Thailand Hill Tribes and on to Chiang Mai

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Things have been so busy here, so much to take in. And the internet situation has been limited since our hotel only offers free wi-fi in the lobby. By the time we get home and eat we are soooo tired, or at least I am. Ernest sits up to edit all his pictures but he can do that in room without internet.

Today we go up into the northern mountains of Thailand, close to border of Myannmar, China and Laos. Although Thai government has done a lot to help modernize the life of the hill tribes with electricity, clean water, education and trying to stop old traditions that do harm like smothering the second twin when born cause that one is evil, then banishing the parents from the village for a year, these people still live a primitive life.

The first tribe we saw was the Akha. Several tribal members now live in towns promoting their culture while assimilating into Thai's. But there is still a pocket of people who are born and die here in the village. The have satellite tv so I guess they may be rural but not backward. We met one old man who stills speaks the tribal language and not Thai so our guide had some difficulty in communicating. This tribe has been converted to Christianity but still hold strong to certain old traditions and we saw those in this man's house. His house has no windows so evil spirits don't know he's there. He has a dirt floor and keeps a fire pit going all year to ward off evil spirits. Despite this he has a tv. He was selling beads so I bought a strand and he said a prayer over the beads and placed them on my neck. His teeth are black from a lifetime of chewing bitter root leaves, which is close to chewing tobacco I think. You definitely get a high from it.

Outside there was a little boy that was following us around so I gave him a handful of some trail mix. He ate it quickly and grabbed at the ring on that hand thinking it was food too. I pored out another handful and instead of eating piece by piece as he did the first time, he grabbed it all in his little fist, which couldn't hold it all. He was so cute!

The Akha women did a dance for us and of course, had handicrafts, mainly embroidery to sell us. And I bought.

The next tribe we visited was the Minen, less primitve than the Akha. They have clean water in addition to electricity. We met a woman spinning indigo thread who was 75 years old and lived in the village all her life. The turban she wore was Laotian in origin and they also had several Chinese symbols so probably a hundred years ago this tribe can across the mountains of those countries to escape persecution and settled here bringing there customs. She was sitting at a small school for kids who don't go down to town for school. The teacher was hired by the government and paid about $500 a month, which is good here.

There is a gate entrance to the village. Visitors should pass through to cleanse them of evil spirits.

We were buying locat crafts from one man who said his mother had made them, then his mother came around and heard what he was asking for the crafts. She started yelling at him because apparently he was charging us HALF of what she wanted! We got our deal so we slowly backed away.

After buying some more local crafts, we head to Chiang Mai. One of the villagers was selling his Mom's handicrafts for 100 Baht, about $3. His Mom came over and started yelling at him that is should be 200 Baht but I already made my purchase.

On the way to Chiang Mai, we stopped at what is marketed as the largest gem factory in SE Asia. It was big. Ernest had been here on an earlier trip so he knew there was a room that sold animal skin belts, purses and wallets. He was set on buying me a sting ray purse, and he succeeded. A very pretty black one with matching billfold. He also went back later to get a billfold there in red and black. He is beginning to get my Dawg side.

About 3 hours later, we arrive in Chiang Mai. Our hotel here, as every other place, is very nice and high class but this one is also in a great location. The famous night bazaar of Chiang Mai is right across the street, in addition to several massage places.

For dinner, we went across the street to McDonald's. We always go to a McDonald's in the countries we visit to see the differences. Here they had a sink beside the counter for customers to wash hands. They served a chicken dish with rice. they also had fried chicken and I've never seen that. Finally, the other condiment with ketchup was chili sauce. It's just kindof a fun thing to do. Then we had a foot massage and rolled back to the hotel for bed.

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Photos

Akha native dress
the headdresses are passed down through generations. There are silver coins all around the front, some very old

Akha native dress
drumming for the dance