Everything Has At Least Two Spellings!

Pom Coong (Poong Coong) Homestay

We had an early breakfast and left Hanoi with only the things we needed for a week in the countryside.  Our big bag was checked at the hotel to claim upon our return.  The bus ride was about three and a half hours west of the city and up into the mountains.  The tour is called Hill Tribes of VietNam.  Most of the drive it rained and if it wasn’t raining it was foggy or misty.  Phil said that most often the mountain pass is closed in the clouds.  It surely was!  You could not see the vehicle in front of you or even the lights of the oncoming ones.  On the narrow, winding road it was amazing that the sharp turns and frequent curves could be navigated.  Our driver was really remarkable. 

Mai Chau Valley where we were heading for our Homestay.

Once we were over the peak the weather cleared as we drove lower and lower into the Mai Chau Valley.  Here fruit orchards abound and we stopped to sample oranges along the way.

We arrived at the village of the White Thai People.  This is their name because they wear white but Mrs. Vuong, our hostess greeted us wearing black and with teeth that showed the effects of chewing beetle nuts.  The tiny woman of about 50 supports her family by having guest experience the culture of her people by staying overnight.  Homestays are popular in some of the villages we will visit.

 

The classic stilt house was large.  Beneath is the kitchen. It is eating and entertaining area and a place where Mrs. Vuong sits at a loom to create scarves which everyone in our group, except me, bought.  Phil encourages us to support the local economy.  I have supported the local economies sufficiently with the purchase of this trip, I am pretty sure!

The stilts allow for plenty of fresh air and help to keep the sleeping area clean.  Sleeping is done up an uneven flight of steps.  Because this is a home being used for tourism, the rectangular upper chamber accommodated all of us in one big room.  Barbara and Bruno had a king sized arrangement and then we each had our own space.  Each bed had a mosquito net but it isn’t the season yet so we did not use them. The thick memory foam mattresses which rested on the Jackwood floor were separated by elegant curtains which pulled back so we could be open or they could be closed for privacy. The curtains hung from a system of bamboo poles so that the room could be configured for any size group.  This room was a teen aged girl’s slumber party fantasy!

All the way around the walls were shutters that threw open to the rice paddies beneath.  You could see a great distance.  To make Westerners more at home there was a bathroom with toilet and sink on this floor.  Downstairs were three bathrooms with showers as well. We had removed our shoes so as not to spoil that tatami mats in the house and were provided with flip flops. 

Back down to a many coursed lunch which began with a welcome toast of rice wine served in doll house cups.  Rice is served at the end of the meal as a filler if you have not been satisfied by the soup, cooked greens and the meat, fowl, and fish courses.  Dessert was always served and this time was watermelon and dragon fruit.  

 

Susie, Anna from Taos, Frieda and I had lunch together.

Then came rest time.  Phil says we will have nap time most every day so we stay healthy!  I think it also gives the ‘troop leader’ a break!  He will have long days ahead!

We took a long walking tour through the rice paddies. Along our walk we went through the village.  The stilt houses are of wood and of varying qualities of finish and decoration.  Water Buffalo and VietNamese Potbellied Pigs are in sheds that have more openness than shelter.  Watch where you step!

Water Buffalo are shy creatures and not at all threatening despite their size.  They much on grasses and are invaluable for two reasons.  They serve as the plow and the fertilizer of the rice which is grown.  Children have the job of picking up the dung and piling it in the paddy until it is time for the Buffalo to walk in the field and mulch the dung into the soil.  Then the women to smooth out the mud with the use of a board.  It is all back breaking work and the whole family participates in the growing of the money crop.  When the seedlings get about 6 or 8 inches tall, they are pulled up and bunched.  Then they are reinserted one spring at a time into the mud in neat rows.  It was not warm, we had on jackets and hats and scarves but the ladies were barefoot and barehanded as they tediously stopped and placed the transplants.

Phil demonstrated for us.

 

This is what is pulled up and separated to replant.  

Seeing all the intense manual labor makes you really appreciate that cheap box of Minute Rice, or a five pound sack for just a few dollars!

We stopped in the village to visit in the home of a Veteran of the American War.  We have quickly realized that the welcome always includes tepid green tea or rice wine but is genuine and friendly.  He answered our questions and Phil guided the conversation so that Mr. Nguyen could tell us of his experience.  He went to the war because they were starving and wanted to have new hope. 

We passed the home of a family who was working in the field.  The 12 year old daughter was tending the 18 month old and was preparing dinner in their kitchen - this open fire in the front of the house.  Bruno asked if he could give the baby a piece of candy.  We always ask first. 

Our group sort of split up with some of us following Phil and others followed the local guide who went a different way.  When we all finally regrouped our local guide tried out a new route that proved awkward for Anna, Frieda, and me.  It ended with a narrow, not much wider than your two feet balancing act on a rutted grass path on a wall above the paddy.  Frieda and I were willing to try it but Anna would not have made it and Phil was nervous.  Her balance is not good and she needs a walking stick for normal paths.  He brought us back around another way.

We were late getting back to dinner which began with a performance of ethnic dancing and music. But first we soaked our feet in a warm bath of herbs to make them more comfortable and so we would sleep better. 

Here Glenda and her daughter Leah join Barbara soaking their feet.  Bruno is next in line!

Each song portrayed a story of the White Thai People.  The cutest one was a story of courtship that involved the young girl twirling her umbrella and teasing her beau by first showing her face and then hiding from him.  Susie and Barbara and Bruno joined in the bamboo dance.  When that began we could easily tell who had been Girl Scouts!

 Dinner was another multi-coursed meal.  I can see there will plenty of food on this trip and the toast this evening was with Rice Whiskey.  I think there will be a lot of that as well.   

We are all still getting to know one another but seemed to have bonded already.  Everyone was courteous and modest in our communal bedroom and yet there was a lot of joking and kidding around.  It is good that there were thick comforters on the beds as it was quite cool.  It is also good that we had noticed at Rest Time that some of the shutters did not hook closed and that we told Phil. While we were gone the family had already fixed those and so the ‘cabin’ was a little less breezy.  We talked and laughed and gradually you could hear fewer and fewer voices until we were all fast asleep huddled under the colorful down comforters.