"MontaGnarDs" – people from the mountains

In the mountain regions of Vietnam you can meet members of various ethnic minorities. A unique group of more than 30 native mountain tribes lives in the Central Highlands. They are called Montagnards – a french term for ‘people from the mountains’.

An example of one these tribes are the Hmongs (also called Mongs), an asian ethnic group living mainly in the highlands of Vietnam. I met these inhabitants in person at a Sunday market in the village of Bac Ha. Their colourful costumes truly mesmerized me. The Hmongs speak their own language belonging to the hmong-mien language family.

Another ethnic group whose members you can meet in the Sapa region are the Red Zaos. They are recognizable by different clothes; an especially distinctive trait being large red hats, which make their owners look like they are wearing a pillow on their heads. This tribe too speak their own language. However, they are well familiar with some english expressions; for example, a typical sentence heard at every corner ‘Hello, buy something from me?’ is simple enough even for five-year-olds.

The individual groups of inhabitants keep their own languages and traditions, however, they share a similar cuisine and style of housing.

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