Vietnam was wonderful. Since I have been taking it for granted that the three countries of Indochina were regarded as a unity sharing a group of people with similar national characteristics, I was astonished at finding a complete difference in attitude, the way to talk, and faces between Vietnamese and Laotians. As I was arrived from a quiet region of Vientiane, I felt a chill go down my spine to see such an exorbitant number of people, bicycles, motorcycles, and a torrent of automobiles.

Well, let's talk about the Hmong now. They are known by the name of the Miaos in China, but because of their militant and defiant attitude, they have been expelled from China, and ended up living in the mountains in Thailand, Laos, and Vietnam. As there were villages of the Hmong scattered about the vicinity of the Plain of Jars where I have visited in the end of December, I happened to have an opportunity to take a look at a morning fair on Sunday. The market opens from 6am to 10am. It was full of clothing and groceries. Most of the clothes were Chinese-made, which we would rarely find as in Vientiane. While looking at shops selling vegetables and fruits, I noticed a head of pig sitting on a stall at a meat shop. There also were chickens kept in the cages. Finding a deep-fried snack that looked like a donut, I tried one. I have imagined it to be soft in my mouth, but as contrary to my expectation, it was quite hard actually. I inquired about the ingredient and learned that it was rice flour. Probably because it was made from rice flour, it felt gummy and stuck to my teeth. But, it was good.

After that, I went to take a look at a poppy field. The flowers that produce evil opium looked beautiful with such a peculiar color of dark reddish purple. While the Hmong mainly practice slash-and-burn farming, they also cultivate poppy in order to draw a cash income. I heard that the cultivation of poppy is permitted by the Laotian Government on condition that it is for food or medicinal purpose and for a small quantity. But unfortunately, it is true that opium poisoning is considerably common among the Hmong.

I then visited a village. The outer parts of the bombs dropped by the American army have been used as pillars for a foundation of stilt house and fences around a yard. This is where as much as 2 or 3 million tons of American bombs were dropped during the Vietnam War. I saw children coming out of a house one after another. All of them were in rags and either wearing sandals or barefoot. They looked poor. But they were all smiling. As I happened to come to a schoolyard, there were beautifully dressed young ladies. I was told that it was the New Year's celebration of the Hmong. Young males were standing in a raw on one side, and the ladies were lined up about 5 meters away on the other side. Then they were throwing tennis balls with each other. I heard that it was like a marriage meeting, and they were to throw the balls to someone they liked. Since the Hmong follows polygamy, a widow who has lost her husband would also participate in this event. That was why there also was a lady who looked to be well into her thirties in the group of young ladies. They told me that those young ladies have taken years to prepare their dresses for this particular day. As I helped an 18-year-old lady taking out threads, which have been fastened to make pleats in the skirt she has made, I was impressed at the fine and beautiful work. After putting embroidery or appliquŽ on the skirt, you can make pleats by creasing at every 1-cm breadth and leaving it as fastening the folds tightly with a thread. There was no electricity, not to mention an iron, available in the village, but I was deeply impressed at such beautiful works they could still make. The Mon women were very skillful with their fingers, and patterns of embroidery and appliquŽ have been handed down from a mother to a daughter.

Their houses had no window. I heard that it was due to their traditional belief that a spirit runs off through a window. It was an earth-floored house with a 10-cm square skylight up close to the roof. There were chickens and wild boars wondering peacefully in the yard. I also found some people playing battledore and shuttlecock. They were using roughly-shaven wooden boards as battledores, but the shuttlecock was a cartridge with two feathers attached. I have never thought of meeting something so similar to battledore and shuttlecock we play in Japan.

As looking at people playing and taking photographs of children, I stayed in that village for about 30 minutes. Then I realized that nobody pestered me for money or other things while I was there. I was wondering why, but I soon found out the reason few days later. I heard that they used to pester tourists until about three years ago. But considering that the people would no longer exert themselves to work by getting used to charity, the Laotian Government pressed the tourist agents strongly to prohibit such behavior of tourists. I guess it came out effective. Looking at those children who seemed to be so poor but smiling bashfully, I felt tempted to give at least a candy or something against my better judgment. That was nothing but human nature to feel that way. The tourists must think of forcing their kindnesses sometimesÉ I keenly felt so.

Translated by Maiko Noda