SE Asia - Post Two - Ha Giang Hospitality

We have now returned to Hanoi after 3 days away in the northern province of Ha Giang. After driving for 6.5 hours in some rather mountainous terrain taking sharp turns at 80 km/h and being thrown around like ragdolls, we made it safely to Ha Giang city. This was only about 20 km from the border to China. This translated to very high security, which we discovered the next day when we visited three different levels of government before beginning our farm visits.

As part of our entourage, we added on two local vets. Local veterinarians are not trained in what we consider the traditional manner of 4+ years of university but instead take a short course of 6-12 months that is hosted by the agricultural university. Having the local vets around gave us a chance to ask more disease related questions including common disease (Pasteurella) and vaccination protocols. With all the chickens running around, this lead to some questions about the hot topic of avian influenza (AI) which they freely discussed. Chickens are routinely vaccinated for AI and the government has a good compensation system in place when culling is required. From what we were told, compliance is very good which has helped keep AI under better control in Vietnam.

Peanuts are also an important crop and we saw them being harvested as well as eating a great deal of the freshly roasted variety. The people have been incredibly hospitable inviting us into their homes and sharing their knowledge and food with us. Among the things they also enjoy sharing is their homemade rice wine, which out of politeness we are forced to drink on the job. We also received multiple bags of lychees, and even shared a lunch with one family. Everything we ate came from their farm, including the honey. The chicken, which was quite valuable, was freshly slaughtered for us right before our eyes. For some of the least wealthy people in Vietnam, they are rich in many other ways.

Farming in the mountains also means getting water from the mountains and this allowed for having fish ponds growing with the rice. The types of fish include tilapia and red carp. We also saw our first deer on a farm, a highly valuable animal in Vietnam worth about $15 million dong ($1000 USD). Although we have not had deer to eat, we have basically eaten every animal we have seen including water buffalo, ostrich, rabbit, goat, and lastly...dog. Yes, you read that correctly. Dog is a very traditional meat eaten here especially at certain times of the month. Although this brings up many ethical issues, it is also very much a way of life in Vietnam. I know many of you will be abhorred by this concept but from our perspective as future veterinarians, it is also important to challenge our beliefs especially in the context of a different culture. (Note: Laetitia chose not to try the dog meat)

Our last farm visit was by far the most entertaining as Laetitia had her turn at working the water buffalo in the rice paddy. The farmers, often women, make it look incredibly easy but alas, looks were deceiving. In a very short amount of time, we gained quite an audience as Laetitia tried her hand at plowing the fields. I think it's safe to say that we should all stick with our veterinary careers.

Jessica (with Laetitia and Mike)

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