Inhabitants of Pu Luong Nature Reserve
When you will first arrive to Pu Luong Nature Reserve, it is easy to think that no minorities are living here. Actually, Pu Luong is the living place of ethnic Muong and Thai people. The majority is represented by the Black Thai, one of the biggest minorities in all Vietnam.
They live in traditional wooden stilt house disseminated in small villages or isolated in the mountains. The first floor usually uses as a storage and place for the animals (buffalo, pigs…). The second floor, the living area, is a space divided in two. The biggest room is to take meals, welcome friends and sleep.
There is no separation inside the house, it is an open space. The second part is for the kitchen, with a central place for fire.
They don’t wear the traditional costume daily so it is impossible to recognize them immediately. They still follow meticulously all the rituals and customs of the minority. They will only wear the costume for special ceremony as wedding, funerals or festivals. They mainly live from agriculture (rice, corn and other vegetables). The Thai people have invented the ingenious system of bamboo waterwheels to irrigate the fields, that you can admire along the Ma river or on the way to Hieu village (depending on season).