Vietnamese traveler tells about 5 strange tribes in the world

Nguyen Noah explores many ethnic minorities in the world, but there are 5 tribes that are most famous for their strange things like wearing lip rings, applying dirt to their hair, or wearing leaves.

Nguyen Noah has been to more than 100 countries and enjoys exploring lesser-known destinations, challenging himself with thrilling experiences. On this journey, Noah has come into contact with many minority tribes in Africa and Asia. Below are the 5 tribes that left the most impression on him.

Mursi lip ring tribe (Ethiopia)

Noah visited the land where the Mursi tribe resides in 2021 during his journey to explore Ethiopia. According to him, this is the most unique tribe in the Omo Valley, where eight tribes live together.

A Mursi tribal woman removing her lip ring was photographed by Noah in 2021.

The most noticeable feature of the Mursi is that women often wear large rings in their ears. When they are 15 or 16 years old, they will add a large ring in their lips as a way to show off their beauty. Noah once asked a woman to remove the ring from her lips and was surprised to see that her lower lip had almost "fallen off", no longer attached to her chin. In addition, this tribe only marries among themselves, not accepting marriages with outsiders.

The Mursi tribe has some of the most unique cultures in the Omo Valley, but Noah says these cultures are now being "commercialized" because of the influx of tourists.

Hamar tribe (Ethiopia) - women with scars on their backs

Also during his trip to Ethiopia, Noah visited the Hamar tribe. He said that Hamar women often have scars on their backs from being beaten by their husbands. If you don’t understand their culture, many people will think this is a barbaric act. However, some Hamar women told Noah that this is part of their culture and that they have to endure this beating to show their love for their husbands.

Noah next to a Hamar woman with scars on her back, photo taken in 2021.

Men in the Hamar tribe can marry multiple wives. The wives will wear a special ring to distinguish the order, for example first wife, second wife, third wife.

Dupa Leaf Tribe (Cameroon)

When he arrived at the tribe’s home in July 2022, despite having researched it beforehand, Noah was still stunned to see them wearing leaves. The women wore only a leaf skirt, with nothing covering the upper part. Therefore, Noah had to ask them to wrap some more cloth so that he could record the image and broadcast it on some social media platforms.

Women of the Dupa tribe during Noah's visit to Cameroon in 2022.

Noah said the Dupa tribe had no shortage of fabric for clothing, as many families here were weavers. However, they still preferred to wear clothes made from leaves as a traditional beauty. The people here told him that each leaf skirt usually lasted for three days at most, after which they had to go deep into the forest to find leaves to make another skirt.

Compared to the Mursi tribe, Vietnamese tourists feel that the Dupa people live more primitively, not yet affected much by tourism. They warmly welcomed him, invited him to eat, guided him around the village, and enjoyed traditional dances.

Himba tribe (Angola) - where hair is braided with soil

Visiting a Himba village in April 2023, Noah was greeted by a woman who showed hospitality by smearing a layer of red soil along her arm.

The Himba are "unmistakable" because their hair is braided with a reddish-brown soil. The girls wear their hair long, wrapped in long locks and covered with soil.

A Himba girl introduces Noah to the tribe's signature hairstyle, photo taken in 2023.

The Himba also smear red earth all over their bodies to repel insects. However, Noah found this method ineffective because flies still swarmed them. The Himba do not bathe with water because of their harsh living conditions. They "steam bathe" by dropping hot coals into bowls of herbal water, waiting for the steam to rise and make them sweat to cleanse their bodies.

"The people here are very lovely. Because they are not used to tourists, they even gathered around to play with my hair to see if it was fake or real," Noah said.

The Dani cannibal tribe (West Papua, Indonesia)

Noah said this was the most difficult tribe to reach because he had to fly three times from Bali, Indonesia. Some travel companies in Indonesia sell tours to explore the tribes in West Papua for about $3,000 for a three-day trip. According to Noah, this price was too expensive, so in 2022, he chose to fly to Jayapura, the capital of West Papua, buy a tour or find a way to travel independently to save money.

Noah eventually took a motorbike taxi and found a tribe member to help translate. In the Dani village, the male tourist met an old man - a living witness from the time when the Dani tribe used to eat human flesh. He learned that tribes used to fight each other for many reasons, such as people from one tribe stealing the wives of other tribes. They used bows and arrows in battle.

Noah's photo taken in 2022 shows a Dani man holding a knife that was used to kill and butcher enemies in the past.

In one battle, the old man’s tribe killed three opponents but brought back only one body. They then took it to the riverbank, cut it up, grilled it, and shared it with the villagers. Today, tribes still occasionally fight each other but no longer practice cannibalism. In contrast to the horrors of the past, the Dani people now live peacefully and hospitable lives.

Tu Nguyen

Photo: Itchy Feet Again

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