The weather was a marginally better today, but it was good enough for us to go riding which is the best bit. After breakfast we saddled up and cycled towards the hot springs on the way to Nonghet. Chris and Yeiha (not sure how to spell it) from ChildFund joined us on the ride. It didn't take too long to get to the springs over the undulating hills, but some of us were slightly disappointed at what we saw. When someone says hot springs, the first thing that comes to mind is a natural pool that is filled hot mineral spring waters. What we got was a hand full of concrete pools that were filled from the hot springs nearby and they weren't even full. In any case, the local people managing the pools began filling one up while we got changed. Being on a strict time schedule, we didn't have very long there, but it was enough to relax for a little bit before having to get changed to go to one of the villages in Nonghet that Childfund is working in various capacities. We all had to make sure we had pant that covered our knees and shirts that covered our shoulders, which was fine with me because it's cold here. We jumped in the vans and off we were.
We drove the vans as far as we could before having to get out and walk the rest of the way. It was a 25 minute, mostly uphill, trek to the village. We waved to many locals along the way, particularly children, who were just as interested in us as we were in them. This is not a place where tourist tend to come and visit. It's not that they shouldn't, but most wouldn't even know they are there. Anyway, back to the village. As we arrived, the first site that catches your eye is the big beautiful school that ChildFund built in the village. The children were on a lunch break so we weren't able to see them all in class, but it was impressive nonetheless. We walked further in and were greeted by an ever growing number of people from the village wanting to see the visitors that had come here. Whilst we were looking at the school, I noticed several people carrying what looked like bench seats from the school into the village. When we came around the corner, we found out why. They had set a very large table for us all to sit at to have lunch. The stools were for us to sit on as they had already brought the tables for us to receive our meal on. The women of the village had been busy preparing our meal while the kids played and the men greeted us.
Once we were seated, two elders were sat down at the head of the table and it was announced that they would be telling us about life before and after the war. These gentlemen were 75 years old and could recall two wars in their lifetime; first when the Frech took control of the country and second the Vietnam war. They spoke about the simple life they all lived and how they looked after themselves by farming the lands they occupied. Then they spoke of the Vietnam war, but they didn't say very much. The people that live here are from the ethnic group known as Mongs and they are very conservative and polite. As such, they shy away from potentially offending their guests by putting forward a representation of the war that may be taken the wrong way, by say, an American visitor. It turns out that they weren't saying much because they thought there might be Americans among us, so once we cleared up that we were all Australian and that nothing he said could offend us, he told us a little more. Afraid was the dominant feeling among the villagers at the time. They spoke about it being a very hard time to go about their lives as bombs were being dropped on a regular basis and people were dying. They couldn't cook because the Americans would drop bombs on any location they saw evidence of life in and they couldn't wear their typical coloured clothing either as it stood out in the forest and made them targets, so they covered themeselves with leaves from the surrouding forrest. They didn't say much more after that.
During their talk, each of us were handed a piece of sugarcane to eat. It was a bit of a challenge getting through the outer layer to the good stuff, but when you did, it was worth it. They then handed us all hard boiled eggs, which were no doubt from the countless chickens on this land. One gentleman then came with a basket full of chicken legs and put one on each of our plates. It was explained to us that because we were very important guests that we were being given the best part of the chicken for our lunch. Their generosity is amazing. They must have had to sacrifice a few chickens for our meal. I thought this was the end of the meal and I would have been satisfied at that, but we were informed that the chicken leg was the entree and the main meal was to come. Out came the bags of rice, more chicken (cooked in a different way) and a small bowl of the most amazing chilli I have ever had. The chilli was hot, but it was enourmously tasty. It had more than just chilli in it, but I could only make out the corriander. Whatever it was, it was awesome. Once we had finished our meal, we were offered some of the Laos Rice Whiskey, which we were warned not to drink too much of if we want to be able to cycle the next day. We all had some and I must say that it wasn't as potent as we were led to believe and was quite nice.
Once the meal was over, they put on a show for us. Firstly a younger man with a vest made of metal tassles that jingled every time he moved, played an ancient instrument while performing a most active and energetic dance. Then another man reluctantly (remember that these are shy, conservative people) sang a song of the Mong people for us. He was followed by five adorable girls dressed in the traditional Mong outfit who performed a lovely dance for us while one of the men beat on a bucket to keep the beat, albeit quite badly as the girls struggled to keep in time. It was still lovely. Then the elders who were speaking to us before lunch were tussling over who would play the Mong flute for us. For two 75 year old men, they were very nimble. We eventually had a winner (or loser as the case may be) and we treated to a lovely tune. With the festivities over, we took at tour of the village to look at the toilets that ChildFund has been helping to build and what we were largely raising funds for so that they can expand to include more families in the village. We were told that approximatelt 93 families have had their own toilet installed with the help of ChildFund and were planning to grow this to over 400 families with the help of the funds that we all raised. Truely wonderful work to improve hygene and give people some dignity back.
At the end of the tour, we jumped back on our bikes and rode towards Nonghet. The guesthouse we are staying in is nice, but as you can imagine, has no internet connection, so my the time you are reading this, it will have been several days later. Since we are getting more remote, Internet access is much harder to come by. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Attorney General's Office and another village that ChildFund is working with. We are going to see, among other things, the sports programs that ChildFund is running with the local communities, which I'm excited about. Stay tuned for the next installment. Oh and the finger is very black, blue with a hint of green.
We drove the vans as far as we could before having to get out and walk the rest of the way. It was a 25 minute, mostly uphill, trek to the village. We waved to many locals along the way, particularly children, who were just as interested in us as we were in them. This is not a place where tourist tend to come and visit. It's not that they shouldn't, but most wouldn't even know they are there. Anyway, back to the village. As we arrived, the first site that catches your eye is the big beautiful school that ChildFund built in the village. The children were on a lunch break so we weren't able to see them all in class, but it was impressive nonetheless. We walked further in and were greeted by an ever growing number of people from the village wanting to see the visitors that had come here. Whilst we were looking at the school, I noticed several people carrying what looked like bench seats from the school into the village. When we came around the corner, we found out why. They had set a very large table for us all to sit at to have lunch. The stools were for us to sit on as they had already brought the tables for us to receive our meal on. The women of the village had been busy preparing our meal while the kids played and the men greeted us.
Once we were seated, two elders were sat down at the head of the table and it was announced that they would be telling us about life before and after the war. These gentlemen were 75 years old and could recall two wars in their lifetime; first when the Frech took control of the country and second the Vietnam war. They spoke about the simple life they all lived and how they looked after themselves by farming the lands they occupied. Then they spoke of the Vietnam war, but they didn't say very much. The people that live here are from the ethnic group known as Mongs and they are very conservative and polite. As such, they shy away from potentially offending their guests by putting forward a representation of the war that may be taken the wrong way, by say, an American visitor. It turns out that they weren't saying much because they thought there might be Americans among us, so once we cleared up that we were all Australian and that nothing he said could offend us, he told us a little more. Afraid was the dominant feeling among the villagers at the time. They spoke about it being a very hard time to go about their lives as bombs were being dropped on a regular basis and people were dying. They couldn't cook because the Americans would drop bombs on any location they saw evidence of life in and they couldn't wear their typical coloured clothing either as it stood out in the forest and made them targets, so they covered themeselves with leaves from the surrouding forrest. They didn't say much more after that.
During their talk, each of us were handed a piece of sugarcane to eat. It was a bit of a challenge getting through the outer layer to the good stuff, but when you did, it was worth it. They then handed us all hard boiled eggs, which were no doubt from the countless chickens on this land. One gentleman then came with a basket full of chicken legs and put one on each of our plates. It was explained to us that because we were very important guests that we were being given the best part of the chicken for our lunch. Their generosity is amazing. They must have had to sacrifice a few chickens for our meal. I thought this was the end of the meal and I would have been satisfied at that, but we were informed that the chicken leg was the entree and the main meal was to come. Out came the bags of rice, more chicken (cooked in a different way) and a small bowl of the most amazing chilli I have ever had. The chilli was hot, but it was enourmously tasty. It had more than just chilli in it, but I could only make out the corriander. Whatever it was, it was awesome. Once we had finished our meal, we were offered some of the Laos Rice Whiskey, which we were warned not to drink too much of if we want to be able to cycle the next day. We all had some and I must say that it wasn't as potent as we were led to believe and was quite nice.
Once the meal was over, they put on a show for us. Firstly a younger man with a vest made of metal tassles that jingled every time he moved, played an ancient instrument while performing a most active and energetic dance. Then another man reluctantly (remember that these are shy, conservative people) sang a song of the Mong people for us. He was followed by five adorable girls dressed in the traditional Mong outfit who performed a lovely dance for us while one of the men beat on a bucket to keep the beat, albeit quite badly as the girls struggled to keep in time. It was still lovely. Then the elders who were speaking to us before lunch were tussling over who would play the Mong flute for us. For two 75 year old men, they were very nimble. We eventually had a winner (or loser as the case may be) and we treated to a lovely tune. With the festivities over, we took at tour of the village to look at the toilets that ChildFund has been helping to build and what we were largely raising funds for so that they can expand to include more families in the village. We were told that approximatelt 93 families have had their own toilet installed with the help of ChildFund and were planning to grow this to over 400 families with the help of the funds that we all raised. Truely wonderful work to improve hygene and give people some dignity back.
At the end of the tour, we jumped back on our bikes and rode towards Nonghet. The guesthouse we are staying in is nice, but as you can imagine, has no internet connection, so my the time you are reading this, it will have been several days later. Since we are getting more remote, Internet access is much harder to come by. Tomorrow we are going to visit the Attorney General's Office and another village that ChildFund is working with. We are going to see, among other things, the sports programs that ChildFund is running with the local communities, which I'm excited about. Stay tuned for the next installment. Oh and the finger is very black, blue with a hint of green.
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