The day after landing in Hanoi on February 22nd we began our one-month journey in Vietnam with a three-hour overland drive to the district of Mai Chau which is southwest of the city.  On the way we stopped to chat with a local farm family, ate at a roadside stand smoking fresh fish, and visited a broom factory next to the fish stand.

Women workers at a broom factory. These are beautiful brooms. We wished we could have fit one in our suitcase.

 

 

Joanne enjoying the the smoked fish.

Mitch getting a handle on some farm machinery.

The woman, who owns the farm, is shown here with her granddaughter. Below, her daughter who recently moved back home after a divorce, is getting ready to leave for her job at a local dairy.

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That evening we arrived in Poong Coong Village in the picturesque Mai Chai Valley where we stayed in a dormitory styled homestay with our fellow travelers.

A number of small buildings border the rice fields. Our homestay is                             the building on the left.

Mai Chau is a fertile valley surrounded by mountains.

Mosquito netting and curtains surrounded our double beds which overlooked the rice fields.

Thai, our guide, always with a happy smile. He took us to amazing places and introduced us to the most wonderful, friendly, open people.

The owner of the homestay is a weaver. You could see her during the day at her ancient loom creating beautiful textiles.

Dancers and musicians from the Moung tribe performed for us.

In the evening the village square became a lively place with local craftspeople creating and selling their wares. This man is making bamboo chopsticks.

At the very center of the square was a shell casing from an America bomb made into a bell. 

Slightly overcast but a nonetheless beautiful morning scene unfolded for us.

Preparing the fields for the next rice planting.

Maintaining old machinery is a constant task.

Irrigation system with scarecrow.

We came across a cottage with a small garden in nearby Ban Lac village and spoke to the woman who had been tending the garden. She invited us in.

We got our first introduction to the practice of chewing betel nuts. Among the northern tribes it is customary for one’s mother-in-law to demand the chewing of betel nuts after the first born child so that the woman’s resulting blackened teeth would make her unattractive to other men.

Her husband joined us.

After a long day we relaxed with a beer and soaked our feet in an herb bath. This is Pat and behind her are Anne and Larry. Jiji is partially shown. There were six of us on this week long pre-trip to the northern tribes organized by Overseas Adventure Travel (OAT). We would meet up with seven other travelers on February 28 for the main trip through Vietnam.

The next morning we went to the Hich village inhabited by the White Thai ethnic minority. Here, a large number of homes had a sustainable fish pond.

A mother feeds her little boy. Cell phones are ubiquitous. 

Clay dikes, which require constant maintenance, contain and control the water for irrigation.

It is fairly common to see older women carrying heavy loads on their backs.

It was a Sunday and a football (soccer) game was in full swing.

The men were setting up for a post football game party and Mitch joined in by sharing a moonshine toast.

Like many communities across the Vietnam, Mai Chau has an elaborate memorial in honor of those local soldiers who lost their lives in the American (1954-1975) and Chinese-Khmer (1979-1989) wars. The man below, Mr. Hanh, served with the North Vietnamese Army from 1967-1970 and was wounded three times. Of the 211 soldiers who served from the Hich area only eight survived the war. Of those eight, five, including Mr. Hanh, were poisoned by Agent Orange. Below is his daughter, who at first glance seems to be a young child of five or six. She is actually 36 years old and has severe developmental problems. There were other disabled children in the village as well. But like all the people we met Mr. Hanh was grateful that Vietnam is now at peace with the United States and favored a closer relationship.