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Published: August 6th 2007
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Lifeblood of a Nation
Good ole' rice. Almost ready for harvest My travel mates and I have just returned to Hanoi after a splendid 4 days away in Ha Giang Province, during which we did not see a single westerner with the exception of ourselves. One of the Northernmost provinces in the country, we were as close as 20km from the Chinese border, so security was tight and bureaucracy abounded. On our first day we actaully had to meet with three seperate levels of government (provincial, local and community), all with their mandatory tea drinking, before we got to our first farm.
In order to get around in this remote part of the country we rented our own 4 wheel drive vehicle, complete with it's own driver (about $56 USD/day). Even though we were still travelling with Quan and Chien, our guides/interpreters from our Bavi trip, it's a good thing we had a professional driver, because the roads up there are harrowing to say the least. I now know what a hamster must feel like after being put in one of those little plactic balls and booted down a set of stairs. The analogy would be more accurate if there were other hamsters speeding UP the stairs in their own plastic
Mot, Hai, Ba, Yoh!
(One, Two, Three, Drink!) balls while honking their horns, and the stairs had lots of blind corners in them.... but you get the picture). When not asleep or trying to stop our brains from rattling within their skulls, we could enjoy the fantastic scenery as it went by. Lining the roads were limestone karsts, rolling hills covered by lush green, and many, many rice paddies filled with buffalo and farmers working together. Rice production in many parts of the country has become more mechanized, but people in the Northern mountain regions still rely almost exclusively on the buffalo (due mostly to the difficult terrain, but also lack of disposable income), and hence the reason we chose this particular area to visit for our buffalo project.
The locals that we met in Ha Giang were amazingly warm and hospitable (more later), but unfortunately the experience as a whole was a little underwhelming from a veterinary perspective. We interviewed a number of farmers and learned a great deal about their daily lives, the economics of Vietnamese agriculture and some of the common animal health issues they encounter. The most common diseases we discussed seemed to be Foot and Mouth Disease and Pasteurella infections, although I
suspect they use the terms Pasteurella to refer to a good number of bacterial infections that may or may not actually be Pasteurella. They have what seem to be relatively effective surveillance programs set up for contagious diseases such as Foot and Mouth and Avian Flu, that involve appropriate compensation to farmers for any animals that are culled. On the front line are the veterinarians of the local government, who undergo a less than rigorous 6 month training program and are the first people called in by the farmer. We were lucky enough to have the chance to travel to some farms with a woman who was one of these local vets and pick her brain a little. While she told us that she did little in the way of diagnostics, she was able to administer regular vaccinces and rudimentary treatments, but would call up to a veterinarian at the next level of government if any serious problems arose. We were told that it would be very difficult to organize a trip to follow this woman (or one of her colleauges) on farm calls to watch her in action and possibly participate in some treatment, I imagine due to government
Million Dong Deer
The only deer we saw on any of our farm trips. Worth quite a bit when sold as a delicacy. Got the impression he didn't want to be there regulations. As such we were limited to our interviews and farm tours, which left us wanting a little more. There are only so many questions you can ask after visiting 10 plus farms over a few days! Such is life, but we hope that our three remaining projects will allow us to get our hands a little more dirty.
Most of the families in the area live in stilted houses built primarily out of bamboo. They're nice and breezy and for the most part well built, but on one occaision,while backing up to take a photo, I stepped on a weak spot between supports and almost put my foot through the floor. The farmers all welcomed us into their home and were happy to share with us any food and drink they had. There is always the usual tea, but on a few occaisions they also broke out the homemade rice wine. Differing from place to place, some batches were more potent than others and the flavour varied from close to brandy, to close to vodka. My favourite of the bunch was one that we had mixed with honey. Whatever the flavour, it was always more than abundant. Sitting
cross-legged on the bamboo floor in a circle with the farmer, his family, his friends, a couple local officials and our guides, it seemed they all wanted to toast the the new comers. Jess and Laetitia tried valliantly, but were better able to exert some self-control and just say no, which was probably in their best interest given the way some of the farmers' sons were hitting on them. I on the other hand, not wanting to disappoint any of the locals eager to share an individual toast with what is probably the only white guy to ever set foot in their home, was happy to oblige. After who knows how many shots and a humorous hoot off the water pipe I was feeling pretty good, but thankful there was usually a little time for a siesta afterwards. This happened a couple days in a row and there were always great laughs and lots of smiles all around, that is at least, until it was time to pile back into that hamster ball we call an SUV.
That more or less sums up how my life has been for the past week or so. No other major happenings, but
Vietnamese Moonshine
That should be enough for me... but what are you going to drink as always I am eating new and intersting things at every turn. On this particular trip we ate just about every animal we saw, including buffalo, ostrich, chicken feet, frog and yes, even dog. While some of my classmates back home may well lynch me for this, I actually felt it was my moral duty to at least try it. If I'm able to care for cattle, pigs and chickens back home and then eat them, wouldn't I be a hypocrite (or speciesist?) if I refused to eat dog given the right cultural setting? Canine cuisine is a very important part of the culture here in Vietnam, and is practiced widely, although it is inauspicious to do so during the first five days of the lunar month. While I'm glad I tried it, it is probably not something I will make a habit of.... wasn't half bad, sort of like a cross between beef and pork, but a little tough. Of course, I don't think I would ever eat a dog that I knew personally, so all of you pet owners out there can take a sigh of releif.
I've got the rest of the day to relax here
in Hanoi (that is if there is any day left by the time I finish typing this entry) and then we are off to Cambodia to visit Ankor Wat and Phnom Pehn before heading to Thailand for our second Global Vets project. Until then...
Mike
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