extra day or two to see everything is much cheaper than returning again.

As for guide books and Internet travel sites - I read them all the time and use them to plan our trips.  My wife and I are travelers rather than tourists.  Travelers?  Yes - travelers go places and do things that tourists do not.  Perhaps they are orientated more for tourists than travelers. Our travel style and preferences are shared in these blogs.

 As for the Can Cau and Bac Ha Markets being crowded with tourists - that was not per our observations.  I saw perhaps 10 to 20 obvious tourists - people who did not appear to be locals.

 I ran into the same issue in regards to attending the Poi Song Long Festival in Maehongsong - "crowded" according to the "experts".  Our experience for all three visits - 40 - 50 for the daytime processions but 4-6 tourists at 4:30 AM, "the best time", when the boys are dressed and have their make-up applied by family members inside the designated Wat.

Travel guides and some reviews advised against visiting the refugee camps of the Kayan people ("long necked women") referring to them as "human zoos" and "circuses".  I have been there 6 times and Duang has gone 4 times and did not have that experience.  We ended up making friends and learned some of their life as people without a country.  The key for us was to spend up close and personal time with the residents - not jumping out of a bus with 30 other people with 30 minutes to spend.

My research for a trip to Cusco, Peru for Inti-Raymi indicated that the city was crowded for the festival.  In reality, I had no difficulty booking my hotel of first choice, or watching the 12 hour parade in the center of town - crowds were 2 to 4 people deep along the parade route - overwhelmingly Peruvians.  Leaving the reenactment site for the festival was crowded ... but that is to be expected for event with thousands of spectators again the vast majority being Peruvian.  I considered it to be part of the event experience.

My use of travel resources is to determine locale opportunities and to develop my initial expectations but never to make a decision to go or not go to a certain locale or event.  My mind is made up, and my goals are defined before I start my research.  I have yet to be disappointed in not completely trusting travel resources.

The Can Cau Market and Bac Ha Market visits, eight years in the making, were work the time, money and effort.  For me a highlight of our trip to Vietnam was being told by my wife, who had vowed to never return to Vietnam 7 years ago - tell me out of the clear blue sky (well actually overcast sky) that she wanted to come back soon with our grandsons, Peelawat and Pope.

In the end, as Duang so often says "Up to you"

Can Cau Market




Water Buffalo Section of Can Cau Market

After seven years, my wife and I finally got to experience the sights, sounds and smells of the Can Cau Saturday Market and the Bac Ha Sunday Market in Vietnam.  I had planned on us visiting these two attractions back in 2008 during our last journey to Vietnam.  Unfortunately on that journey, our detailed arrangements were made through a friend and then through a travel agency that subbed it out to another agency.  In the end we ended up pretty much with a standard tour to the Sapa Region albeit a private tour but excluding our specific wish to visit Can Cau and Bac Ha.

This year I personally handled all our arrangements either through the Internet or through the hotels where we were staying.  It was all quite simple and - we got to experience exactly what we wanted.  Vietnam has changed a great deal in the past seven years.  The best change and most welcoming change is the growth and increased awareness for service in the tourism industry.  You still have to be aware of taxi scams and some "fly-by-night" travel companies but the Internet can greatly help you to avoid them and provide reliable and honest alternatives to them.

After spending 36 hours in Hanoi, we boarded the night time train to Lao Cai in the Sapa Region.  We arrived in Lao Cai at around 6:15 A.M. after a sleepless and restless night aboard our "soft sleeper" car.  We had anticipated not getting much sleep based upon our previous trip in 2007.  However as is often is the case in long distance travel to exotic places - the excitement and enthusiasm to discovery new experiences carries you through the day after a night of little sleep.

We exited the train station in Lao Cai to find ourselves in a  large parking area in front of it.  The parking area was filled with vehicles of all types, sizes and condition.  Many of the larger and newer vans and buses were there to take people up the mountain to the town of Sapa (Sa Pa).  Some vans as well as cars were from tour companies waiting for their clients to go to Sapa.  The older and less fit, buses were public transportation to the various towns and villages in the area.

We did not have a reservation and did not know what we were doing other than we wanted to go in the opposite direction from all the others going to Sapa.  That is not a problem.  You do not even have to speak Vietnamese.  But you do have to know where you want to go!  I spoke to a man who looked like he was available to take people where they wanted to go.  We headed across the lot with him towards a newer looking van, I finally got him to give me a price - $50 each.  I did not like the sound of that and told him that it was too much money.  I had read somewhere during the Internet research that the price from Lao Gai to Bac Ha was $18 each.  We wandered through the lot towards the main street at the perimeter of the area.  We encountered another young man and his price was roughly $40 for both of us.  We accepted his offer.  He took us across the street to wait with some people who were sitting around a couple of sidewalk stand selling drinks and food.  The people were friendly and pleasant.  We did not have long to wait before the young man reappeared standing on the running board of the doorway of a small mini-bus.  A mini-bus is a bus type vehicle with capacity for about 20 passengers.

Our mini-bus was most likely at least 20 years old and covered with dust.  It did appear to be in reasonable mechanical condition.  We entered the bus and walked around a beer keg that was in the aisle.  We walked past some seats that were stacked with cardboard boxes and cloth bundles.  We took seats at the back of the bus.  We were the only foreigners on the bus. It appeared that we were in for an adventure.

We headed off in the bus with the young man standing on the running board at the open doorway.  It was obvious that he was looking for more passengers to join us.  We drove slowly towards the outskirts of town and picked up a couple more passengers and their cargo. I was anticipating that we would be picking up crates of live chickens or even a trussed up pig but it never happened - somewhat to my disappointment. The people had been to the market and were returning to their villages and perhaps their restaurant with fresh food.

Twice outside of the town we stopped and the young man got out and talked with some people along the way. He then returned to the bus to retrieve a box for the people.  I was thinking that at our current pace, we would not get to Bac Ha.  After awhile the bus picked up speed to a normal pace and we headed up the hills to Bac Ha.  We made a couple quick stops to discharge people and their cargo including that keg of beer.  Our driver was a good driver and we were able to enjoy the surrounding countryside and sights as we traveled along.

Upon checking in to our hotel, Sa House, in Bac Ha, I informed Mr. Sa that we would like to visit the Can Cau Saturday Market. A quick phone call and 30 minutes later we were on our way to the market.

The Can Cau Saturday Market is located on the main road 20 KM north of Bac Ha and just 9 KM south of the border with the People's Republic of China.  The surrounding countryside is mountainous and punctuated with many rice terraces carved into the mountain sides.

The Can Cau Market is situated on the down slope side of the road that goes to the border.  On a promontory that juts out into the valley below, the Market fully utilizes the available space - the top of the jutting land, its slopes, and the land surrounding its base.

South Side of the Market

 The Market is roughly divided up into sections with each section dedicated to a specific type of merchandise and goods.  The North side of the market - the top as well as slopes and even the base of the promontory is dedicated to buying and selling of animals - mostly water buffalo and a few head of cattle.

Duang Passes A Muddy Water Buffalo On Her Way to Bird Market

At the base of the market, in a small wooded area was the bird market.  In the bird market, many nicely constructed wood bird cages were hung from the overhead tree branches.  Clusters of potential buyers stood and stooped around the cages observing and carefully listening to the songs of the captive birds.  Birds are selected for purchase based upon their beauty and singing skills.

Another section of the market is dedicated to hill tribe fabrics typically embroidered strips of colorful cotton.  In this section, coin purses, handbags, pillow coverings are also placed for sale - either hanging from bamboo poles or on makeshift tables constructed from rough wood or bamboo.



Hill Tribe Fabrics For Sale

Along the steep paths that lead to the various levels of the market, people had set cloths and tarps on the ground upon which they sold surplus vegetables from their home gardens or items that they had collected in the forests.

People Selling Some Produce From Their Gardens

At the east end of the upper market underneath and next to a permanent octagon structure were vendors of clothing.

Clothes Shopping at Can Cau Market

The market area, a conglomeration of some permanent structures but many more temporary booths created from bamboo posts and beams covered with either the ubiquitous blue tarps or recycled corrugated metal roofs, was the place for the local peoples to meet and socialize.  Shopping at local markets is as much a social experience as it is an opportunity to purchase what you need ... be it clothing, livestock, moonshine, vegetables, meat, fruit, knives, machetes, farming tools, tobacco,  kitchen utensils, snack food, and toys from China.

It was a very interesting place with plenty of interesting people and activities going on.

Across the road from the main market area, there was a temporary barber shop set up and doing a good business.  I thought of the old days back in Connecticut when men would get their hair cut on a Saturday morning too.

Scattered about the markets were open kitchens where people could sit down and enjoy a freshly cooked meal and a drink.  The smells of exotic foods and spices wafted through the market area.  Every where groups of men and other groups of women stood about in conversation. It is not the culture to rush in, get what you need and then make a fast track back to your home.  People spend quality time amongst themselves and the vendors.  Most of them linger until around Noon when the market starts to shutdown before headed back.  Like many of the locals, we left at noon to head back to Bac Ha.  Although we were headed back to our hotel, we were not rushing.  There were opportunities and people to meet along the way.  But that is another blog for another day.




The Road to ... Maehongson

A Lisu Child Waits For Her Mother to Complete ATM Transaction In  Soppong

Today I was going to write a blog about the shaving of young boys heads prior to the start of this year's Poi Sang Long Festival in Maehongson.  However a news item this morning persuaded me to write instead a blog about the road, well actually roads, to Maehongson.

Early this morning, a bus from Udonthani, our home town, to Chiang Mai, the jumping off point to Maehongson, ran off the road and over a cliff killing five passengers and injuring 51 others.  It took over two hours for rescuers to commence extracting the people from the wreckage.  In addition to the coincidence of us returning home by way of Chiang Mai , the accident occurred on the route that we drove four years ago to Chiang Mai on our way to Maehongson.

Sadly and unfortunately, tragic bus accidents here in Thailand are all too common.  We used to travel to Bangkok by night bus but after seeing the wreckage of several buses over the past 6 years and reading of many fatal accidents we no longer travel by bus.

Besides the normal risks of badly lighted roads, kamikaze motor-bicyclists  poor lane demarcation  and  vehicles going 30 KPH (20 mph) and vehicles going 110 KPH (66 mph) all sharing the same two lane 90 KPH Max road, travel by bus has additional risks of driver fatigue, improper or non-existent maintenance, speeding, and amphetamine abuse by drivers.

There are many stories about reckless bus drivers.  My favorite is about the bus where the driver would not slow down despite the pleas and screams of the passengers.  He did slow down and drive more safely when one of the passengers, an off duty policeman, walked up to the driver and put a pistol to his head.  Having ridden on many buses and being aware of some other stories about police here, I believe the story.  Perhaps this anecdotal evidence could be used in the USA to resist gun control efforts and encourage "carry and conceal" permits - you never know when you will encounter a berserk bus driver!

For this years trip we decided to go south from our home rather than going west like we did the previous trip and that the buses do.  Our directions to Maehongson were Highway 2, Highway 12, Highway 11, Highway 107 and Highway 1095.  Taking the bus route saves about one hour but adds about 3 more highways and the roads travel through many more villages and shares the narrow roads with more buses.

Both routes take you through national parks where there are warning signs "Watch Out for the Elephant" and graphics indicating elephant crossings.  These warnings are for wild elephants.  We did not see any elephants or any evidence that elephants had used the road recently.  I was definitely not disappointed.  I do not want to encounter a wild elephant along a remote road either in or out of our vehicle.

North of Chiang Mai, you leave Highway 107 and take Highway 1095 to Maehongson. Highway 1095.   Unfortunately we had to drive the roughly 130 km to Pai in the dark and worse yet in the haze created by many fires burning in the forests through which the road twists and turns.  The road is not lighted and in many places there is neither a center line demarcation or demarcation of the road's edges.  Several times, I made right hand turns not confident that the wheels on the far side of the truck were going to remain on the road and not go off into the abyss.  After 15 hours of driving we finally arrived at our hotel in Pai, much to our relief.

Soppong - Lisu women wait for transportation to their village

The next morning with good light and a great night's sleep, we set off on Highway 1095 for Maehongson.  After about two hours, we stopped at the market of Soppong also known as Pangmapha.  The morning market in Soppong is extremely interesting.   Hill tribe peoples of the surrounding area come to sell and buy necessities, foodstuff, and other items need to maintain their lifestyles in the hills.  Lahu, Lishu, Karen, and Shan people commingle along the sides of Highway 1095 each group distinguished by their distinctive clothing and hairstyles. 

Lisu Women Selling Their Goods In Soppong

A Lahu (Masur) Vendor

After taking photographs and purchasing some fruit for the remainder of our journey, we left Soppong behind.  Two hours and many many curves, we finally arrived in Maehongson.

Young Lisu Woman At Family Table in Restaurant

The Games That Some People Play ...

A Hmong Young Man Plays Pov Pob

The games that some people play ... is not about deception, cheating, or the manipulation of human emotions or social intercourse.

The games that some people play ... is not about politics or even politicians.

The games that some people play ... is not about international affairs involving Iran, North Korea, the USA, or any other country.

This blog is literally about some of the games that we saw the Hmong people playing during our trip to Laos in early December 2010.

A Hmong Beauty Prepares to Catch A Ball

We had gone up to Luang Prabang to once again witness the Hmong New Years Celebration.  The Hmong people in Laos celebrate New Year after the harvest and in accordance to the stage of the moon in accordance with their lunar calendarr.  It is a time for the people from various clans to get together and socialize when there is a lull in the field work.  During the Hmong New Years celebration there are spiritual rituals and observances that are rather private and mostly limited to family members. During the public aspects of the celebration there is traditional music, traditional dancing, traditional clothing, eating drinking, gambling, and socializing.  The public activities are very interesting events for at least four of the five senses - propriety limits the opportunities for the sense of touch.  Socializing besides involving sharing gossip includes playing games.

Hmong Girls Playing Pov Pob

The most widely known Hmong game is most likely "Pov Pob".  Pov Pob is a ball tossing game.  It is played throughout the year in Laos but it is special during the New Years festival.  Especially in the older times it was difficult for young Hmong men and young Hmong women to find potential mates.  Hmong people are forbidden to marry within their clan.  Since the villages are often made up exclusively of a single clan and the burdens of farming leave little time to go off in search of a potential mate.  It was at the meeting of various clans at the New Year Festival that the young people had an opportunity to meet potential husbands and wives.  This tradition continues today for the Hmong people in the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR).

Pov Pob In Progress at the New Years Festival

Pov Pob is described as an activity for adolescents and akin to a courtship ritual.  That is true just as it is true to describe dancing as a fertility ritual in the United States.  Although it is true in both situations, the description is incomplete and also not completely accurate.  Just as you will see very elderly people in the USA dancing to the tunes of their youth and thoroughly enjoying themselves, you will observe older Hmong people playing Pov Pob.  The older Hmong people participating in Pov Pob like the adolescents are looking for a mate.  They are either divorced or widowed however there are some who are looking for an additional mate.  Polygamy is illegal in Laos but some old cultural practices still remain albeit not commonly.  During our visit last month we found a middle aged man who with the assistance of his middle aged wife was courting an 18 year old girl to be his wife.

Young Boy Holding a Traditional Hmong Ball for Pov Pob

Willing, if not yet capable of playing "Pov Pob"

Along with the adolescents and older  people playing the match game, there are plenty of young children who also participate in their own way in pov pob - sort of like young children dancing back in America - they imitate their older siblings and just because it is FUN.

Hmong Teenaged Men Participating in Pov Pob

Because of the match making possibilities of Pov Pob during the New Year Festival, girls wear the best traditional Hmong clothing.  Their garments are colorful, emblazoned with intricate embroidered designs.  The girls and women also wear their traditional Hmong silver jewelry.  Their ensemble is often topped off with a traditional and colorful hat.  To a lesser extent boys and young men will wear elaborate if not traditional clothing. 

Sometimes a person has to generalize in order to describe or to approach any semblance of effective communication.  The mere fact that it is a generalization means that the description is not 100% accurate for all cases and circumstances.  As is the case for most things in life there are exceptions.  In order to describe Pov Pob I will be generalizing.

A Girl Sings As She Prepares to Catch A Ball

In general girls and boys form two lines facing each other.  A small soft cloth ball, or a tennis ball, or sometimes an orange is lobbed back and forth between the lines.  Girls can throw to girls but boys are not allowed to toss to another boy.  In addition you are not allowed to lob the ball to a member of your own clan.  The person on the receiving end of the toss catches the ball with one hand.  If you are "interested" in someone you toss the ball to them.  If a boy makes a good throw to a girl and she doesn't try to catch it, she is letting him know not too subtly that she is not interested him.

If you make a good lob to someone and they drop the ball or miss catching the ball, the person is supposed to take a piece of their costume, a piece of silver, or  a bell from their costume to the person across from them.  To get the ornament or trinket back, the person has to sing to the person opposite them.  The singing and ball tossing are ice breakers for the people.   For those who are playing the game to find a match, 15 years and older, if they make a love connection they and the person who is also interested in them will leave the game.  The pair go off to get to know each other better.  If they determine that they are right for each other they will publicly announce their intentions three days later and will be married about three weeks later when the moon is right - a new moon.

A Private and Personal Pov Pob - Perhaps a Prelude to Much More



A Spinning Top Is Hurled Down Field

During this trip to the Hmong people in Laos, Duang and I watched another Hmong game called "Tujlub" (Spinning Tops) which is played by men and boys.  We watched a spinning top match on our first day in the field that served as a parking lot at one of the two festival sites that we visited throughout our stay in Luang Prabang.

The tops are carved out of very dense hardwood.  They reminded me a great deal of  turnips that were cooked for Thanksgiving dinners back in Connecticut.  A heavy cotton string about 3 or 4 meters (9 to 12 feet) long is wrapped very tightly around the wood top.  The other end of the heavy string is attached to a stick about 4 to 5 cm in diameter (1-1/2 in. to 2 in.) and 60 to 90 cm (2 - 3 feet) long.  The top is held in one hand the stick in the other hand.  The top is thrown down field while at the same time the stick is jerked downwards in a whip like or slashing motion.

The rules for playing Tujlub differ from location to location.  For the match that we watch, this appeared to be how the game was played.  There were two teams of three players each.  The first team went down the hardened dirt pitch about 10 meters (30 feet) and set their tops spinning in a somewhat tight grouping in a slightly recessed area which reminded me of a greatly worn horseshoe pit.  Once the tops were set about spinning the other team members one by one heaved their tops at the spinning stationary tops to strike them; driving them out of the area and stopping their spinning.  Apparently points were awarded for every top that was stopped by the second team.

One of the Target Tops Is Set to Spinning While One Is Already Spinning

The process was repeated again about 20 meters from the starting line and once again about 30 meters from the starting line.  After completing the three distances, the teams swapped positions with the second team setting up their tops spinning at the predetermined distances and the first team attempting to hit the spinning tops by hurling their tops down field.


A Spinning Top About To Escape From Its Line

It was amazing how often a spinning top was hit by a hurled top.  The sound of the colliding wood tops was like the sharp crack of a well hit baseball with a hickory bat.  From my position down field I had a clear and impressive view of how fast and powerful the tops were hurled towards their targets.  I was also impressed and extremely grateful as to how accurate the players were.


A Player Puts All That He Has Into His Hurl

At the other end of the festival site, men - older and appearing to be of a higher social status, were playing petanque.  Petanque is similar to bocce.  It is a French game whose current form was developed in 1907.  It is played with metal balls on a hard compacted dirt or gravel rectangular area.

A Petanque Player In Vientiane, LPDR

A small wood ball is thrown and points are earned by throwing or rolling the larger metal balls closer to it than the other team's attempts similar to bocce and not that much different than horse shoes.  Perhaps the saying of "Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades" should be modified to "Close only counts in horseshoes, bocce, petanque and hand grenades as well as nuclear weapons".

Part of the game strategy in addition to getting your balls closet to the wood ball called "cochonnet" is also to knock your opponent's ball away from the wood ball so that yours are closer or his are eliminated from the pitch.


Petanque Players Figuring Out Who Is Closest

The penchant for playing petanque is a legacy of French colonialism here in Southeast Asia.  There is a factory that produces petanque balls (boule) in Vientiane, Laos.  Although the French never colonized Thailand, petanque is played here in Isaan.  I suspect the interaction of Thailand's Lao Loum population with their cousins across the Mekong River in Lao People's democratic Republic goes a long ways towards explaining its popularity here.  I have played some with my brother-in-law and the Tahsang Village officials.  It is a nice game to play when the weather is hot and the beer is ice cold.

Playing Petanque Along the Bank of the Mekong River In Laos

It was interesting to see how people in a different culture entertain and amuse themselves.  A common denominator for all three of the games was the fact that people were making do with what was readily and perhaps more importantly what was cheaply available to them.  Their games did not involve a great deal of investment of time, equipment, space, or energy.  The Hmong games were also very social events with participants socializing as much as they were competing.