WE HAVE HAD THE MOST UNBELIVEABLE TIME AND SEEN AND EXPERIENCED THINGS WE NEVER DREAMT WE WOULD ON OUR 4 DAY TOUR INTO THE CENTRAL HIGHLANDS OF VIETNAM....WE WOULD SURELY RUN OUT OF SUPERLATIVES TO DESCRIBE THIS ADVENTURE, THE PLACES WE VISITED AND PEOPLE WE HAVE MET AND THE THINGS WE HAVE SEEN SO, WE'LL TELL AS MUCH AS WE CAN IN PICTURES........
TRONG AND NAM OUR 'EASY RIDERS' DROVE US AROUND ON THE BACK OF THIER BIKES .... WE TRUSTED THEM WITH OUR LIVES FOR 4 DAYS...IT WAS FANTASTIC ....THEY ARE TRULY TWO BRILLIANT GUYS WHO TAUGHT US SO MUCH ABOUT THE VIETNAMESE PEOPLE CULTURE AND HISTORY....
VILLAGE CEMETERIES WHERE THE INNOCENT VICTIMS OF MASS KILLINGS BY THE US FORCES LOOKING FOR VIET CONG IN THE VIETNAM WAR ARE BURIED AND REMEMBERED
ONE DAY IN APRIL 1969 US TROOPS CAME TO THIS REMOTE VILLAGE NEAR MY LAI LOOKING FOR VIET CONG AND SHOT DEAD 149 VILLAGERS......INCLUDING OLD MEN, WOMEN AND CHILDREN
MINORITY VILLAGES, THERE ARE 54 SCATTERED THROUGHOUT VIETNAM...EACH OF THE VILLAGES OF AROUND 250 - 300 PEOPLE HAS ITS OWN LANGUAGE...NOT EVEN OUR GUIDES TRONG AND NAM COULD UNDERSTAND THEM.....THEY LIVE A PRIMITIVE EXISTENCE , LIVING MAINLY FROM WHAT THEY CAN CATCH, BREED, RAISE AND GROW......THEY ONLY MARRY WITHIN THEIR OWN VILLAGE COMMUNITY AND THE RESULTS OF THIER INTERBREEDING ARE SOMETIMES EVIDENT......TRONG REFERRED TO THEM AS 'CHICKEN BRAINS' FOR THEIR INABILITY TO COMMUNICATE AND DEVELOP DESPITE THE HELP THAT THE GOVERNEMENT WAS PROVIDING. DESPITE THIS THEY WERE VERY WELCOMING AND HAPPY TO INVITE US INTO THIER HOMES......
SAT ON THE FLOOR INSIDE A DARK ONE ROOMED VILLAGE HOUSE...A FAMILY OF SIX LIVE HERE PLUS THE MONKEY ON A LEAD IN THE CORNER....WHICH WE WERE TOLD, WOULD AT SOME POINT IN THE FUTURE BECOME DINNER....THEY HAD THE SKULLS OF ALL THE OTHER ANIMALS THEY HAD EATEN LINED UP ON A SHELF LIKE SOUVENIERS.....
FOUR GENERATIONS LIVE IN THIS HOUSE...INCLUDING GRANNY IN THE HAMMOCK WHO IS 98 YEARS OLD AND NEVER STOPPED SMILING AT US!
OUTSIDE THE WOOD STORE...
A PINK KNITTED BOBBLE HAT TO KEEP WARM ....IN 30 DEGREE HEAT? THIS OLD LADY HAD THE MOST BEAUTIFUL STRONG STRAIGHT TEETH, EVERY ONE OF WHICH WAS COMPLETLY BLACK!
TRONG PRETENDS TO STEAL A KITTEN FROM THE VILLAGE....IN HIS POCKET!
THIS LADY WAS SO TINY SHE MADE US BOTH LOOK LIKE GIANTS!
JUST ABOUT THE SAME HEIGHT AS HER WHEN KNEELING DOWN!
RICE PAPER AND CRACKER MAKING IN A SHACK BUILDING AT THE SIDE OF THE ROAD......
MAKING A LIQUID RICE MILK
SPREADING IT ON HOT PLATE HEATED BY A CHARCOAL FIRE
PEELING IT OFF WHEN IT IS COOKED (TAKE ONLY SECONDS ITS SO THIN)
DRYING ON MESH RACKS OVER A CHARCOAL FIRE
DRYING THE RICE CRACKERS OUT IN THE BACK YARD (CAN'T SEE THIS GETTING PAST HEALTH AND SAFETY IN THE UK)
AND DRYING THE RICE PAPER (TO MAKE SPRING ROLLS) ON THE STREET AT THE FRONT OF THE HOUSE/WORKSHOP
FINISHED PILE OF RICE CRACKERS READY FOR SALE....AFTER TOASTING THEY FLUFF UP A BIT LIKE POPPADOMS
PINEAPPLE GROWERS ROAD SIDE HOUSE AND SHOP....COMPLETE WITH A PYTHON IN A CAGE AND SEVERAL GECKO'S IN A SACK WHICH THEY HAD CAUGHT THAT MORNING AND WERE GOING TO EAT LATER THAT DAY!
A RUBBER PLANTATION.....
A COFFEE PLANTATION......
DRYING COFFEE BEANS IN THE SUN PRIOR TO ROASTING......ON THE FORMER US ARMY AIRBASE RUNWAY!
AMAZING WATERFALLS AND HOT SPRINGS
THE WATER WAS SO WARM AS IT CAME DOWN FROM THE MOUNTAINS.....THIS IS WHERE THE VILLAGERS COME TO SHOWER AND WASH (WHEN THEY CAN BE BOTHERED)
A ROAD SIDE STOP FOR SOME SUGAR CANE JUICE. FRESHLY CUT SUGAR CANE FROM THE FIELD.....WASHED AND THROUGH THE CRUSHING MACHINE....JUICE COLLECTED...WAS ABSOLUTELY DELICOUS!
A STURGEON FARM HIGH IN THE MOUNTAINS.......
TRONG SAYS 'SLOWLY ...SLOWLY' ACROSS THE BRIDGE (IT WAS SO SLIPPY AND TILTING TOWARDS THE WATER)...AGAINST TRONGS ADVICE PAUL DECIDED ON THE 'STRIDE OUT QUICKLY' METHOD, NEEDLESS TO SAY HE WENT FLYING AND ALMOST ENDED UP IN THE WATER.....IT ALWAYS PAYS TO LISTEN TO THE EXPERTS!
PLOUGHING THE OLD FASHIONED WAY.....PREPARING THE PADDY FIELDS AND HARVESTING THE RICE....
RICE WINE MAKING IN THE BACK ROOM OFA SMALL FAMILY HOME/ROAD SIDE CAFE AT THE TOP OF A MOUNTAIN..
ANOTHER MINORITY VILLAGE......
SPLITTING BAMBOO INTO STRIPS TO WEAVE BASKETS
PLAYING A HOME MADE XYLOPHONE...WHAT AN ADORABLE MAN HE SPOKE IN FRENCH TO US ALL THE TIME AND WE ENDED UP SINGING FRERE JACQUER WITH HIM BEFOE WE LEFT!
THE MOST MOVING VISIT OF ALL WAS TO THE ORPHANAGE IN KON TUM.....HOUSED AT THE BACK OF A MAGNIFICENT CHURCH BUILT ENTIRELY IN WOOD IN THE 1800'S BY A DUTCH CATHOLIC PRIEST....
ONE OF THE ORPHANAGE BUILDINGS
THE WONDERFUL, HAPPY, ADORABLE CHILDREN WE MET, WHO WERE SO PLEASED TO SEE US AND JUST WANTED TO BE PICKED UP AND SHOWN AFFECTION!
IT WAS SO HARD TO LEAVE THEM AFTER OUR TIME THERE, WE BOUGHT TWO LARGE SACKS OF RICE AND GAVE THEM AS A DONATION...TRONG SUGGESTED THIS WAS MUCH BETTER THAN GIVING MONEY AND WOULD BE MORE APPRECIATED. THE ORHPANAGE WAS HOME TO 200 CHILDREN FROM BABIES THROUGH TO 16 YEAR OLDS....IT WAS WELL RUN, THE CHILDREN WERE HAPPY AND IN SOME WAYS SEEMED BETTER OFF THAN MANY OF THE POOR BEGGAR CHILDREN WE HAVE SEEN WITH PARENTS.
THE BABIES
AND TODDLERS DORMITORY
AFTER 4 AMAZING DAYS WE SAY GOOD BYE TO TRONG AND NAM AS THEY DROP US OFF AT QUANG NAI STATION TO CATCH AN EARLY EVENING TRAIN TO THE BEACH RESORT OF NHA TRANG!!!!
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