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photographie-irie > Roadside Scene, Port au Prince, Haiti      Traveling by hired car from Port au Prince to Jacmel, slices of life were ever interesting while motoring slowly by. Living conditions were meager but people were friendly, with seemingly happy people gathered to socialize most everywhere along the way.
photographie-irie > Hmong Hut, Between Luang Prabang and Vangvieng, Laos      In one motorbike excursion about 120K south of Luang Prabang into wild mountains inhabited mostly by Hmong and other ethnic tribes, I encountered this dugout hut on a short walk atop a mountain peak. It was unoccupied at the time but showed signs of recent use. Perhaps it's a hunting or foraging camp. Were someone there I certainly would have been treated as an alien, but may well have been invited inside to share some token of friendship. Earlier while passing through a Hmong village and stopping for a photograph, I was approached by an American born Hmong from Minnesota visiting relatives in his parents' homeland. We talked while his non-English speaking relatives maintained keen and friendly interest. A little further down the road my motorbike broke down, and after pushing and coasting the bike mega kilometers to the nearest Hmong village where not a word of English was spoken, I was treated like a celebrity of sorts while aided by people running for tools and parts that were jerry-rigged to get me back on the road. Stuck in the middle of nowhere with the sun going down, rain threatening, I was asked to pay less than repair would have cost in distant Luang Prabang.
photographie-irie > Hmong Homes, North of Luang Prabang, Laos      The Hmong and other ethnic minorities in Laos tend to live in rural mountain areas, where they would prefer some autonomy from prior and current communist government repression. After the Hmong fought the US government's war in Laos during the Vietnam years, the succeeding Pathet Lao communist government exhibited payback with continuing repression and reported abuses focused upon the Hmong. Many escaped Laos to pick up as refugees in Thailand, the US and elsewhere, but a signifcant population still lives in remote and mountainous settings such as this. As in Vietnam and other partf of Southeast Asia where they are found, the Hmong tend to live off the land in animist harmony with it.
photographie-irie > Country Laundry, Muong Houm, Vietnam           After being washed in the river and hung to dry around the house, colorful clothing decorates not only the female ethnic minority, but the entire household. Building construction again is bamboo and corrugated.
photographie-irie > Rice Paddy Home, Muong Houm, Vietnam     The ubiquitous Vietnamese flag shows where another mountain village climbs up the high valley just above and to the right of it a bit, in the middle of the V leading deeper into big mountains. This big spread in front with flag flying sits nicely along a river in bottom land, but minority ethnic villages extend well into the mountains in the rear, achieving even more bucolic isolation than this already distant spot.
photographie-irie > Isolated Village, Road to Muong Houm, Vietnam When villages happened along the way on our rides in the countryside, they would most often be in beautiful settings with a hidden, "nestled in the landscape" feel. Our paths would most often take us near villages, but not through them, as if they were still seeking a greater degree of privacy than simply afforded by being so far removed from Vietnamese civilization.
photographie-irie > Local Home, Road to Muong Houm, Vietnam In route on bumpy, dusty roads, occasional homes would appear where people would always stop and look as we passed by. Initial inquiring looks generally turned to gawking stares or broad smiles with attendent "thumbs up" as they checked out the friendly alien presence. Meeting other bikes along the way was especially entertaining as shocked locals riders' heads turned in situations on roads where that was probably not a good idea.
photographie-irie > Sapa Ridgeline Home, Sapa, Vietnam      Ethnic minority homes dot the ridgelines, the steps down the hillsides and the valley floors in the mountainous areas of Sapa. This Black Hmong home shows how much these people incorporate the out of doors into every day lives, and how old and new merge. The dining area is partially outside, kind of glorified camping, with a roofed patio showcasing a dramatic view. Flowers adorn and are part of the roof. Bamboo, wood and corrugated have been used as construction materials. Plastic kindergarten chairs and tables, and the satellite dish for increasingly prevalent television keep the caged bird company.
Roadside Scene, Port au Prince, Haiti     

Traveling by hired car from Port au Prince to Jacmel, slices of life were ever interesting while motoring slowly by. Living conditions were meager but people were friendly, with seemingly happy people gathered to socialize most everywhere along the way.
photographie-irie > Roadside Scene, Port au Prince, Haiti      Traveling by hired car from Port au Prince to Jacmel, slices of life were ever interesting while motoring slowly by. Living conditions were meager but people were friendly, with seemingly happy people gathered to socialize most everywhere along the way.
Roadside Scene, Port au Prince, Haiti     

Traveling by hired car from Port au Prince to Jacmel, slices of life were ever interesting while motoring slowly by. Living conditions were meager but people were friendly, with seemingly happy people gathered to socialize most everywhere along the way.
See photo in original gallery.
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