Vietnam,  Human Encounters

Northern Vietnamese Romance

On our hike today we ended up being the guests of an older couple of the ethnic Thai in the hilly region of Mai Chau, Vietnam. They had moved out of their house in the village to leave it to their son and his family. It would be bad luck for the house if someone died in there, the lively 64-year old man explained to us while he was moving around in his humble hut in the remote forest like a teen.

Next he pulled out his flute enchanting us with some simple song, saying that for full moon he would enjoy playing for his wife in front of the open door.
We were just melting in sheer admiration of the serenity of it all, when he came to his feet quickly pulling out a DVD player from behind a curtain. Beaming like a child, showing us the dance videos they enjoy from time to time.

The piece of technology was so beautifully out of place in the smoky stilt house with really nothing than the barest necessities, that everyone was just laughing away, happily caught in all our romantic ideas and projections on the simple life in the mountains.
What a wonderful wake up, finished off with some good homemade rice schnaps. Mot, Hai, Ba, YO! ?

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