Living in Sapa

Hello to everybody. A very long time I didn't publish anything but today I would like to make a good action to the Black Hmong minority around Sapa.

I want to collect come funds to help them. Anybody who wishes to help can send a small donation via Paypal. Your donation will be used to buy blankets, bowls, frying pans and others things that will greatly help the villagers.
Anybody who gives money will have pictures of the family getting the presents and, will be able to correspond via email with them (i will tell them what you said and will write back to you what they said.)

You can choose to give 10, 20 or 30 $ to help them. All is up to you.
-However I need to remove 1$ from your donations to pay gasoline (villages are a bit far.)
-100% of the remaining money is used to buy things for them (it's not a joke !)

Up to you to give some money or no. I won't blame you if you don't.

(I'm not sure if Paypal will work...In such a case send me an email to tsen_ang(at)hotmail.com I will contact you back on Paypal and send you a money request...

All the donations will be used around Sapa, in the following villages : Sapa, Ta Phin, Lao Chai, Ta Van, Giang Ta Chai, Ban Ho.

10$

20$

30$

Finally here is a new photo album which is about Sapa 2007.

Not a lot of pictures but some to give you an idea of what I saw during this year ;)
I hope you enjoy them and I'll certainly upload more soon.

Long time I didn't publish anything on my blog right ?

I've been lately busy in Sapa. Taking pictures of minorities, having my parents there, a baby, etc...
Everything is ok there and you don't need to worry about me ;)

Thanks to a lady on Deviantart, I got to know 18xeem, a magazine about hmong culture.I invit you to have a look at it to know more about the hmong culture, it's really a nice job.

Link >>> http://www.18xeem.com

 

Comming up next : a few pictures taken during the year.

 

Today as it's Sunday, we went to Bac Ha market. Bac Ha is a very nice place, likely 3 hours far from Sapa.
Mountains are very different and are more in a chinese-like style. Many corns, some tea, potatoes and of course ricefields :)
The way to go to Bac Ha is nice up to Lao Cai but then it's about 2 hours of dust roads : unless you like dust you'd like to close your helmet ou wear sunglasses. Everytime a car or even just a motorbyke go, a huge wall of sand and dirt fly everywhere.
However the way is really nice to see and everybody should see this way, at least, one time in his or her life. The way is full of nice trees and sometimes you can see a snake going trough the road as fast as it can before going under your wheels ^^
As you approach Bac Ha more and more flowers hmongs are on the way or the surroundings. Many children play with small cars made of wood without scaring for real cars nor motorbykes. A lot of horses welcome you to Bac Ha when you arrive near the city. Contrary to Sapa, Bac Ha people still use horses to carry heavy things.

The market is full of life, especially the one for animals where local people head on for trading them or buy some. Very noisy place as you can imagine : many pigs, chickens, horses and even dogs.
Many people sell flower hmong clothes. The skirts are really great and when you see them on flowers hmongs people you are almost stunned by the natural grace and beauty of that women wearing incredible clothes.
A small place is set for tobaco traders, selling huge piles of fresh tobaco and allowing customers to try it before buying it. Some people also sell local medecine like roots or dried leaves.

We got surprised today as some people counts in a different way : 50 000 vnd for them is 500 000 vnd so if a deal seems really great you should be sure that you can add a 0 to the bill :D Chinese hmong way of counting as they aren't "friends" with tourists like black hmong people.

Some pictures of that nice day are in a new album called "Bac Ha 2006".
Also got 2 really nice clothing for my project :-)

As it say, my friend from America Martin is leaving tonight at 7pm. He stayed 4 months in Sapa like every year.
Last night he made a party in Little Sapa and asked more than 20 black hmongs and 8 red zaos to come eat with us.
Classical vietnamese food, nothing special : french fries, susu, tofu, rice, chicken, beer and apple wine.
The dessert was really great : nuts, chocolate, gelified ginger, casshew nuts, and many more :)
See you again next year in Sapa Martin ! 

Today a few pictures added. All are from me and can be viewed in the Sapa 2006 Album :)

Last night Martin and a boy from Mexico cooked an incredible meal !
Mexico flavored food and for dessert.... Mexican chocolate ! Mmmmm yummy ! That chocolate is really great ! Dark, small and very tasty. It's not sticky in the mouth and doesn't melt in the hand ;)
Like sugar in a way.


A nice video of a chinese hmong girl singing in chinese. Look at the splendid hat she's wearing.


One of my favourite hmong song. Sad I don't know enough hmong language now to fully understand the meaning of the song :(

Anybody willing to know more about hmong songs and dances should have a look at that place : http://www.zoosiab.com/video.html 
The movies feature most of the times young people or even children, traditionals clothings and more.
Enjoy ! :)

Today this post will be english and french as I need the biggest audience for that project.

English version >>>

           Hello everybody. I am currently making a project that will be held on several years until the project reaches a suitable level. I will be collecting various hmongs clothes from Sapa and its surroundings in a first time then head for Bac Ha area and meet the flower hmongs to learn more about their traditional clothes.
That will be all for that year but I will be looking for more clothes as I will travel in the areas populated with various hmongs people. China, Laos and Thailand will likely be the first areas I will be heading to. USA will likely be the next step to my project as well the hmongs currently living in France.
If anybody can help me with that project, I would greatly appreciate it. Even if just some informations on some clothes or rares clothings kept for special occasions.

Thanks in advance.

Version francaise >>>

          Bonjour à toutes et a tous. Je fais actuellement un projet qui sera tenu sur plusieurs années jusqu'à ce que le projet atteigne un niveau approprié. Je rassemblerai divers vêtements hmongs de Sapa et de ses environs dans un premier temps puis, me dirigerai ensuite vers la région de Bac ha et rencontrerai les hmongs fleurs pour en apprendre plus au sujet de leurs vêtements traditionnels.  Ce sera tout pour cette année mais je rechercherai plus de vêtements dans les annees a venir car je voyagerai dans les secteurs peuplés avec  diverses minoritees hmongs. La Chine, le Laos et la Thaïlande sont probablement les premiers pays que je visiterai. Les Etats-Unis seront  la prochaine étape de mon projet ainsi que les hmongs habitant actuellement en France.  Si quiconque peut m'aider avec ce projet, je l'apprécierais considérablement. Même si ce ne sont que quelques informations sur les vêtements portes quotidiennement ou ceux portes uniquement lors d'occasions speciales.

Merci d'avance.