Maison Emil Paris: February 2015

Friday 6 February 2015

Cycle4Girls Day 5 Minh Hoa - 50 km

We left the hostel by bike to our next destination. Again it was raining, but we were excited to be meeting with the sponsor children, some of which are from the Ruc tribe. The villages were quite remote and not easily accessible, so we walked the last bit.

The road to the village

Ruc people were relocated from their cave homes to this location

After visiting the Ruc village, we were taken by bus to the local school where we would be meeting the Ruc children as well as other children from nearby villages.

We were greeted with song and dance performance.

Cycle4Girls The Ruc tribe

Plan Vietnam office shared with us some interesting information about the Ruc people, who are considered one of the world's most mysterious tribe in the world.
http://english.vietnamnet.vn/fms/special-reports/114088/the-life-of-the-world-s-most-mysterious-tribe-in-vietnam.html

Some other sources related The "Ruc" people of "Vietnam:

"The Ruc were first discovered by North Vietnamese soldiers during the Vietnam War, they still live in caves in the eastern Quang Binh province. The Ruc utilize an elaborate system of caves, spanning some 60,000 meters throughout 17 separate areas. Many chambers in the system are unexplored even today, with locations only known by the elders of the Ruc Tribe. Since the discovery, the Vietnamese government has made many attempts to relocate them.

A few Ruc people have been granted new homes instead of living in caves. They have been also taught with new modes of production by border guards but their basic instinct remains. They still remember caves – where their ancestors lived.

The cave – its ancestry, where they were born, grew up and matured. Today some still return to the cave to satisfy their desire.

Although granted with a house and monthly rice, the caves of To Poc, Ro, Ka Chap and tens of other caves are still the places where they rest whenever they return to the jungle to ease their nostalgia.

Some go to caves every month, with ten days each time or even for a few months.”

Strangely they never lie down to sleep but sit to sleep all night. This is one of the unique ways of survival skills of the Ruc people, which may considered odd and outdated by lowlanders."

We didn't visit their homes in caves in the Phong Nha - Ke Ban National Park, but as part of Plan Nederland Cycle4Girls group we had the privilege to visit the villages where the Ruc people have been relocated to. Most Ruc children now go to school with other village children where they learn to speak Vietnamese and overcome illiteracy. The Ruc children are protected by the Vietnamese government as there had been illegal cases of adoption of these children.

More about the child adoption https://www.brandeis.edu/investigate/adoption/docs/LarsenWilltheRucChildrenComeHome.pdf

Cycle4Girls: How Plan's programmes work locally

These women are grateful for the help from sponsors and donors enabling them to benefit from the multiple programmes (such as Community and school water, sanitation and hygiene promotion programme, Village Savings and Loan programme, mm).

Read more about the programmes implemented by Plan Vietnam:

https://plan-international.org/where-we-work/asia/vietnam/where-we-work/quang-tri

Thursday 5 February 2015

Cycle4Girls Day 4 Dong Hoi - 80km

We started the day with a quick visit to a different Plan office, Vietnam Plan office in Quang Binh province. Here we learned about Plan's programmes implemented. We also learned about the Ruc people in Vietnam. See my separate post about this mysterious tribe.

Plan Vietnam Program Unit office in Quand Binh Province

From there we jumped on our bikes and enjoyed the ride through beautiful sceneries such as rice paddies. Despite rain and slippery hills (up and down), our mood has not left us.

rice paddies

We passed by the Phong Nha - Ke Bang, a national park noted for its cave and grotto system and is listed as UNESCO World Heritage Site. Ruc people still live in this national park.

More info about Phong Nha Ke Banh National Park.

Phong Nha - Ke Bang National Park

Unfortunately due to unforeseen circumstances, we did not get to visit any cave :( Another occasion maybe?

Plan Netherlands Embassador Daphne Bunskoek stopping for a chat and snack break

wet and cold but smiling

55 km from Laotian border

good mood

Wednesday 4 February 2015

Cycle4Girls Day 3 Dong Hiep - 92km

Wednesday 04/02/2015

Big day on the bike today. 92km.
After breakfast, a short transfer to Cua Viet, our cycling starting point. The coastline to Cua Tung was beautiful.
We made a stopping en route at Vinh Moc, a tunnel complex built to shelter villagers from the intense bombing of the Vietnam War.
Vietnamese seafood lunch at a local restaurant by the sea. Relaxing break.
Bus transfer to Ho Xa, where we cycled along the mountainous and scenic Ho Chi Minh Highway to Dong Hoi. Not so relaxing, big trucks honking and wanting to chase us off the road :)

New day tomorrow and another long distance (90kms) awaits. Sore bums guaranteed :)

Cycle4Girls Day 1 Hanoi

Monday 02/02/2015, Hanoi

Arrived in Hanoi on Monday and the temperature said 14C degrees. Guess it's not sandals weather :)

Greet and meet by local tour guide (2 nice Aussie girls and 2 Vietnamese guys). Then off to our hotel for a change, nice dinner and night train to Dong Ha.

Tuesday 3 February 2015

Cycle4Girls Day 2 Dong Ha - 40km

Tuesday 03/02/2015, Dong Ha

Night train arrived in Dong Ha at 8.30am. Visited Plan Vietnam program unit office in Huong Hiep, Quang Tri province. Learned about Plan's programmes implemented in Vietnam, met with sponsor children, got engaged with local communities, cycled 40km back to our hotel.

Big day on our bikes awaits tomorrow.

Good night.