Buffalo, in remoter areas, provide much of the power for agriculture, this one is resting, but its plough sits ready on the ground beside it
This second page on Hà Giang stays along Route 34 to the east of Hà Giang City. An aside: usually, in Vietnam, provincial and district main towns bear the same name as their areas, for this foreigner at least, this has caused misunderstandings. These pages are about the country areas of the province and its capital does not get a look in, that is partly because its aesthetic appeal is slight, due mainly to destruction inflicted by the Chinese-Vietnamese Border War of 1979. On this page photographs show something of the delightful rural nature of the province in the River Gâm valley, and especially of the buffalo which power its food production.
Before turning to more domestic scenes, a reminder of the hills that always lie nearby in Hà Giang
Thick jungle is rare in Vietnam, again due to historical problems (!) but valleys of lighter woods are common
Here a hill links to the
wilder lands
to the north, while having homely thatched houses and terracing at its foot
Wider valleys allow a flatter field pattern
A dust covered plant witnessing a drier local climate
The pattern of flatter fields and grazing buffalo is typical of this area
A hamlet nestling away from the tarred road was the excuse to stop the motorbike, such excuses are legion in the countryside. And here another reason, this man asked for his photograph to be taken...
...and insisted on standing to attention in the much attested tradition of Vietnamese group portraits
The photo shows the special way the houses here are integrated into their surroundings: the beams of the stilts, the thatch, even the light smoke, help the scene blend together; a community living in union with, rather than against, its context
More houses: above and far right the less harmonious use of asbestos roofs...
...But all three with their (no doubt mosquito infested) fishponds
From extant houses to a house under construction, here being viewed by Hân. I did not realise at the time, but my second photo caught a cycle accident half out of shot...
...the woman's foot in the air and the man is falling, Hân and the builders turn to look at what is happening. Probably a consequence of tall photographers distracting cyclists!
Back to the buffalo. Above, maybe giving some sense of straining at the plough as it pulls it through the heavy clay soil; compare the more relaxed body below
Buffalo on its preferred 'ground'
Ploughing is as often done by women, such as the above, as by men
Leaving these delightful villages (for the outside observer at any rate) with a concluding photograph of bucolic calm
A boat passing along the river, but a closer look...
...at those bushes shows they are knee deep in water
...and the human owners' boats show they have adapted to the new environment in a way the trees cannot
And here the trees show that the rising water is not a normal flood. The house has been floated onto a raft...
Here is one of the human outcomes for reservoir and dam building: the displacement housing. Higher up the page the harmonious environmental nature of...
...the traditional housing was noted. The main problem, apart from the regimental (see the man above!) nature of the village plan, is that they are stilt houses made of concrete, to achieve anything like the comfort of the residents' old houses, these require large amounts of electricity
A clip taken running past the replacement houses, cut to about a third of their length - very monotonous
A last countryside shot of a karst, reminding the visitor of its grander neighbours to the east
And so to near the outskirts of Hà Giang City and a reminder of the vast amounts of concrete Vietnam consumes each year - Google estimates some 200 million tons of the stuff including component materials. Such chimneys are seen everywhere in Vietnam. The works are placed at the geological interface of the two necessary ingredients: limestone and clay, which together are used to make cement.
Trailers...
The next Picture Posting page is to take you to the town at the north of Hà Giang Province - Đồng Văn.
The next page
of the Mosaic Section is headed 'Blindsight - Unseen'.
Or go to the contents Go to the contents of the Mosaic Section. of the Mosaic Section. Monitors can keep the layout, which phones may need to discombobulate.
The last page had photos taken in eastern Bắc Mê
To photographs with some effects of reservoir building to the south of Bắc Mê
To a page from an area where it is sheep that dominate, rather than buffalo
...guide to this site