March 26th, 2007
To make a long story short, ‘people of the hills’ or ‘chao-khao’ aka ‘Hill Tribes’ represent about 1% of the total population in Thailand. Most live in the highland areas of the north, as well as along the mountainous western border with Burma, farming lands with are unsuited for the wet-rice paddy cultivation practised by the ‘lowlanders’. Two main groups exist; the lower slope tribes (Karen, Lawa, Khamu and H’tin) and the ‘highlanders’ (Kmong, Akha, Lahu, Lisu, and Mien”. Each tribe upholds its own traditions, wears distinctive style of dress, and speaks its own language. Many of these immigrants were originally from China, Burma and Laos.
…this morning we were picked up at 9am sharp and shortly there after we met the rest of our ‘group’ for our 2-day trekking adventure. We were a mixed bunch with other couples coming from the UK, France and New Zealand. The 1-hour drive west of Chiang Mai towards the Samueng area was literally a ‘pain-in-the-neck’ as the rear canopies of this Datsun truck was made for 5 footers like aC, of coarse unless you wanted a view of the roof! At the Shan Village, a stop was made for good ol’ fried rice thai style with pineapples for desert. Shortly after we took a quick glimpse of the Hmong Village, noting all the wild animals along with the interesting bamboo-style huts.
Our trekking finally commenced at about 2:00pm, and no better time to get into the thick of things but during mid-day heat! I think aC almost panicked because we were low on H20 (we were later told we could purchase bottles along the way). This wasn’t your typical Grouse Grind, but in 36 degrees, carrying a heavy back pack, we were definitely in for more than we were originally bargaining for! Through the jungles, up the strenuous hills we passed by rice fields and made funny faces at the buffaloes, boars, and other wild animals. Finally after about 2.5litres of water and 2 ½ hours later we made it to the Karen Village, our place for the nite.
Currently there are more than 250 000 Karen in Thailand, scattered all over the northern hills. They are all skilled farmers, specializing in ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ rice cultivation. However, environmentalists would likely be pissed with their ‘slashing & burning’ of fields in order to prepare the for the new seasons' crop.
This was camping at its best, except you had the interesting experience of: sleeping in a hill-tribe bamboo ‘motel’, interacting with the local tribal members and learning about the local culture and using a bin + scoop of COLD water for showering!!! (i.e NO flowing water!) A shocker to the skin receptors at first, but with the bug spray + sunscreen off, it was well worth the goose-bumps! For dinner, our guide (Boo-ne) made some green curry + chicken? and green beans + chicken?. (who knows, we could have been eating wild ‘dog’ or boar)
bed time = 8:30pm….During the night, the weather did cool down significantly as temperatures were nearing 10 degrees, but in the ‘hills’ or mountainside, that is much cooler than you think!…I think aC had to make a trip to the squatter in the middle of the nite, and I can only speculate how she was able to perform all necessary acts while simultaneously using a flashlight (use your imagination!?!).
To make a long story short, ‘people of the hills’ or ‘chao-khao’ aka ‘Hill Tribes’ represent about 1% of the total population in Thailand. Most live in the highland areas of the north, as well as along the mountainous western border with Burma, farming lands with are unsuited for the wet-rice paddy cultivation practised by the ‘lowlanders’. Two main groups exist; the lower slope tribes (Karen, Lawa, Khamu and H’tin) and the ‘highlanders’ (Kmong, Akha, Lahu, Lisu, and Mien”. Each tribe upholds its own traditions, wears distinctive style of dress, and speaks its own language. Many of these immigrants were originally from China, Burma and Laos.
…this morning we were picked up at 9am sharp and shortly there after we met the rest of our ‘group’ for our 2-day trekking adventure. We were a mixed bunch with other couples coming from the UK, France and New Zealand. The 1-hour drive west of Chiang Mai towards the Samueng area was literally a ‘pain-in-the-neck’ as the rear canopies of this Datsun truck was made for 5 footers like aC, of coarse unless you wanted a view of the roof! At the Shan Village, a stop was made for good ol’ fried rice thai style with pineapples for desert. Shortly after we took a quick glimpse of the Hmong Village, noting all the wild animals along with the interesting bamboo-style huts.
Our trekking finally commenced at about 2:00pm, and no better time to get into the thick of things but during mid-day heat! I think aC almost panicked because we were low on H20 (we were later told we could purchase bottles along the way). This wasn’t your typical Grouse Grind, but in 36 degrees, carrying a heavy back pack, we were definitely in for more than we were originally bargaining for! Through the jungles, up the strenuous hills we passed by rice fields and made funny faces at the buffaloes, boars, and other wild animals. Finally after about 2.5litres of water and 2 ½ hours later we made it to the Karen Village, our place for the nite.
Currently there are more than 250 000 Karen in Thailand, scattered all over the northern hills. They are all skilled farmers, specializing in ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ rice cultivation. However, environmentalists would likely be pissed with their ‘slashing & burning’ of fields in order to prepare the for the new seasons' crop.
This was camping at its best, except you had the interesting experience of: sleeping in a hill-tribe bamboo ‘motel’, interacting with the local tribal members and learning about the local culture and using a bin + scoop of COLD water for showering!!! (i.e NO flowing water!) A shocker to the skin receptors at first, but with the bug spray + sunscreen off, it was well worth the goose-bumps! For dinner, our guide (Boo-ne) made some green curry + chicken? and green beans + chicken?. (who knows, we could have been eating wild ‘dog’ or boar)
bed time = 8:30pm….During the night, the weather did cool down significantly as temperatures were nearing 10 degrees, but in the ‘hills’ or mountainside, that is much cooler than you think!…I think aC had to make a trip to the squatter in the middle of the nite, and I can only speculate how she was able to perform all necessary acts while simultaneously using a flashlight (use your imagination!?!).
1 comment:
hey cool... karen tribe. i'm reading a book that takes place in burma amongst karen people. neat! do you feel like the ppl from survivor yet? :O)
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