Hospitality is King!
When trekking to the West of Bac Ha, we met a girl from the Tay minority (beware the spelling: 'Tai' means 'ear' in Vietnamese) named Huong. She invited us to her house in her village, Na Anga, 4 kms away from Bac Ha, where we met her parents, uncle and cousins. They offered us to share their local brew of fire water made from corn (bought from Hmong women) and luckily for our stomachs, a lunch of steamed rice, tofu, green vegetables, sour plums (eaten with salt) to soak it up!Traditionally, Tay people live in wooden houses built on stilts. However, many Tay houses in the region have been influenced by Hmong and Kinh (also called Viet) structures. Nowadays, the use of bricks and cement is on the increase as it makes the house more resistant to natural elements.
Tay people's traditional dress is black (black top and trousers) or more rarely indigo. The younger generations are increasingly opting for the western style of clothing over the traditional one.
The Tay are not to be confused with Nung people although they are closely related both in social and geographical terms. The traditional Nung dress is quite similar to the Tay's, except for the colour of their tops and if they wear any, headdress and accessories. Although the Nung are few in numbers in Bac Ha surroundings, they constitute the sixth largest minority in Vietnam overall.
After a yummy lunch, we thanked our hosts and Huong took us around the village and its surroundings. Although Na Anga is exclusively Tay, she explained to us that many villages around had a mixed population, Hmong/Tay and Nung, and intermarriage between groups, although not common, was not frowned upon.
On the way back to Bac Ha, we met one of the Flower Hmong lady who sells local fire brew on Bac Ha market and she also invited us back to our house. We escaped a monster dog thanks to her and were then treated to some lovely local tea and a snack of cucumber, also eaten dipped in salt. We met her husband and grandchildren and although their command of English is null and our Vietnamese nonexistant, we managed to make ourselves understood -thanks god for sign language :))
We finally arrived back at our hotel, Ngan Nga, where the kind landlords invited us for dinner! The people of Bac Ha region are very hospitable indeed and more than make up for the inconvenience of nasty dogs on the roads. We go to bed tonight with a full belly, great memories of the local people and can't wait for tomorrow!
Tay people's traditional dress is black (black top and trousers) or more rarely indigo. The younger generations are increasingly opting for the western style of clothing over the traditional one.
The Tay are not to be confused with Nung people although they are closely related both in social and geographical terms. The traditional Nung dress is quite similar to the Tay's, except for the colour of their tops and if they wear any, headdress and accessories. Although the Nung are few in numbers in Bac Ha surroundings, they constitute the sixth largest minority in Vietnam overall.
After a yummy lunch, we thanked our hosts and Huong took us around the village and its surroundings. Although Na Anga is exclusively Tay, she explained to us that many villages around had a mixed population, Hmong/Tay and Nung, and intermarriage between groups, although not common, was not frowned upon.
On the way back to Bac Ha, we met one of the Flower Hmong lady who sells local fire brew on Bac Ha market and she also invited us back to our house. We escaped a monster dog thanks to her and were then treated to some lovely local tea and a snack of cucumber, also eaten dipped in salt. We met her husband and grandchildren and although their command of English is null and our Vietnamese nonexistant, we managed to make ourselves understood -thanks god for sign language :))
We finally arrived back at our hotel, Ngan Nga, where the kind landlords invited us for dinner! The people of Bac Ha region are very hospitable indeed and more than make up for the inconvenience of nasty dogs on the roads. We go to bed tonight with a full belly, great memories of the local people and can't wait for tomorrow!
Labels: Bac Ha, Flower Hmong, northern Vietnam, Nung, Tai
posted by Tribasia at
12:14 PM
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