Ban Long Lao is a peek at traditional Hmong village life

BAN LONG LAO, Laos —

The houses are made of reddish teak. The children play in the muddy streets. Piglets, ducks, chickens and dogs wander in the yards. Lush gardens of beans, corn, squash, onions and lettuce grow as if they're in a hothouse. Up at the plateau near the top of a mountain, the mist hovers just above, just beyond the town, letting the sunshine peek through.

No wonder many Hmong people had trouble when they emigrated to America after the Vietnam War. This is about as far as you can get from American life.

For tourists interested in minority cultures, a visit to this Hmong village south of Luang Prabang is a brush with a fascinating group with ties to the United States. The visit is pure cultural tourism — you meet people, you tread lightly, you go away. They are not selling anything. There is no welcome committee.

It takes nearly two hours to drive the rutted dirt roads up the mountains from Luang Prabang into the highlands where the Hmong live. Once, our vehicle got stuck in the red sloppy mud and had to be pushed out.

The Hmong (pronounced Mong), a poor mountain people, are not beloved by their countrymen because they helped the American CIA during the Vietnam War.

The ethnic minority came to Laos centuries ago from the highlands of China. They are not Buddhist like most Laotians. Instead, they have their own ancestor- and spirit-worship religion, which often made them targets of persecution.

Thousands left after the Vietnam War, many escaping to refugee camps in Thailand. Some went on to the United States and culture shock. Others finally returned to Laos. Most are subsistence farmers.

About 210,000 Hmong now live in the United States.

Meanwhile, an estimated 490,000 Hmong still make Laos their home, out of a population of 6.7 million, the U.S. State Department estimates.

Ban Long Lao seems a zillion miles from America.

Yes, the village has electricity.

It also has a white stucco school built by international assistance groups, although it appeared closed the day I visited.

The men and older children were away tending the lush hillside fields by hand. Left in town were mothers, elderly people and young children.

On a stoop in front of a one-room house, a mother held on her lap a toddler, who held on his lap a chicken, which had a string around its leg.

Up the hill at a pump, a woman washed a huge basket of beans so vividly green they looked as if they'd been painted.

Most of the children played outside in the red mud. Many of them, barefoot and in shabby clothing, had a persistent cough. The Hmong use shamans and healers instead of modern medicine.

As a reminder of the nation's spectacular natural beauty — and poverty — a trip to Ban Long Lao is a trip worth taking, even if you don't understand everything you are seeing.