Day Four

The bus rolled along an uneven two-lane road. Motorbikes weaved around us. Vehicles traveling in either direction frequently drove into opposing traffic. Horns screamed out. Trucks rumbled by faster than they should. The bus kept pace. We were on a road trip, leaving Hanoi behind, heading north to a city two hours away. A dreamlike amount of green expanded around us as we passed endless rice paddies. Farmers, hunched over in their reed hats, tended to their crops. Cows munch away on the shoulder, oblivious to the chaos mere inches away from them. Rice paddies became towns that became jungle that became rice paddies. Repeat.

The villages were on the verge of modernization but were held back the anchor of their bucolic nature. They were seemingly stuck in a time-warp. If it weren’t for the few ornate government buildings, occasional new villas and brand new motorbikes we could have been transported back to a bygone era. The farther we got from Hanoi, the more animals materialized (AUTHOR’S NOTE: I only bring this up because I have barely seen any animals in Hanoi: a few dogs, one cat and birds in cages. The lack of stray dogs, the wayward cat or flock of birds is…unsettling); dogs lounged in driveways; cats rested on ledges; chickens pecked at the gravel; cows continued to munch and wander. The bubble of Hanoi wore away and we got a sense of what the rest of Vietnam was like.



We were on route to Thai Nguyen to visit a university that caters to many of the ethnic minorities in Vietnam. There are 54 ethnic minorities in the country. Many of them live in the northern parts of the country.

We pulled to a stop outside the Cultural Museum of Ethnic Groups in Thai Nguyen. The museum had an exhibition devoted to each group. We were directed through each display to get a sense of traditional dress, area of habitation and lifestyle. “I’m curious what these people are like now,” Malinalli Cooke said, as she studied the displays. It was a good question: many of the displays presented the groups in archaic situations, nothing about their modern situation.

The plan shifted slightly as we were supposed to visit a tea plantation, but instead we just rolled up to a family farm and explored the tiny tea plot. Our guide, Tuan, commented that it was a more self-sufficient method to make money to plant tea. We then visited a tea factory where the tealeaves are prepared for distribution. We sampled a few glasses of the local brew. The tea had a smoky aroma and the burnt odor transferred to the taste. Tuan said the leaves were dried through the process of running them over a hot barrel by hand. It gave the drink the smoky flavor.

The afternoon was devoted to visiting with professors and students at the Thai Nguyen University of Education. There isn’t really much to write about this. We arrived. They spoke to us. We split into two groups. The APRISE students met with three students who didn’t open up until the professors were asked elsewhere. We learned what it was like for ethnic minorities seeking higher education – they felt equal, never put down and allowed to flourish with the same opportunities. We left only slightly satisfied, with questions still rattling around in our heads.