Keeping it REAL!

After Hanoi, Martine and I hired a Land Cruiser and driver to take us around the North-West of Vietnam. It is not a very touristic part of the country and is possibly most well known for the area where the French lost a large battle to the North Vietnamese army, thus creating North and South Vietnam. However, there are some great mountainous landscapes and our first stop was a home-stay in a 'Traditional' tribe village. This reminded us of our trip in Laos (a very quiet country which we now miss dearly) and we were quite excited to be staying in a traditional wooden house without the conveniences of modern living. As the sun set, I put on my head torch and helped Martine find her things so she could go for a shower. When she was ready she took the head torch and I sat in the dark looking at the night sky, wondering how it must have been like this in Europe a few generations ago. However, within a minute the boy of the house came in, switched on the light and sat down in front of the Satellie TV. Moreover, Martine didn't wash at a well, but in some concrete cubicles with European toilets. And they call this TRADITIONAL? We did think about asking them to switch the lights off as they were only attracting mosquitos, but instead we ordered a cold beer and coke from the fridge and enjoyed a freshly cooked meal on the plastic chairs and table. (Just in case you are wondering, we are not those types of tourists-I mean travellers- who would like people to stay without things like electricity, so there are always places to go on holiday and see 'real' people.) Technology-we love it!