It was a great day with the weather being sunny, warm and not too humid. The vegetation here is much more tropical than the other areas we have visited in China. The primary economy in the area is rubber, tea and tourism. On the drive we saw lots of rubber tree groves. Because the price of rubber is very low they have also started planting bananas and we saw lots of banana trees.
This morning we visited three different Dai minority
villages. The Dai Minorities are the Hua (Color-Waist Belt) Dai, the Han (Dry) Dai and the Shui (Wet) Dai. The first two villages (for the Hua Dai and the Han Dai) weren’t that interesting. They had been rebuilt in recent years and most of the buildings were relatively new. In addition, the homes were in walled compounds so mainly all you could see were the brick walls of the compounds, the pretty gates, and roofs of the buildings beyond.
Many of the compounds had very lovely gates and in one the gate was open and we could see a number of women working. Billie, our guide, walked in and started chatting with the women. Two of the older women were wearing traditional Dai clothing and one was embroidering some cloth to make into clothing.
Hua (Color-Waist Belt) Dai Village
Han (Dry) Dai Village
Hua (Color-Waist Belt) Dai Village - We saw looms on the front porches of many houses.
Many of the compounds had very lovely gates and in one the gate was open and we could see a number of women working. Billie, our guide, walked in and started chatting with the women. Two of the older women were wearing traditional Dai clothing and one was embroidering some cloth to make into clothing.
Hua (Color-Waist Belt) Dai Village
Han (Dry) Dai Village
Hua (Color-Waist Belt) Dai Village - We saw looms on the front porches of many houses.
Traditional costume:
There is also a Shui (Wet) Dai village that the driver knew of and we visited that as well (apparently not on the original itinerary). The Wet Dai village was the most interesting and had the
most authentic old style buildings. The
Wet Dai usually live close to rivers and lakes and build their homes on
stilts.
In the old days their livestock was housed under the house raised on stilts. Now, most no longer raise livestock (although we saw a lot of fighting cocks in baskets, and one in a bird cage) so a lot of living goes on under the house
One family made pottery and had a
number of pieces out. Another family made the traditional Dai drums and had cow skins out drying.
There was a painter:
We also saw a lot of women working looms, making cloth.
We saw a lot of woven baskets and tools hanging under the houses.
Apparently they get few tourists in that village and no Westerners so we were apparently the talk of the area as we walked through.
After lunch we joined the mob down along the Mekong River
for the Dragon Boat Racing and some dancing.
It was a typical festival scene one could see anywhere, food and
souvenir vendors, crowds, fireworks, loud speaker announcements, and lots of
colorful locals out enjoying a sunny day.
In the old days their livestock was housed under the house raised on stilts. Now, most no longer raise livestock (although we saw a lot of fighting cocks in baskets, and one in a bird cage) so a lot of living goes on under the house
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| Fighting Cock in a Bird Cage |
There was a painter:
We also saw a lot of women working looms, making cloth.
We saw a lot of woven baskets and tools hanging under the houses.
Apparently they get few tourists in that village and no Westerners so we were apparently the talk of the area as we walked through.
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| Ladies out enjoying the sun and a good gossip. |
The Dragon Boat Racing is part of the Dai New Year’s celebration. The long thin boats held a drummer, four or five at the stern of the boat with long paddles used as rudders to the steer the boat, and four or five men standing (or "bouncing" or "pushing" - anyway, causing the front of the boat to bounce up and down) in the prow.
If HD does not show at end of progress bar, click there for better
quality.
There were about 40 rowers. The Mekong was pretty fast moving and when they were racing downstream the boats moved very fast.
At the end of the race they turned around and started the slow paddle back up stream. We couldn’t figure out where the race ended or who won but there was an awards ceremony so someone won.
Several times they fired off fireworks that were filled with confetti and streamers. Made for wonderful theater and a real mess on the ground.
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| Streamers coming down |
If HD does not show at end of progress bar, click there for better
quality.
The crowd seemed ready to stay for all the festivities, even though it had turned hot and humid.
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| Note all the people lining the bridge. |
More photos of the Dragon Boat Festival.
Being Californians we don't do humidity so by mid-afternoon it we decided not to stay for the entire day’s events. We went back to the hotel, took a short nap and then out to dinner.
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