Tribasia Blog

After staying in the heart of the Bolaven Plateau, in southern Laos, we had come across quite a few Laven but soon realized that their culture and that of Lao mainstream groups, known as Lao Theung, are now really entwined.
We then decided to further explore the fringes of the Bolaven Plateau by spending a few days in Attapeu province.

On the bus to get in that area, we got a bit worried by the sight of a couple of lone old men here and there. We know, we shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but unfortunately southern Laos might attract at times the wrong kind of people. Some members of the Lao community seem to have stepped up their effort in the fight against pedophilia by putting posters and better informing the population, especially in remote rural areas. We got relieved upon arriving at our final stop to see none of those 'creepy' types.

We started our trip by crossing a river on an improvised 'water taxi' then rode a bike on red-brown dirt roads for a few hours until we came across a Brau -also known as Laveh- minority village. We did not immediately realize we had 'landed' in such a village as at a rough guess the bamboo and rattan huts looked pretty similar to that of other villages in this part of the country.
However, once we wandered around and started meeting locals, we quickly understood from old women's extended earlobes and facial tattoos that we were in presence of Brau people. We soon engaged in 'conversation' (with our limited vocabulary and our extended 'hand-gesturing')with some of them.

Brau women used to wear large ivory or bamboo tubular earrings -hence the stretched earlobes- and adorn their faces with a linear tattoo on their foreheads and another one, running from one cheek to the other in the shape of a moon crescent. This tradition is now slowly dying with the older people passing out.
Younger women still wear colourful necklaces made from blue, yellow and red beads: one choker and a few necklaces hanging loose around their necks.

The traditional costume is still worn at festival times and for special ceremonies but on a daily basis, women tend to wear an ubiquitous sarong and a top or more often a simple bra -they used to live bare chested.
Men also used to tattoo their body, in particular their arms, but at first sight, there's no way of telling them apart from other mainstream Lao people.

The Brau live in a matriarchal society. As a consequence, women enjoy near-same status as men but also have more responsibilities when it comes to feeding their household.
When in the Brau village and its surroundings, we witnessed women working hard in their fields, cooking for their families or fetching water in their heavy jars but we did not witness half as many men sweating it out...

All in all, it was a very enriching stay among this minority as we learned more about their culture and current challenges.

We will now start moving up north via Vientiane, the capital. We hope to come across many more minorities in the north where myriads of ethnic minorities settled - having emigrated long ago from China.

Labels: Attapeu, Bolaven Plateau, Brau, Laos, Lave