sv evi

Riki told me that he wouldn’t be ready for us on March 24th, so we extended our trip in Vietnam by another week. Ma flew home on March 25th, so it was just the kids and I. We took a 7 hour car ride from Hanoi to the town of Bac Ha, up in the mountains of northern Vietnam. We booked a homestay recommended by the Lonely Planet guide, and we had such a fabulous time there. Our host Trung was very kind and genuine. We chose to eat with his family several of our nights at the homestay. One day we went on a tour with him to the village of Ban Lien.

Around the town of Bac Ha, there are 7 different ethnic groups in various villages. All converge on the town on Sunday morning for the market. On our tour, we first visited a Flower Hmong preschool. The teachers told us that about 80% of the kids’ parents worked in Hanoi, and the kids were being raised by their grandparents. I played with the kids and made them laugh by pretending to eat their play food. Sometimes you can communicate just fine without a common language. 🙂

Next we visited Cân, and had lunch at her homestay. She had so much energy and an infectious smile. She is of the Tay ethnic group. She climbed a cinnamon tree in her bare feet, cut it down with her machete while standing in the crook of the tree, and proceeded to show us how to skin the outer layer of bark off in order to then harvest the cinnamon. What a bad-ass lady!

Next we walked to the farm next door, where we harvested tea leaves. The girls wanted to keep picking tea, even when it was time to go.

And finally, we went swimming in a river! What a banner day!

On the weekend there were some festivities at the temple, plus horse racing, and the market.

These photos of indigenous folks were taken by Rolf Schrauwen, a fellow traveler whom I met at Trung’s homestay, from the market in Bac Ha and the surrounding villages.