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!"

Give Me Some of that Good Ol' Lao Lao

The Little Ol' Lao lao Lao Maker

After we had visited the blacksmiths of Baan Hat Hien we went out to Baan Xang Hai which is refered to as "Whiskey Village".  Baan Xang Hai turned out to be a further drive from Luang Prabang than I was expecting.  It turns out that that Baan Xang Hai is 25 KM from Luang Prabang.  Many tourists visit Baan Xang Hai as part of a organized boat tour to Pak Ou Caves.

Baan Xang Hai villagers used to make the clay pots that are used to produce "Lao Hai" (Rice Wine) which is a step along the ways of producing "Lao Lao" (rice whiskey).  The villagers now focus on making the Lao moonshine, Lao Lao, and silk weaving.

Duang and I had enjoyed our share of Lao Hai, rice wine, on our previous visit two years ago to the Khmu village during their New Year Festival.  The wine is produced in small clay pots by fermenting rice.  The sweet wine is then sucked out of the jars through long reeds or very small diameter vinyl tubing with the reeds and vinyl tubing being passed from person to person seated or squatting around the clay pot.  As the wine is consumed from the pot, additional water is added to the clay pot to keep the party going.

On our last visit to a refugee camp along the Thai-Myanmar border, Duang and I enjoyed glasses of freshly fermented  Lao Hai with our friends, Khun La Mae and Khun Ma Plae.  Since there was quite a bit of rice hulls and rice debris to strain through your teeth when drinking from a glass,our preferred mode for drinking is through the vinyl tubing or natural reed.

"Process" Diagram for Making Lao Lao

We walked through the gauntlet of booths at the front of the village.  There were many stalls selling bottles of Lao Lao which also contained some type of animal or plant.  There were bottles of whiskey with small snakes some of which were cobras.  There were also whiskey bottles containing centipedes, scorpions, or geckos.  My knowledge of botany is rather limited so I was unable to identify the plants that were immersed in th the whiskey.  I have read some accounts that the plants and creatures are immersed in rice wine but I believe that the liquid is actually whiskey.  Whiskey is a much better preservative and makes for a more potent "medicine".  The various vendors told me that the bottles contained "medicine" of course most of the medicine was purported to aid sexual performance. These bottled concoctions are readily available at all border crossings in Laos and appear to be "THE" souvenir of the Lao People's Democratic Republic.

There were also many stalls selling silk cloth.  We saw several looms for weaving cloth but did not see anyone working.  We walked back through the village towards the Mekong River.  We prefer to explore the back roads and back streets of the locations that we visit.  The back locations typically present less tourist centric people and sights.  We stopped at a yard of a local home.  I am not sure if it was a front yard or a back yard - not that it matters over here.  There were two men, a woman, and three school aged children seated at a picnic table.  We stopped and joined them.  It turned out that we had found a whiskey distillery.  Besides selling soft drinks, and silk fabrics, the people make Lao Lao right there in their yard high on a bank overlooking the Mekong River.  I went to the stairs that lead down to the Mekong River and while taking some photographs I took in the serenity of the location.

I returned to the picnic table and had Duang purchase soft drinks for everyone.  As we enjoyed our cold drinks on a surprisingly warm day, we asked questions of the man who appeared to be in charge.  He said that he owned the land and paid taxes once a year to the government.  He stated that he paid 550,000 Kip ($66 USD) each year for his home and business.

A large piece of cardboard was nailed to a wood post next to his still.  Although he did not speak English the cardboard had a diagram on in that detailed the distilling process in English.  The father took great pride in showing me his distilling equipment and describing how he made the moonshine whiskey.




Clay Pot Containing Fermenting Rice

 The process first starts with making Lao Hai, "Rice Wine".  Rice, sugar and water are placed in a clay pot and allowed to stand covered for seven days.  This is how Lao Hai is produced however for making Lao Lao additional water is not added after the initial charge to the fermenting mixture.

The fermenting rice creates a thick mash of about 13% alcohol.  The thick mash from four  clay pots is removed and placed inside of the 55 gallon steel drum that forms the base of his still.   The barrel sits upon a couple of bricks above a shallow trench where a small fire is maintained by small long logs that are pushed forward as they are consumed by the flames.

Lao Lao Still In Laos

A gasket created by burlap type cloth filled with rice hulls is placed atop of the open end of the metal barrel.  A conical shaped steel pan is the placed on top of the gasket to seal off the still.  The conical pan serves as the condenser for the distilling process.  The top of the cone which is open to the air is filled with water.  Every 10 minutes the water is replaced with cool water by pouring new water into the cone and allowing the warmer water to overflow through a small tube above the normal water level in the cone.  Alcohol vapors inside of the still condense on the relatively cooler surface of the cone inside of the still.  The alcohol droplets travel along the cool surface to the apex of the cone where they drop off and are collected by a spoon like device that is attached to a pipe.  The pipe is sloped downwards and exists the still carrying the Lao Lao to fill another clay pot located on the ground at the end of the pipe.  The Lao Lao slowly drips out of the pipe through a terrycloth cloth of uncertain cleanliness and finally into the clay pot.


Lao Lao Fresh From the Still Fills A Clay Pot

After observing the process, I was invited to sample some our the man's handicraft.  Duang does not drink much and especially not Lao Lao, I was left alone to drink with the man.  He pulled a bottle out, a bottle without any critters or plants in it, from a cabinet and poured each of us a double shot.  I have been through this ritual enough times to understand what was expected of me.  I looked the man in the eyes said "Jonkiouw" and downed the shots all at once as he did the same.  The Lao Lao was very powerful and I must admit much better than the commercial moonshine that the villagers drink in Tahsang Village.  Perhaps it was the dirty towel that this man's whiskey was filtered through.

A Lao Lao Distillery in Baan Xang Hai, LPDR

I ended up buying a small bottle of his product to take back home for 30,000 KIP ($3.75 USD) - a good price for even nothing else more than the nice woven bamboo that covered the bottle.  The bamboo had writing as part of the integral woven design - "Lao Lao, Baan Xang Hai" as translated by the distiller.

While I was socializing with the distiller, Duang had located his wife and some other women who were busy embroidering.  But that is subject to another blog.

It was interesting spending time in the village.  The people were making moonshine without any government permits, regulations, licences or any harassment from "Revenuers".  This is hardly what I would have expected in a country known as being a Communist state.