Fishing
By Tessa Bunney on 24 September 2012Sometimes on the way back from a village or other destination and there’s a bit of time free, I often stop off at a roadside village to have a look around. To be honest there is normally something of interest going on, but sometimes the village is hot, dusty and virtually deserted except for a few mothers and babies as most people are away from the village working on the fields. Last Monday was one such day, we called in at a Tai Lue village, a short walk from the road side. After wandering around for 20 minutes or so we met Tan who was making the most beautiful fishing bait from leaves for his handmade fishing rods.
The fish is then gutted and smoked over an open fire.
His method of fishing varies with the season, height of water and he demonstrated another rod baited with fruit which is held just above the water and the fish jump out and grab it.
Then while we continued chatting he sat and made his own fishing net by hand. Beautiful. He explained that it was really important in the past that unmarried men could make their own fishing nets to prove to their future wives that they could provide food for the family.
“Originally this was just a small village and it was easy to fish and hunt – everything was plentiful in the river and the forest. But since the Khmu and Hmong people moved down from the mountains to the road, it is much more difficult to find enough to eat.”