Rendezvous Today » mountainmen

Mountain Men And Rendezvous

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 08:34:09 +0000

Hill Tribe Akha headdresses and bamboo huts Love

women from the Akha hill tribe in Laos faded dress in northern shades of black cloth. No color in their decorative accoutrements. old coins add some glitter to highlight their costumes.

The Akha are a proud people. They are believed to have originated in Mongolia 1500 years ago. Today, most Akha hill tribes living in southern China in northern Thailand and in neighboring provinces in northern Laos. Today their culture is in decline. Many Akha women not wearing traditional dress every day and virtually no men gift Akha traditional costume. Western influence came along and men were the first to accept. Today many Akha men clutching mobile phones. Faux leather jackets imported from neighboring China are now fashionable for men Akha. Maybe they want to look hip.

Like many travelers in northern Laos, I rode up a steep mountain to visit one village Akha more remote. As a guest of honor, I was invited to sleep in the hut of the village chief. Like many tribes mountain in Laos, UNICEF had helped villagers to install a water line to the nearest small river, which has provided my team Trekking with what proved to be a chilling, very public bathroom about 30 minutes before dark. Our seven-hour trek in the mountains had been strong, intense and sweaty. Climbing mountains, at noon in these places can be hot and tiring. The climate in Laos is generally moderate, but the mountains in the winter nights are similar to the North Pole. It's funny how ice water can be extremely painful and refreshing at the same time. The Akha are modest, so that every member of our party that stripped underwear for the goose-bump-inducing, fully exposed cold shower in the middle of the village that evening. Surely the shortest bath of my life. Shivering in wet underwear under the eye Akha women more curious was not pleasant. But our body heats up shortly after with enough samples of lao-lao – home brewed, spirited local concoction distilled from rice – which flowed into the night.

In recent years, the socialist government Lao has virtually eliminated opium production, which in the past had become the basic method of livelihood for many in the economic landscape Akha. Today corn plants, and they, of course, the rice. I do not see drug addicts. These Lao Lao-day seems to keep men happy enough I found while having a meal with the village chief. It was a feast featuring many Akha embellished with generous portions of sticky rice. A bowl was filled with a delicious red sauce that would lead to almost everyone's taste buds. I learned after Downing a big help that I had swallowed blood fresh pork curry. The village chief has graciously kept filling our cups with lao-lao. Get a little drunk at least minimize the trauma of having delivered to their pig blood culinary delights.

Evenings in the Akha villages are not alone. Rooster crowed. Pigs grunted. The dogs were barking and the night was filled with the occasional wail of a baby. But babies do not seem to cry there, perhaps because they have not been spoiled. The evening sky was clear at the top of this mountain. I looked up. Galaxies beyond infinity were visible. Every inch of the universe seems to be awash with stars.

Akha hill tribes have developed interesting cultural mores. At the age of sixteen Akha boys are encouraged by their elders to build bamboo "love shacks" on the periphery the village where they can freely court ladies of common interest. It is a sign of great fortune if the girl becomes pregnant before marriage, which always follows soon after. Not surprisingly, there is no sex crimes in societies Akha. After marriage, however, men and women do not sleep in the same room. But they make conjugal visits to the other side of the partition each time is a fantasy. After complete their nursing babies, boys sleep with their fathers and girls with their mother. Of course, it could take appointments difficult marital in the middle of the night. No problem. Parents meet somewhere in the darkness. Note, however, that the spirits house become extremely disrupted when the appropriate locale has been changed so that the next morning, the spirits are appeased by the sacrifice of a chicken, which is then used as a family meal. The Akha eat lots of chicken.

Akha women have a rather royal presence but most of them can neither read nor write. Their sublime, innocent eyes captured every aspect of me.

target = "_blank" title = "People Akha Wikipedia"> Wikipedia describes their culture: "The Akha particularly heavy emphasis on genealogy – They are taught their family history at a very early age and culture has a strong emphasis on honor their ancestors and parents, but they disagree it represents a form of ancestor worship. A better description of the Akha religion is animism. They believe in a world full of spirits (good and bad) that have an impact on their daily physical. They believe in a natural cycle of balance that, if disrupted, can cause death or illness and misery even. "

Why is it that many of us in the West have yet to discover such things?

I celebrate the Akha.

But not everything was rosy in their past. They feel they have twins or triplets as an extreme imbalance which will generate much bad fortune. Until recently, the village shaman and former members would end the lives of these children within 24 hours of birth. This practice is now illegal and can cause long prison sentences. However, these children are not allowed in the village, even today, and NGOs from foreign countries to help them quickly find homes. Parents should leave the village for a few months until they got rid of the impurity.

There is no written language Akha. Only Lao Akha is taught to young children in schools Laos these days and one day soon the world will say goodbye to their culture.

I try not to judge and I am so grateful that I Although he lived their world still exists.

About the Author

Visual artist Glen Allison is a vagabond travel photographer and writer embarked on a nonstop, ten-year marathon odyssey to photograph extraordinary destinations. Browse his website for stock photo licenses, fine art prints and Photoshop actions.

See Glen’s stunning fine art imagery from this trip in his original blog post, “Akha Hill Tribes.”

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Maybe change the colors of flames with natural elements?

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salts might be useful

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why cant u write ur own freaking essay?

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