JINGLE BELLS
By Rachael
Luang Prabang, Laos
* jingle jingle * jingle jingle *
The silver coins decorating skirts, shirts and head-dresses clink together with every step, announcing the arrival of striking black-and-bright-rainbow-pattern-attired Hmong people. Wherever they walk, you hear them. Wherever you see them, there’s a display of intricate needlework. Exquisite!
Our neighbour’s husband had squished us into his tuktuk, with Mboy6 perched on the motorbike and we struggled to the outskirts of town. No ONE motorbike was ever designed to carry eleven people, but this one chugged along, coasting down the hills.
We knew when we were near the site; apart from an overabundance of tuktuks, there were more and more costumed people walking along the road.
Down a dirt path, over a couple of simple wooden bridges to a clearing in the forest…..and there they were. Two long lines of unmarried Hmong youth, throwing balls and oranges to each other, just like we had read in “Tangled Threads”. Another surreal moment, a privilege to be here.
Less satisfying to see – and although we watched the preparations, we refused to observe to completion – was the cock fight. I hold to the view that “it’s just their culture” is not an acceptable explanation for all-and-any behaviour. Imagine if Gladys Aylward had said that – millions of Chinese women would still be hobbling about on bound feet today.
Roosters are not human, and they do so crow, but they still deserve to be treated with respect. And so I turned my back on the man-only-crowd, and was pleased when Rob called the boys away, sharing my exact sentiments.
Far better to admire the expertise and devotion stitched into the clothing. Or to sit down to a bowl of noodles (no tourist prices here!) Or to join in the simple replica-entertainment from the music festival the other night. Mboy6 was delighted to win an orange juice – neither he nor Jgilr14 had expected each of their three darts to pop a balloon!
Through the jingling crowd we wandered back up the hill to the waiting tuktuk. As we read recently, a little known advantage of being in a Buddhist country is that at the end of November, you are not already tired of hearing jingle bells….and this jingling was something special.
Tags: craft, dress, intergenerationalism, postcard: Laos, recreation, tradition
rayres
I LOVE their brightly coloured costumes
WTG Mboy6 and Jgilr14
and I agree with you and Rob