The Hill Tribes of Northern Thailand

We got up very early this morning and went down to the swimming pool. No one else was anywhere around, and it was gorgeous. The birds just go crazy singing in the morning, although they're hard to see, because they stay in the dense trees. The hotel here is gorgeously landscaped, with huge, exotic flowers and plants all over. Because of the rains everything is extremely lush and green.

A word about the time of year: Thailand has 3 seasons, winter, summer, and the rainy season. Winter is the time most people come. We're here at the end of summer and beginning of the rainy season, so it's very hot and humid. On the plus side, there are hardly any other tourists. Our hotel is practically empty, and we were able to get an amazing rate. It's also a beautiful time of year, very green. And the fruits are all in season, so we can have delicious fresh mango for breakfast every day. It has rained every afternoon, but we haven't been caught out in it, and it's actually quite nice to see the storms. It cools things off slightly. We're in the "mountains" (hills, really) so it cools off somewhat in the evenings and the mornings are lovely.

Meena the elephant came to breakfast again, much to the delight of the boys. We met Jermsak at 9 for another adventurous day. Tomorrow will be our first "lazy day" of the whole trip (we don't have a lot of time, and there is so much to see!)

This time I brought a pen and paper to take notes on what we did. We planned to visit the hill tribes of Northern Thailand. First, though, we went to a hot spring. We bought a little basket of quail eggs and it only took 5 minutes to boil them in the water. It had the distinctive sulfur smell, just like in Yellowstone. There was a little packet of soy sauce to go along with the eggs, and Ethan ate most of them. They were tiny, about 3 or 4 would equal one chicken egg.

The first village we visited was the Lisu tribe. The people are originally from the Himalayas. All of the tribes are made up of refugees from different regions. Although they live in fairly close proximity to each other, they maintain very different cultures, dress, and languages. Life is very hard for them, because they don't have Thai citizenship. They used to be very nomadic, practicing "slash and burn" farming, mostly of opium. The government has worked to help them grow other crops, like rice (Thailand is the largest exporter of rice in the world), tea, corn, and other vegetables. Many of the fields are terraced and the harvesting all has to be done by hand. In all of the villages we visited we saw mostly older women and children, the men and women were out working in the fields.

The government is also slowly trying to improve the lifestyle of these people, partly so they will stay in one place. Homes we saw were extremely primitive. Chickens, dogs and cats wandered freely around. Many people had small gardens for their own use, as well as farmland.

This was a much easier day than yesterday, because in between visits to the villages we got to cool off in the car. We next went to a Yao village. The people there are originally Chinese, and known for their gorgeous embroidery. We bought a couple of items from some beautiful and friendly women. Lovely smiles, and very friendly. They were able to speak a little Thai, and Jermsak knows some Chinese, so he helped us with translation. The women wore red boa-like scarves and interesting hats. The clothing looked terribly hot, but the women were as cool as cucumbers. Jermsak as well. We were the sweaty ones. The Yao are very industrious people and learn to do embroidery from a very early age. We saw a very old woman sitting and doing the finest embroidery I've ever seen. The stitches looked like they were done with a machine. She said it's getting harder for her to work because here eyesight is getting worse, and she was wearing very thick glasses. This is a tough time of year for the villagers because there are so few tourists (in every village we were the only visitors we saw).

We passed many little huts on stilts, used to store the corn and other crops and keep the mice from getting at them. The homes we saw were made of a combination of cement, wood and bamboo. Few, if any, had power or air-conditioning - - they were very open with lots of windows.

The next tribe we visited were the Akha. They are originally from Tibet, and according to Jermsak, have the biggest problem with opium addiction and most primitive beliefs. Twins and triplets are considered bad luck (as well, I'm sure, as any baby born with a genetic defect). The parents are encouraged to kill the "imperfect" babies. The government has carefully stepped in to provide foster care for them. The parents also have the option of leaving the tribes. The hill tribe people have the highest concentration of Christians in the country. Jermsak said that they want to leave the former beliefs completely behind. There is a lot of missionary work done here, as well as drug rehab programs, and work to educate the children so that they can have a better life. It's in the government's best interest to do this, because they can teach conservation along with reading and writing. But they have to tread carefully so as not to disparage the beliefs of the tribes. It's a very complicated situation - - how can you maintain cultural identity, but also give up practices that most people consider harmful. The rampant poverty certainly doesn't help. There's little medical and no dental care, instead the people go to a type of witch doctor. Scott bought a carved wooden frog from a women with completely black teeth.

The next three villages were in extremely close proximity to each other. The tribes are so distinct, but remain peaceful with each other. They are all from Tibet. They are the Lahu, the Long-ear Karen, and the Long-neck Karen. To get to their villages we had to pay $20 and hike down a very long, steep path through the jungle. The people there have such an interesting life. They all sell handicrafts and live behind their shops. And they sit there and wait for tourists to come through and take pictures of them. The women were all quite pretty and extremely poised, like models.

The Long-ear Karen wear progressively larger and heavier earrings, until the hole in their ears is as big around as a lemon and hangs down almost to their shoulders. They wear huge silver earrings and very distinctive clothing. One woman took off her earring so that we could see the hole. It was kind of disturbing looking to me, but at least it wasn't physically harmful. The Long-neck tribe is a different story. These are the people you see wearing coils around their necks on the National Geographic channel. There are very few of these people left in the world. They originated in Tibet and then migrated to Burma. Because of the terrible poverty there, many of the women were forced to sell their neck coils, which left them quite handicapped (they were handicapped with the neck coils. too). At about age 5 the coils are placed on the girls' necks. They are a symbol of beauty and prestige, and very important to the culture. They used to be made of gold, but are now bronze. Gold was much easier to work with - - the bronze coils must be heated to curve them, but they use lemon juice to cool the metal. They are extremely heavy, and don't actually lengthen the neck, but instead push the shoulders and ribs down. Additional coils are added with age. They are not taken off ever (unless the women are forced to sell them to survive.) They looked so hot and uncomfortable, but the women seemed very content. One beautiful little girl was obviously used to having her picture taken, and sat there, perfectly composed and dignified. The girls and women also wear makeup, along with the yellow powder used by the Burmese. This may be the last generation of neck coils, because it is falling out of favor with the younger people. But Jermsak said he saw one little girl crying because she wanted neck coils (she was only about 3) and later he came back and there she was with the coils on. It's a very difficult situation. Again, how do you maintain an important cultural identity but give up superstitious and potentially harmful practices?

The women were extremely friendly. They do exquisite weaving with silk (they make their own silk with silkworms on the mulberry trees). We bought one of the silk scarves. They also play an instrument similar to the guitar - - very beautiful. Noah got a lot of attention from the women. We only saw one or two men. Unlike their counterparts in the animal kingdom, they were dressed very drably. It's the women who wear the fancy clothes.

What a wonderful opportunity to see such different and amazing people and cultures. I'm so glad Ethan is old enough to understand that people all over the world have different lifestyles, and that we should respect them even if we don't agree with or even understand them. I also hope he's become a little more grateful for air conditioning and flush toilets.

We went to a large Chinese refugee camp next. About 10,000 people live there, and mainly grow oolong tea. It all has to be harvested by hand and is very expensive. I think Jermsak was a little disappointed when we wouldn't try it, but he was understanding of our religious beliefs. We then drove very high up in the mountains to see a tea plantation, but as soon as we got there it started pouring rain. This was the first time the rain interfered at all with our plans, and since it was our last stop it was no big deal. We stayed in the car and looked at the fields, and on the way up we'd been able to stop and take pictures of the beautiful view.

We got back to the hotel in the late afternoon and said goodbye to Jermsak. We'll be sure to give him a good write-up on Tripadvisor.com. He was so wonderful, a fountain of knowledge, and very friendly and helpful. Noah gave him a big hug. I'm so glad such a great guide!

We rested in our room for a couple of hours, and the kids went swimming. We ate dinner in the Thai restaurant tonight, and partway through Noah fell asleep. We were all pretty beat. But what an amazing day!

The next morning it was raining when we got up, but soon cleared up. Another delicious breakfast (we ordered fried rice, and it was great!) and a visit from Meena. Then Scott and the boys went on an elephant trek. I would have gone as well, but it's expensive and you pay per elephant - - the three of them were able to use just one elephant. Besides, I've ridden an elephant 3 times before (although the one at the San Diego Zoo really doesn't count). When they got back I asked Ethan how it was and he said, "Fun but painful." He was wearing shorts, and the elephant's hair is very long and sharp, almost like spines.