Cho Cho and the Black Hmong people

Since arriving in Sa pa we had been approached by many Black Hmong tribal women. They come to the city from their mountain villages everyday, selling their distinct local produce, offering home stays and trekking trips. They are savvy business women, capitalising on the fact that every hotel offers tours to local villages and undercutting their prices. As you may be aware we have had enough of tour companies, so when we were approached by Cho Cho and invited to her house for lunch in her village we took the opportunity to try and get a more authentic experience.

Getting to Cho Cho's house took a good 4 hours. 12km from Sa pa city, she led us on a hike through the mountains through postcard-perfect surroundings under an immaculate blue dome. In her 50s with 5 kids, she knurdled through narrow passes, skipped over ravines and hopped across makeshift log-bridges in her flip flops, exposing our ungraceful stumbling gait. Early in the walk she quickly scuttled off ahead leaving us wondering, turned out she found a huge beetle.... and then attached it to the stalk of a plant making some sort of toy, merrily swinging it around for most of the walk!

Above: epic views walking through the mountains

Below: panoramic shot 

Below below: the rice paddies up close- we had to walk along the ridges on several occasions

Through Cho Cho we gained an insight into the Hmong culture. The men farm and the women do all sorts of crafts, knitting, weaving, sewing, printing. Their efforts are aimed at producing clothes and accessories, giving them a distinct appearance. She lives in a 150 year old village on the mountain side in a simple bamboo house surrounding by rice paddies. The village is home to a 120 year old man. 'People live long time in the village - very healthy'. There are 11 people living in the 3 bedroom house including a 3 day old baby who Cho Cho delivered along with the rest of her grandchildren! Taught by her mother, she delivers exactly how Mandeep has been taught.

Below: Cho Cho with her bamboo beetle toy 

Below: Cho Cho demonstrating the printing process using honeycomb, later dyed with indigo

For generations life was fairly consistent among the Hmong, but in the last 25 years tourism has become prominent enough to drive the village women into the cities, selling hand made clothing and offering tours as Cho Cho did with us. Times are changing, and Cho Cho became visibly agitated when we asked her about how and why things have changed, 'before the men work on the farm, now they work in the city and wear vietnamese clothes. Before the women work very hard, now they go to school and become lazy. No learn how to do anything.' When asked about the future of her people, she commented 'maybe 10 years Hmong culture finish!' I couldn't help but feel I was part of the problem, tourism skewing in 25 years a culture established for hundreds of years. What is it that has made people lose the value of their traditional customs the world over. How have the last 200 years been the most rapidly changing period in all human history, leading us into an anthropological unknown? It is a vicious cycle. The young Hmong girls, seeing the speed of the modern world will increasingly lose patience working on a hand stitched pattern for a week.. The higher order beauty of traditional art unaccessibe to the mind of the one gripped by sensuality. We share our senses with animals, but the higher facuties of intellect, creativity and language make us human. To quote Neil Postman, we are 'amusing ourselves to death' (good book). Is it progress or is it a tragedy? Cho Cho says unequivocally, 'old way better'.. Time will tell, We personally think Cho Cho is onto something..