HANOI, HILL TRIBES AND HOMESTAY

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After a day in Hanoi visiting some of the sights, including an hour with the Water Puppet Show – see Here for some better photos than mine and some background if anyone is interested.  An hour was enough – the music is fine but the Vietnamese singing (squawking if I’m being unkind) is a bit wearing on the ears.

We also went to see Ho Chi Minh – in the flesh still after nearly 50 years – a bit creepy - and sad, as he wanted his ashes scattered around the whole of his beloved Vietnam, which he never saw united, despite his best efforts

If you are interested in how they do it - see BBC article here

Wikipedia - The embalmed body of Ho Chi Minh is preserved in the cooled, central hall of the mausoleum, which is protected by a military honor guard. The body lies in a glass case with dim lights. The mausoleum is closed occasionally while work is done to restore and preserve the body but is normally open daily from 09:00 to 12:00 to the public. Lines of visitors, including visiting foreign dignitaries, pay their respects at the mausoleum every day.
Rules regarding dress and behavior are strictly enforced by staff and guards. Legs must be covered (no shorts or miniskirts). Visitors must be silent, and walk in two lines. Hands must not be in pockets, nor arms crossed. Smoking, drinking, eating, photography, and video taping are also not permitted anywhere inside the mausoleum

His simple house and gardens were interesting too – think he got a bad press in the West.

HOMESTAY

Onward by bus for 4 hrs to small White Thai (local ethnic people) village, Mai Chau and stayed in one of the local houses on stilts that are a feature of the area.  They have been welcoming tourists to their homes for around 10 years and it is a pretty established stop on the trail – but not yet overrun to make it tacky.  We had the best food so far, for 2 days - masses of different dishes produced from the family small kitchen – we all sat downstairs under the main room where the 12 of us slept in a row under our mosquito nets.  G and I had a double - Cosy!



It was pretty cold in the hills so we were glad we had all our thermals with us – I kept mine on for 2 full days and nights.  The treks (walks really) around the surrounding area was fascinating – the extensive paddy fields were so well organised with their irrigation and rotation of little fields. 

And many houses (mostly on stilts and mostly very substantial and maintained) had all their veg set out neatly with bamboo used for fences, posts, tables, roofing, water channels and many more uses.  The food was so good as it is completely fresh, they shop twice a day or use their own produce – with chickens, ducks, pigs, cows as well.  Here are just some of the sights from the walks – hard work for the villagers but an old way of life that we have lost, being in touch with the land.






Satellite dishes on most houses

Waterwheel helping the irrigation



Wreathes on the ancestors graves - a big way of their religion is honoring the ancestors - whether rooms in your house or separate buildings in the village or just tombstones in the fields - they are everywhere in Vietnam










Old and new ways of ploughing - still not particularly quick