Nothing says you’re living somewhere completely alien and unfamiliar as an encounter with a wild animal you’ve never seen before. Others in the community we have found and ingratiated ourselves in have had the misfortune (in my mind) to have had a snake find its way into their house (or, in one case, inside the warm part of their scooter engine). Or sometimes a butterfly, coal-black and two or three-times the size of those commonly found in the UK will flutter by, causing a momentary panic and as well as a small draft.

When visiting a friend’s house overlooking the rice paddies, she told us that a couple of water buffalo had also recently moved-in to the area, and having lead us upstairs and onto her bedroom balcony, there they were: solid masses of muscle and meat - and horns - lounging in shallow rice paddy water, escaping the heat by using their tails to douse themselves. The above video doesn’t do real justice to seeing them, as there is no sense of scale, even from the relative distance of a balcony; they are massive. Often we pass them on the road, either as we buzz by on a scooter or in a taxi, and once or twice, particularly on the small island of Tra Que, we nervously make our way past one, tied and tethered and completely docile in the vegetable gardens.

The water buffalos appear in Vietnamese folklore and art as a farmer’s ‘pet’, almost as much of a ‘man’s best friend’ as dogs are in Europe. Even as some industries in the country stride forward - such as tech - certain farming and agricultural methods are deeply tied to the country’s national identity, and these animals can often be treated like family, such is their importance to rural life. Essential for ploughing rice paddies as well as carrying goods and being part of the tourist trade (water buffalo rides ahoy!), they are very much the backbone of Vietnamese agriculture.

But, for now, these two were simply enjoying the cooling water, content and untroubled.

— J ✻