Hmong village visit

Last weekend we went to stay overnight in a Hmong village about an hour from the Nan province. We went to meet up with friends who are on a field study program there. It's amazing how different hill people culture is different from Thai culture. Hmong people don't wai like Thais do. The Hmong languages are nothing like Thai in any way, and only a few words are the same it seems. They have no writing system as far as I know. Although not having a writing system seems like it would be a hinderment, it has actually allowed these various tribes in the mountains to be very mobile and adaptable to new environments when needed. Throughout history, when people tried to subjugate them, they succeeded a lot of the time in escaping because their mountainous home is hard to reach. However, things have changed and most of the new generation of Hmong people can speak Thai.

 While Thais are mostly Buddhist with a mix of Animism, it seems to me that Hmong people emphasize Animism more than Buddhism or another religion. My Hmong host family had a special room in one corner of the house where they performed their rituals. The room had an important wooden column in it, and a spirit was believed to inhabit it. Spirits were believed to inhabit many other places in the house, but this was the most important. At the bottom of the column was some burned incense sticks. Tied to the column was a pig jaw, because a pig was slaughtered and given as an offering to the spirit. There was also a shrine to the spirit of the room attached to the wall, with burned incense and sacrificed chicken feathers. Because this is the most important room in the house, the people do not point their feet toward it when sleeping. My friend Amanda and I slept on their firm bamboo bed, which was still surprisingly comfortable. It was very nice to have a mosquito net, because I have been attacked by mosquitoes almost constantly.

A dragon spirit is believed to inhabit this lake, so the people made a spirit house for it.

The next day, we woke up very early to go on an excursion to another Hmong village up in the mountains. This village had houses with thatched roofs and the weather was cooler because of the elevation. Although the people didn't have much, they seemed very happy and were kind to us.

Hmong people! :)

Near the area where the mayor of the hill village lives, there was a random deer there. It was surprisingly doglike and liked to lick people! So cute.

While hiking, we visited a cave where ascetic monks went to escape from the outside world.

This is what was outside of the cave.

That's all for now! I'm about to go on a trek through the jungle and ride an elephant. Big animals scare me, so wish me luck! Choog dee!