Discover the life of Bana ethnic minority through pictures

Hi Hivers in the Wednesday Walk community,
How are you today? Today I would like to share a recent walk I took around a village of Bana ethnic minority. It is a village located in Son Lang commune, K'Bang district, Gia Lai province. It is a small village nestled between forests and mountains near the border between Gia Lai and Binh Dinh provinces. I had the opportunity to come here during a charity trip to donate coffee seedlings to local people here.

Although this is a remote commune in the mountainous province of Gia Lai, with recent government attention, the road to the area has become more convenient to boost the local economy. However, the internal roads in the village are just small dirt roads with a lot grass on both sides of them. During this rainy season, the roads get quite muddy, but I enjoyed it, because this is a feature of the area and I don't always get this experience.

Have you had the experience of driving a motorbike on muddy roads like this? If not, give it a try, I guarantee it will be an unforgettable experience.

Another feature of this village is the small houses nestled among the trees. With the tradition of living in harmony with nature, the locals here like to build houses among the trees. The houses here are also quite small because of their economic condition. Most of the houses here are made of wood. Some houses are built of bricks because wood is becoming increasingly rare and influenced by the Kinh people. I really like houses like this, maybe I will build a house like this for myself when I have plans to live in the countryside in the future.

The houses nestled in the groves are a feature of this village.

Because it is nestled between the mountains and the forest, the natural scenery of this village is very beautiful. The village is surrounded by a lot of trees. I think if you look at it from above, green is the main color of this village. Here, just open the door and the locals can enjoy the fresh air and beautiful view of the surrounding nature. Given the fertile land, the trees in this area are also very green.

About the local people here, they are very friendly, honest and simple people. Although I am a stranger in this village, the locals here greeted me with very friendly smiles. Some of them can speak Vietnamese, so we had quite interesting stories together. One of them even invited me to stay for a drink with them. The people here are mainly farmers. Growing coffee, rice, other crops and livestock is their main income. In general, the life of the people here is quite hard, but they seem very optimistic and enjoy the life.

This man invited me for a drink.

The woman is walking into the forest with a basket on her back.

Locals use custom motorbikes to go into the fields and forests.

These women are washing clothes and washing their hair in a stream next to the village.

A man is resting by the stream after work.

Children are playing happily in the yard.

Adults also joined the children playing marbles on the ground.

I had a peaceful feeling walking around this village. Although life is bustling and noisy out there, life here is very peaceful, time here seems to pass more slowly. The lack of utensils and facilities doesn't make the locals any less happy. On the contrary, I feel that it is minimalism that makes their lives happier. They are always looking for ways to overcome difficulties in life. Take a look at their special motorcycles. To deal with the muddy road, they added chains to the tires.