Hangin' With The Hmong

Hiked up into these hills to work in the fields. Great views.

This woman and I hoed out weeds on a hillside for a couple of hours. She dug circles around me! To say field work is back-breaking would be an understatement.

Around noon a Hmong villager hiked up to me and motioned for me to follow him to a large hut in his village.

There were about 30 people in this hut cutting up and cooking all sorts of cow parts. A few in the corner were smoking opium.

This is definitely the most whacked thing I've seen to date. One guy started playing a bamboo bagpipe-type instrument while marching around a pot of boiling blood.

Following him was a man dragging the cow's head, a guy "walking" the forelegs, another "walking" the hindlegs, and a kid dragging the tail!

Doesn't look like the kids thought I was any good.

After the cow dragging, I headed back to the hills. I was followed by the village kids, who took me swimming in a nearby pond.