At 7.55 we were at the door of the travel agency (Handspan) in Hanoi (78-80 Ma May Str). We were a little nervous because we had no idea what might bring us the "adventure" that began a few months ago, when we started to prepare our trip to Vietnam.
I thought it would be nice trying to help some NGO, even in a very superficial manner, taking advantage of our trip. Did not even know how, if bringing medicines, books… Well, I had no idea. As I am an adventurer, but not excessively, I went to see the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to check the Spanish NGOs that were operating at the moment in Vietnam. The first one I saw with options to help was FPSC, so without thinking twice I sent them an email telling our case and that we would be happy to help if that was possible. My email was replied by Jaime, the FPSC Country Representative in Vietnam, who very kindly told me that, in principle, it was difficult to help them. They are promoting the development of the Ngoc Son Ngo Luong Nature Reserve as an ecotourism destination, with the Muong community, one of the most disadvantaged ethnic groups in Vietnam, and the project was to be closed. However, he suggested, "Well, you can go as experimental tourists and give us your opinion..." From there I was already excited and told myself: Let’s go! During the following months, Jaime sent us more details about the route, the agency…and then, finally, as I said before, there we were, at the door of the travel agency. At that moment, a pleasant Vietnamese with a “rogue” face opened us the door, immediately introduced himself as Tuan Anh and asked us if we were Alejandro and Maria. When we confirmed so, he told us that from that moment would be our guide. There, the first pleasant surprise was an all-terrain car totally new, equipped with air conditioning and all sorts of amenities. (Believe me, a luxury for vietnamese roads).
We started the car towards Chien (Muong village), the Muong house where we would make the first stop to eat and leave the car overnight, as the rest of the way could only be done on foot or by motorbike. After four hours in the car (it took one just to get out of Hanoi) and go through a multitude of villages, some really amazing for the eyes o a western newcomer, we reached our destination (around 12 p.m.). The fun part of the trip was shortly before arriving. We got lost and appeared at the entrance to a bridge that spanned a large river, with the surprise that the road ended there and there was NO bridge. After going back and a phone call, everything was solved in minutes.
The house where we were going to stay, in this case, was not exactly a house on stilts, although it was 100% made of wood. On the outside was really nice and rustic and had some posters of “Home stay” and “WC”. This showed us that people with experience had been training them in tourism.
Inside, the house was very appealing to us as it presented a huge room that served as living room, dining room and bedroom. In the right side, separated by a thin wooden partition, there was a kitchen, which had little more than a fire on the ground and some sites to place the cooking pots. In addition, there was a stay like a porch that had even a pool table. In the back, the house had a garden and a bathroom next to the sty :-), with a nice herd of vietnamese pigs.
We had the tea ceremony of welcome, courtesy of the lady of the house, and then Him, our Muong guide, appeared. She was a bit shy and hardly spoke English, that’s why we had two guides (Ahn and Him). Then, we share the meal with our guides and the driver. In a small round table we were served a variety of very rich dishes. I don’t know if I’ll be able to remember all of them but there was grilled chicken, a tomatoes salad with delicious pickles, and many other things, including the typical white rice which, of course, goes with every meal.
After the meal, we repeated the tea ceremony. Then Him did a brief introduction, translated by Ahn, about the trip and some common sense tips, like not to leave traces on our way, the Muong ethnic and some details that can be considered offensive by them. Around 1.30 p.m. began our trek. We had ahead about ten miles of track through the jungle. The landscape, a mixture of jungle and rice paddies, was a wonderful view.
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| Mu Waterfall |
A few moments later appeared a village girl who spoke English perfectly and was the NGO contact in Mu. She asked us how everything was and wished us a safe journey.
Soon after, we left the place among rice paddies towards Sat (the village where we would spend the night). The views were truly amazing, a big valley covered by rice paddies surrounded by lush mountains, with the touch of mystery that clouds give.
In this part of the way Ahn kept on telling us stories, in this case a love one. Apparently, there are two trees near Mu town that have grown in parallel many feet. It is a tradition for couples to come to pray for these two trees to be together the next 1,000 years.
Coming from Asturias, Spain, it was really curious to me the resemblance of these houses with our “hórreos” (grain stores typical in North Spain). Even the paintings that decorated some windows reminded me of pictures I ever saw in “hórreos” and “paneras” (both are very similar constructions).
In the architecture of the house is where you begin to see the first signs of the influence of "civilization". In the first village (accesible by car) there are "many" homes where the pillars are of concrete, not wood. In many houses, in all villages, begin to appear asbestos cement roofs instead of palm roofs. Keep in mind that in a house of this kind usually the length of the main pillars is about 100 years, 20 years the walls, windows, etc ... and some three years the palm roof. It is totally understandable then that people prefer the solution of asbestos cement, which lasts many more years. In some houses we saw this material but covered with palm leaves. Perhaps this could be the sustainable solution to maintain the tradition and beauty in harmony with the landscape.
The houses where we slept and ate were prepared for tourism. They had a W.C. outside where you could wash with tap water without problems. The cleaning was extreme, to the extent that surprised us, since it should not be easy to keep a house in the middle of the jungle with this cleanliness. There was no shower but, for example, the house where we slept was next to a river with a very pretty mini-waterfall and you could have a bath in the river if you wish to.
Once in the village, with the accomplished mission of arriving before sunset (should be 6.00pm or 6.30pm) we got into the house where we were received by Mrs. Thuc (a very friendly woman). She was dressed in the costume of the Muong: black skirt to the ankles, white linen shirt and a very wide wool belt made entirely by hand, following their ancient way of weaving bright patterns and colors. After leaving the bags and the tea ceremony, we went with Ahn and Him for a little walk around the village. They showed us several families, animals (mainly Vietnamese pigs, cows, water buffalo, ducks and chickens). We also saw houses in construction and finally a house where they showed us a traditional wood loom with a complicated system to treat wool. Curiously, it resembled again to the old looms ever seen in Western Asturias (particularly in Los Oscos).
Then, we had dinner, great again: Vietnamese spring rolls, a kind of meat nuggets wrapped in leaves (Ahn himself had showed us these leaves during the way, and informed us that would be part of the meal), pork with tomatoes, vegetables and several fruits. All very rich, with the advantage that it is a light meal that feeds you but you never feel too full. Mrs. Thuc gave us a rice wine made at home, VERY GOOD. When you drink alcohol in Vietnam the custom says you have to drink at least twice, only the dead are served once, so when Mrs. Thuc insisted me to repeat, I had to repeat ;-). When we finished the dinner, we began a lively evening at which we were joined by Mr. Thanh, plus the grandfather of the family and even the neighbour.
But the most amazing story is one of their rituals with the guests. Usually, when a guest of the same ethnic group but from another village came, the way to communicate with him was singing instead of talking. It works as a kind of challenge where one sings and the other retorts. If someone suddenly ran out of words lost and this was quite a dishonor, to the point that sometimes the songs stretched several nights. They could stop at dawn for going to work and continue at dusk where they left off. It is also very interesting that they used it as a flirt method among men and women, who engaged themselves in endless songs in which they could say whatever they wanted. It could even get to be that one who was not initially interested in the other, end up falling in love because the other was a great "singer”. It was a truly unique experience to share that time and those stories. I would say that just because that evening worth the trip.
So there we were, in the middle of the jungle, spending the evening with the Muongs. When we finished the chatting, it was still a little early to go to bed, so we started to play several wit games like trying to put a cap on a bottle with a blow, pulling out a dollar bill between two bottles, or trying to get a ball of aluminium out from a glass of water without touching the cup or the ball. It was incredible fun and we could enjoy the “innocence” of the Muong. They still know how to enjoy the simple things of life. It was incredible to see the grandfather there sitting on the floor enjoying as a child when one of us failed trying to solve one of the games. They had no kind of shame and thoroughly relished the moment.
About 9.30pm we decided to go to bed as we were exhausted because of the long day. So Mrs. Thuc prepared us the bed. We slept according to their customs, all together in the same room, on the floor. But our bed was a kings´ bed with traditional blankets and a mosquito net just in case we were afraid of mosquitoes (although, as I said previously, in this time of the year you can hardly find them). Both the fatigue and the noise of the waterfall made us fall asleep at once and peacefully.
