Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Wednesday, Feb 9th, Mai Chau

















Greetings!

This morning, we visited a museum on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.  While it treated what our guide Duc calls "the Domino War" a bit too graphic (some photos and captions might be offensive to the right wing), I found the portrayal of life along the Trail to be extremely informative.  I learned for the first time the degree of extensive support systems which were established, and found the mapping and photo displays very well constructed.

For the remainder of the day, our bus took us quite a distance, arriving in the late afternoon in the small village of Lok, near Mai Chau, for a home-stay with a local Tai family.  We walked to an even more remote village, and sipped tea and ate candied pineapple in the home of a local weaver.  On the walls were photographs and postcards from those who had visited, and she offered around a guest book for each of us to write  comment.  I felt like I had been treated to a glimpse of real Vietnamese hospitality, as nothing was expected of us except to better understand their culture and lifestyles.

This evening, back in our guest home, we were treated to a dance and musical performance by the young people in the village.  I caught some of it on my Flip camera, and will try to get it up on YouTube soon.

To view the photos taken today, click on: Wednesday, Feb 9th, Mai Chau


Gregory

1 comment:

Wayne Seden said...

Hi you two adventurers:
Great pictures and descriptions. You certainly cover the spectrum of accomodations. Like you, we are finding internet connections to also vary across the spectrum. By the way your passports have been revoked by order of the new Republican Congress. Keep posting anyway. You still have friends.
Wayne and Miriam