james: yes, ah, they re doing rice and also growing some vegetable. anthony: northern laos enchantingly beautiful, sparsely populated by remote mountain villages. for centuries, home to ethnic minority hill tribes, like the hmong. this is where the cia recruited, trained and armed over a hundred thousand fighters. translator: they, ah, start to build this road since ah, 1983. anthony: before that, how did you get up and down? walk? mr. lee: by foot only. other villager: using only a rocky trail with a very steep drop off. anthony: in these same mountains, but on the other side of the conflict, there were people like mr. lee, now in his 80s, who fought for the communist pathet lao. he is hmong. and during the secret war, he fought other hmong.
anthony: nowadays, things are looking up a bit and some like james are returning,. james: oh man, this is, like, so homey. takes you to a place, takes me to a place. anthony: what s it like being back and having, it s only your second time, but what s it like? james: oh, man it s like home. more and more. i, i totally get it, like when mom s i want to go back home. i want to go back home. that s a common thing, you know? refugees from laos, live in the states for a couple years. once their children have their own careers and families they, they come back. and my mom s doing that now. you know, rice farming again. she said, i want to move back to go and have a more relaxed life. i m like, that s hard work. you know? anthony: but she s happy? james: she s happy. super happy. she looks a lot younger now. [ laughter ] after she moved back. anthony: less stress, i guess. james: yeah, yeah. translator: this village, we call longlan. anthony: rice farming? translat
guess. james: yeah, yeah. translator: this village, we call longlan. anthony: rice farming? translator: yes, ah, they re doing rice and also growing some vegetable. anthony: northern laos enchantingly beautiful, sparsely populated by remote mountain villages. for centuries, home to ethnic minority hill tribes, like the hmong. this is where the cia recruited, trained and armed over a hundred thousand fighters. mr. lee: we live in the mountains. we just farm along the sloping creek and mountain. translator: they, ah, start to build this road since ah, 1983. anthony: before that, how did you get up and down? walk? mr. lee: by foot only. other villager: using only a rocky trail with a very steep drop off. anthony: in these same mountains, but on the other side of the conflict, there were
to a place. anthony: what s it like being back and having, it s only your second time, but what s it like? james: oh, man it s like home. more and more. i, i totally get it, like when mom s i want to go back home. i want to go back home. that s a common thing, you know? refugees from laos, live in the states for a couple years. once their children have their own careers and families they, they come back. and my mom s doing that now. you know, rice farming again. she said, i want to move back to go and have a more relaxed life. i m like, that s hard work. you know? anthony: but she s happy? james: she s happy. super happy. she looks a lot younger now. [ laughter ] after she moved back. anthony: less stress, i guess. james: yeah, yeah. translator: this village, we call longlan. anthony: rice farming? translator: yes, ah, they re doing rice and also growing some vegetable. anthony: northern laos
i want to go back home. that s a common thing, you know? refugees from laos, live in the states for a couple years. once their children have their own careers and families they, they come back. and my mom s doing that now. you know, rice farming again. she said, i want to move back to go and have a more relaxed life. i m like, that s hard work. you know? anthony: but she s happy? james: she s happy. super happy. she looks a lot younger now. [ laughter ] after she moved back. anthony: less stress, i guess. james: yeah, yeah. translator: this village, we call longlan. anthony: rice farming? translator: yes, ah, they re doing rice and also growing some vegetable. anthony: northern laos enchantingly beautiful, sparsely populated by remote mountain villages. for centuries, home to ethnic