People in Asia

Considering how dirt poor Bangladesh is, it will come as a surprise to see how few beggars there actually are. Since most people own very little (about 37% live under poverty line) there are not many to beg from. Nevertheless, you will find beggars in any city, town or village. Scruffy looking street kids, scarily thin old people barely able to walk and horribly disfigured characters walking the streets, standing at mosques or patrolling traffic signals asking for a bit of help. Be prepared for it, for it is heartbreaking to see how miserable some people live.

Not all of Bangladesh is flat. Near the border to Myanmar in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the landscape folds into green rolling hills divided by ravines and winding rivers. Here on the slopes, among bamboo forests and rice fields, live different indigenous hill tribes in simple villages. There is the Marma, Mru, Bawn, Tripura and probably a few other ethnic groups. The Bawn people are fairly modern with solid houses and satellite discs on their roofs, but both the Mru and Tripura live in stilt huts made of bamboo and wood. Some of the elderly women there even walk around bare-chested with gaping earlobes. This is probably the most exciting region in Bangladesh and can be explored from Bandarban, either by hiking or by car.

One of the reasons to come to Bangladesh in the first place, and probably the reason why you want to leave again, is the amazing people. They are friendly, helpful, curious and, well, everywhere. Being one of the most congested countries in the world, it can be hard to find a quiet corner. Wherever you go someone will come up to you and ask for "the name of your country" and maybe venture into something about your marital status and profession. It is all very sweet and innocent in the beginning, but after week or two it can turn brain numbing. Either you will love them, or simply turn mental.

The Akha people is one of the many hill tribes in Laos. They live in the mountains in small villages made up of bamboo houses raised from the ground. They are mainly farmers growing dry rice and corn, but previously they were also keen opium producers, a production the government is now trying to put an end to. The women are fairly easily recognized by their headdresses that are adorned by silver coat buttons. It is possible to visit and stay overnight in an Akha village on a trekking trip, which is a great way to support the otherwise poor tribe.

Borneo is filled with many different ethnic groups that have traditionally lived sustainably off the forest. The Penan are one of the last groups of hunter-gatherers that reside in Borneo. Take an adventure up the Baram River and experience how the Penan live. The forest is prehistoric and the Penan are the true experts of the rainforest. Let them share their vast knowledge from medicinal value in plants to how to set up a Penan jungle camp in less than an hour. The Penan still have a strong culture and have many spiritual beliefs that are connected to the forest. Spend a few days camping in the forests, hiking to beautiful waterfalls, climbing unclimbed mountains, and absorbing insight on the forest. Do a homestay and spend time with a host family and see how they go about their daily lives. The Upper Baram is truly an untouched wilderness, with limited or no contact with the outside world.

Beautiful, mountainous Kalinga Province is famous for its ancient warrior culture which has survived into the present. Some villages have gongs made of human jaw bones and people covered in full body tattoos that were awarded for success in headhunting raids. Although these practices have now ceased, tribal warfare is still a large part of life here, and in the remote Tanudan area people openly walk around with Uzis, M16s, pump-action shotguns and the like. Kalinga is certainly not for the faint-hearted and that goes for the drive here too. The first seven hours from Manila is a deceptively smooth ride on perfect tarmac, then the road becomes a dirt track for the next six hours and shoots off into the mountains, reaching heights of over 2250 m before descending into Bontoc. After Bontoc, only the occasional jeepney goes the last eight hours north to Kalinga but the scenery is utterly spectacular. The orangey-brown track streaks up and down mountainsides into and out of the clouds as if there were no tomorrow, millennia-old rice terraces cascading down the lush green slopes all around.

Stilt fishermen have become iconic for Sri Lanka. They sit on stilts close to the shore and fish for small reef fish with their rod. Often it is the poorest of the fishermen, who can't afford nets or boats. In some places, the stilts are passed on from father to son, while in other places it is first-come-first-served. Since they have become a tourist attraction of their own, there will sometimes be someone on land to ask for money if photographing them.

Ban Ho is a charming Tay village which is picking up on the trekking tourism. This means there are now several homestays and eating places, but also more cement and bricks which doesn't go very well with the otherwise beautiful wooden Tay stilt houses. There road coming down to Ban Ho is spoiled with nice views of rice paddy fields. There is also a waterfall a small walk from the village.

Sin Chai village is actually two villages, an upper (Sin Chai A) and a lower (Sin Chai B). Both are inhabited by the Red Dao minorities, which is one of the most colourful ones due to the women fine headdress, called a hung. Unless it is a special occasion, most of the men wear normal Vietnamese clothes these days, but the women are still wearing their traditional clothes which are made of embroidered smaller pieces. The ladies and girls sit all day long during the winter months and stitching away, making a pair glasses - or sometimes two on top of each other - handy when ones eyesight is failing. There are several road and trails to Sin Chai and a guide is necessary.