Distinctive architecture of Vietnam's Central Highlands —
Vietnam's Ede, Bahnar and Giarai ethnic groups still build unique houses. Venture into the country's little explored Central Highlands and you'll find unforgettable examples.
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Tall houses —
Both the Bahnar and Giarai build "rong" -- towering communal houses that sit at the heart of every village. They're used as community centers.
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Communal space —
Thatched roofs can be as tall as 30 meters high. The taller the rong, the greater the status of the village.
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Roof decorations —
The peaks of the blade-shaped roofs are decorated with distinctive patterns unique to each village.
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Giarai funeral practices —
Most Vietnamese practice ancestor worship, but none more intensely than the Giarai, for whom a funeral is a complex and expensive business. This is a dead house for Giarai ancestors.
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Elaborate tombs —
Prized possessions such as a TV or bicycle may be laid to rest with the dead, Simple wooden carvings of figures are placed on the boundary of the grave. This Giarai tomb is part of the Vietnam Museum of Ethnology in Hanoi.
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Wooden sculpture —
Wooden carvings in the graveyard can be pensive, glum, cheerful or even erotic.
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Roof decor —
These well-decorated dead houses will be abandoned after a buffalo sacrifice, a ritual to say farewell to deceased relatives. The site will then be left to be reclaimed by nature.
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Longhouse of Ede people —
When a girl living in an Ede household gets married, a compartment is added to the existing house to accommodate the newlyweds. The more prosperous a family, the longer the house will be.
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Ede weaving —
Ede women are famed for making marvelous brocades and for their use of natural dyes.
