We met our guide, Thao Thi Khu. She looked like an average Black Hmoung girl in her village. Her waist-length hair is pulled to her forehead and pinned with a comb and hairclip. She wears her handmade traditional dark blue Black Hmoung costume that comes with colourful woven flowery designs. Her legs are wrapped in a cloth that acts as protection against the harsh rocks and hard tree trunks in the jungle. Her faithful purple Wellington boots provided the firm grip while trekking in the mountains.In her culture, having long hair is considered as beautiful and only “crazy women” have short hair. Black Hmoung ladies learned how to sew when they are still little girls and are accustomed to spending the entire year making one new dress. When they get married, they are responsible to make clothes for their husbands and children.
When we met Khu, she was in the midst of preparing to make her new attire for 2009. “The ones in the shop are not beautiful. By making my own, I get to choose my own designs and colour combinations,” she said.
But Khu is not like the conventional girls in her village in Lao Chai. While most girls would have been married by the time they turned 15 years old, Khu is still single at 23. she believed her independence lies with her singlehood and for now, she's willing to forsake having a family of her own for the freedom to roam wherever she wanted. eventually, when she's ready, she would like to settle down with a man from her village but until that day comes, she wants to enjoy life to the fullest.
Khu has many friends due to her friendly character. She spends 4,000 Dong per hour to surf the Internet on a weekly basis. She writes to her foreign friends via her Yahoo email and updates her Facebook account regularly.
I looked at Khu and witnessed the embrace of modernity by a society that has been living a primitive life. having had the chance of staying with the locals, i saw how simple life was for them and how little they needed. it was back to basics; cooking on burning wood, wooden tables and chairs, toilet with just a hole and flowing water from the rice terraces, no heater despite the cold weather; only warm clothes to shield the chill ...
Yet, Khu living in such conditions, knows how to use the computer. she's barely literate but knows how to type on the keyboard and write an understable email to her friends. she doesn't get to watch tv but has a swamp of knowledge about various places because of her interactions with different nationalities she met during her tours.
Despite her desire for wider exposure, she's still tied to her own tribal culture and customs. she's being wooed by various foreign men but she preferred a Black Hmoung man. she's been to Hanoi and chose to live in the quiet nature of Lao Chai. she wants to be married and have kids one day, and lived life just the way she is now.
Sometimes when we're so used to our way of doing things, we might think that others who lived differently are not really living. Khu taught me that it is possible to have a simple life while still being connected with the rest of the world. she's not having anything less; just different :)
