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| On Sunday
December 12 , I headed up to the town of Km 52 where there was
a large Hmong New Year celebration. I took the bus and as you
can see in the top photo the Lao don't know how to say "No"
and will pack as many people as they can into any transportation
vehicle. Regardless, it's usually a fun time as the Lao make
the best out of any situation. In the bottom photo I got off
the bus and knew all I had to do was follow these girls and I
would come to the celebration. |
This is a
shot of Pa Houa, a young Hmong woman I knew who works in her
parent's stall at the Talat Sao in Vientiane selling Hmong embroidery.
I went by myself and after several hours photographing and videotaping
Pa Houa and her friends came up and said hello. It was nice to
know that I knew someone! |
Pa Houa with
her sister and a friend at the Hmong New Year Celebration at
Km 52. |
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| I like this
older woman's expression. She was having a good time. |
Here the boys
and girls are 'throwing ball' and I liked how this young girl
and her mother sat right down almost in the middle of the action. |
There were
these large ant/termite? hills scattered through out the wooded
area where they were 'throwing ball' and provided a good place
to check out the action. |
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| Besides Pa Houa, I also
knew Dang and was surprised when he came up to me in the afternoon.
His English is minimal, but after a while he located his girl
friend, Ia, who spoke excellent English, having lived in the
US for five years before moving back to Laos with her grandmother.
In the top shot Dang and Ia pose against a backdrop of a waterfall
where you could either pay a small fee to take a picture with
your own camera, or pay more to have the booth attendant to take
a photo for you. |
Here
four young woman line up to have their photo taken by a friend.
I couldn't help taking one myself. |
I like the relaxed
feel to this photo. Old and young, everyone was having a great
time here. The Hmong work hard year long and deserve this time
to socialize and reafirm their culture. |
