A Peaceful Treat

View of the Muong village from a distance

The oppressive greyness of Hanoi’s winter skies can challenge anybody’s mood. I recorded 3 days of sunshine since my arrival a month and a half ago, sending my body into serious melanin withdrawal syndromes. Sometimes I wonder if the sun really exists behind the thick layers of smog and condensation.

Due to the harsh consequences of the eternal kaleidoscope of greys, a couple of girls and I decided that, if we couldn’t escape the “iron curtain” we could certainly try to ease our eyesight by providing it with shades of green from the Hanoian countryside. Hence, we embarked on a weekend adventure to the discovery of a town a couple of hours outside of Hanoi. The destination was Hoa Binh, which promisingly translates to “Peace”. We crammed ourselves in the back of a small minibus and headed for our adventure, the grey sky diligently following us. 

After setting our bags in the hotel, we headed to another one which housed the only tourist information center in town. Given its beautiful location, we settled for having lunch there. The service was wonderful, the view beautiful and the food delicious. What was supposed to be a quick snack became a 3-course meal with a bottle of refreshing Vietnamese beer.

Muong women making toothpicks

The server became our tour guide.  She took us 12km outside of Hoa Binh to a Muong minority village. Vietnam has 54 officially recognized ethnic groups with their own language, culture and religious practices. The majority are spread in the Northern mountainous regions and the Central Highlands. The French called them the Montagnards (“highlanders”), a term still commonly in use. The Muong are mostly concentrated the Hoa Binh Province and have a population of over 1.2 million. They are the third largest ethnic minority group and their origins are close to the ethnic Vietnamese. They live in stilt-houses and survive off of rice and corn and livestock farming.

The skies cleared acquiring a welcoming taint of blue while the sun awoke from its long lethargy. The view of the Muong village was a serene and appeasing sight. Kids ran up to us crying “Bonbon! Bonbon!” as the water from the rice paddies twinkled in the sunlight. A Muong lady invited us into her home, a traditional elevated wooden house with a palm leaf roof. We left our shoes at the entrance and took a seat on the bamboo carpet on the floor. Our host brought out hot tea, bananas and homemade rice wine. She was a beautiful, smiley woman in her late 30s. As she continued to fill our glasses with wine, she pointed to a large pile of blankets on the floor: “My husband. Too much rice wine for lunch!” while emitting a genuine and contagious laugh.

Old lady greeting us

The house was simple but welcoming. It consisted of one large room with a hefty open fireplace, piles of bamboo carpets neatly rolled in a corner ready to be undone for the rice wine’s next victim, musical instruments orderly hanging from the walls and… a television set with a DVD player!  

As we ran out of topics of conversation with our limited knowledge of Vietnamese, the rice wine was doing its job at putting us all at ease. You could hear voices of the kids playing carried by the subtle breeze. Birds were singing as peace reigned. We were in no hurry to leave this temple of calm. I believe our host could feel our sighs of relief, so she extended an invite to stay with her and her family in her stilt-house on our next visit. “Just call me a couple of hours before your arrival so that I can go to the market and prepare dinner”.

Everybody needs their peace of mind, and when the hot summer months invade the streets of Hanoi, an escape to “Peace” will be a welcomed and needed treat.