Vietnam is home to 54 ethnic minority groups and other than the Hmong and Tay (Thai), it is almost darn near impossible to accurately tell one minority from another. The women fashionably borrow bits and pieces of each other’s outfits unlike the past when you could recognize the minorities by just looking at their outfit. There are the White Thai (Tay Khao), Black Thai (Thai, Thai Dam, Tai Tay), Yao, Nung Lu, Hmong, Lolo, Muong, Zai, Sedang, Giarai, Cham and Hoa, Dzao (Dao) just to name a few. The majority can be found in Hoa Binh, Lao Cai and Lai Chau Provinces in the Northwest.

The Day minority are the biggest majority with approximately 1.2 million people, followed by the Muong with 800,000, Hmong with 500,000 and Dzao with more than 400,000 inhabitants. These people are descendants of ancient migrants from southern China who spread out into Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia, Laos and Myanmar (Burma).

Black Hmong in the Sapa area of Vietnam
Hardworking people…View image… who eke are out a subsistence, agricultural living in the tough mountain climate by growing rice…View image…, corn, vegetables, breeding cattle, raising pigs and chickens for their use and sale. Terribly poor, an average family is lucky to earn $1 U.S. a day for all their hard efforts. …View image…

new meaning to “chicken in a basket,” Vietnam 

Dao woman in Vietnam 

impoverished Flower Hmong family in Vietnam
The minority groups speak more than 12 distinct languages and numerous dialects which are then classified loosely into three major language families. John, our guide in Northwest Vietnam, had trouble understanding them and they, he which made it difficult to get concise information. Our wonderful guide in Myanmar (Burma), Toe, always had a local minority guide with while exploring and visiting the minority villages around Kengtung. Be assured that all the minorities…View image… speak excellent and universal shopping language in the tourist areas…”…Hello, you buy from me?…Very cheap….You buy from her, why not you buy from me!…” Spare a few Vietnamese Dong and buy something, even if you don’t need it to help these hardworking people out.

in the Dien Bien Phu market, Vietnam 

baby goes everywhere mommy goes in rural Vietnam
Do visit the excellent Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi before heading into the minority regions for a better understanding of the different groups and what you will see in the mountains. Once there, enjoy the entire, colorful experience and, TIP: Always carry your camera. Stunning and unusual photographic sights are the norm…

“cheeks” in the rice fields of Vietnam 

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