Sunday, August 29, 2004
Luduke
I knew there was a church in the village. What I didn't know was whether or not it still had any meaning to the people who lived there. Decades of suppression may well have destroyed its influence. Once over the pass, we continued along the roughly cobbled trail into the valley and soon the village came into sight. As we approached, the tinkling of cow bells that had accompanied us faded and I had my answer. Clearer and clearer came the sound of singing from inside the church.
That's the opening paragraph of a short travelogue I wrote several years ago. Luduke is the name of a small Hmong village in Yunnan, China. It's notable for its Catholic Church, one of several similar churches built in the area by the French in their days of colonial expansion. This post will start a series of posts about the Hmong, as I plan to visit their areas again in January 2005. This time I hope to see a little more of Northern Laos.
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