Note: please excuse poor quality photos - this is much due to a distasteful camera being used.
During a Vietnamese Sapa stint, it's easy; and hardly unavoidable - to cross paths with two particular tribes; both of whom I've mentioned in previous posts. So whilst floating through the tourist strip and local market, eye-spy amidst the Black Hmong's and Red Dao's, an anomaly.
.Discovery mode
Being located roughly 20 metres away from them, I couldn't let these beautifully dressed women who were happily shopping around for their goods escape my eyes.
These women stood out from the crowd. Why? Their clothes indicate their differing tribal status. I managed to retain my stalker-ish ways and snap away from that short distance in a non-stalker-ish manner. I am keen to approach them, but fear that either my prying will distract their innocent ways or, contrastingly, they'll begin to "sell".
They really do stand out from the rest of gang, and seem rather alien and vulnerable to the tourist mecca.
Later on in the week, I met a man in my fave little restaurant of Sapa; 'Little Sapa'. He was a French man. And from the French island that sits in the Indian Ocean: La Réunion. The first French I'd met from this exotic, little and isolated island. Anyhow, he began by explaining his reason for being in Sapa; much akin to mine....hilltribes. He then went on to talk about his ethnographic interests and his work on setting up a museum exhibition on these hilltribes in La Réunion. Very interesting indeed. So interesting that I had to get hold of his contact details.
It was not until later...
*Ding* - it occurred to me he may settle my wandering thoughts of this beautiful tribe I stalked days before. (Well, I could easily have asked the local tourism office, but sometimes I do enjoy beating around the bush and can't pass a challenge-annoyingly so). Emailing my question with stalkerish photos attached, he replied asking his link in the Hanoi Ethnological group. Low and behold....the helpful man had my answer. My next quest had begun...
>Welcome to the Lu people tribe!
So after much excitement of discovering where these tribes are located, I set on a little expedition to hunt them down. Offered a free guided day motorbike ride on a barely beaten track to their villages through mountains and paved and unpaved rocky roads, we arrived in their 'hood' of Lai Chau; apparently the most sparsely populated province of Vietnam, and a province that borders China.
Succulent scenery and delicately & strategically built stilt houses over marshland, we noisily rocked up on the motorbike in one of the small Lai Chau villages. It's spacious and natural with elements of 'wireism' in tact. And the Lu people start to poke their heads out of their stilted homes. It's hardly surprising.... once again, I'm attacked!!!!! Tourist written all over my face/body. Disappointed! I, having thought I'd escaped this demanding-money-from-tourist action. I guess not. Anyway, I was much more interested in discovering their textile ways, and their ways of life..and surely amidst the selling tactics of some of the Lu's, I managed to discover.. And so it was discovered....
.The Attraction
What attracted me mostly to this hilltribe, is the mysteriously dark and elegant clothing and headgear, rich textile properties embellished with touches of colour and ultimately, their teeth! Not so much the pearly whites kind of thing, their dentures are black. And that's a fashion statement for these ladies. The blacker your teeth, the more beautiful you are/exert and the more desirable you will be to male members of the tribe. Black rids the white teeth that the Lu's believe are associated with demons and wild animals. However, it did occur to me that black teeth were mainly prevalent in the older generation. It seemed to be, and I was told - that the younger generation are veering away from such beauty techniques and latching onto the 'au natural' way. That's a shame, because they do look a real treat with their black teeth in place. Beautiful? Hell yes!
Black teeth process:
The black shade is created by burning a piece of bark and using the dull plant dye resin to scrub along their teeth, and is done several times a day. Hard to imagine, but it also acts as a teeth cleaner too. I was given a demonstration as depicted from photos. I was also asked to scrub my teeth too...they persisted in their comedic ways until I gently reminded them that I was content with my currently off-white teeth and that black teeth may potentially deter the male population.. No thanks!
>Textiles. Clothing. Nature.
. I especially like their hand-loomed decorative sheets of fabric which they usually use to carry their bubba's in. It's a heavy piece of durable fabric that is well-crafted in geometric shape-age. Its weight and detail also suggest the patience, talent and time it takes to create such a piece. A hand-loom is shown below; these tend to sit in the front balcony area of their stilted homes.
. Below allows you to be bombarded with the Lu people in SaPa and their homeland Lai Chau - all in the northern region of Vietnam. It exercises some photos of women's clothing, their textiles, their intricate hair pieces and details, and ultimately... the Lu immersed in nature. What a funny bunch of ladies!
Aspiring hill tribe beauty,
Much Lu love x
During a Vietnamese Sapa stint, it's easy; and hardly unavoidable - to cross paths with two particular tribes; both of whom I've mentioned in previous posts. So whilst floating through the tourist strip and local market, eye-spy amidst the Black Hmong's and Red Dao's, an anomaly.
.Discovery mode
Being located roughly 20 metres away from them, I couldn't let these beautifully dressed women who were happily shopping around for their goods escape my eyes.
These women stood out from the crowd. Why? Their clothes indicate their differing tribal status. I managed to retain my stalker-ish ways and snap away from that short distance in a non-stalker-ish manner. I am keen to approach them, but fear that either my prying will distract their innocent ways or, contrastingly, they'll begin to "sell".
They really do stand out from the rest of gang, and seem rather alien and vulnerable to the tourist mecca.
Later on in the week, I met a man in my fave little restaurant of Sapa; 'Little Sapa'. He was a French man. And from the French island that sits in the Indian Ocean: La Réunion. The first French I'd met from this exotic, little and isolated island. Anyhow, he began by explaining his reason for being in Sapa; much akin to mine....hilltribes. He then went on to talk about his ethnographic interests and his work on setting up a museum exhibition on these hilltribes in La Réunion. Very interesting indeed. So interesting that I had to get hold of his contact details.
It was not until later...
*Ding* - it occurred to me he may settle my wandering thoughts of this beautiful tribe I stalked days before. (Well, I could easily have asked the local tourism office, but sometimes I do enjoy beating around the bush and can't pass a challenge-annoyingly so). Emailing my question with stalkerish photos attached, he replied asking his link in the Hanoi Ethnological group. Low and behold....the helpful man had my answer. My next quest had begun...
>Welcome to the Lu people tribe!
Succulent scenery and delicately & strategically built stilt houses over marshland, we noisily rocked up on the motorbike in one of the small Lai Chau villages. It's spacious and natural with elements of 'wireism' in tact. And the Lu people start to poke their heads out of their stilted homes. It's hardly surprising.... once again, I'm attacked!!!!! Tourist written all over my face/body. Disappointed! I, having thought I'd escaped this demanding-money-from-tourist action. I guess not. Anyway, I was much more interested in discovering their textile ways, and their ways of life..and surely amidst the selling tactics of some of the Lu's, I managed to discover.. And so it was discovered....
.The Attraction
What attracted me mostly to this hilltribe, is the mysteriously dark and elegant clothing and headgear, rich textile properties embellished with touches of colour and ultimately, their teeth! Not so much the pearly whites kind of thing, their dentures are black. And that's a fashion statement for these ladies. The blacker your teeth, the more beautiful you are/exert and the more desirable you will be to male members of the tribe. Black rids the white teeth that the Lu's believe are associated with demons and wild animals. However, it did occur to me that black teeth were mainly prevalent in the older generation. It seemed to be, and I was told - that the younger generation are veering away from such beauty techniques and latching onto the 'au natural' way. That's a shame, because they do look a real treat with their black teeth in place. Beautiful? Hell yes!
Black teeth process:
The black shade is created by burning a piece of bark and using the dull plant dye resin to scrub along their teeth, and is done several times a day. Hard to imagine, but it also acts as a teeth cleaner too. I was given a demonstration as depicted from photos. I was also asked to scrub my teeth too...they persisted in their comedic ways until I gently reminded them that I was content with my currently off-white teeth and that black teeth may potentially deter the male population.. No thanks!
>Textiles. Clothing. Nature.
. I especially like their hand-loomed decorative sheets of fabric which they usually use to carry their bubba's in. It's a heavy piece of durable fabric that is well-crafted in geometric shape-age. Its weight and detail also suggest the patience, talent and time it takes to create such a piece. A hand-loom is shown below; these tend to sit in the front balcony area of their stilted homes.
. Below allows you to be bombarded with the Lu people in SaPa and their homeland Lai Chau - all in the northern region of Vietnam. It exercises some photos of women's clothing, their textiles, their intricate hair pieces and details, and ultimately... the Lu immersed in nature. What a funny bunch of ladies!
Aspiring hill tribe beauty,
Much Lu love x
2 comments:
Brought a smile to my face! Interesting and insightful. You have such a gift with ppl! H x
Very interesting read, now I know all about the Lu people and their black teeth!
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