Advertisement
Published: December 1st 2012
Edit Blog Post
Over the past week I have been staying in the village of Mae Khanin Tai about 20+km from the provincial capital of Chiang Mai. It sits adjacent to the very pleasant Op Khan National Park and about 10-15 minute motorbike ride from my friend Eric's Garden (link below)
Dokmai Garden http://www.dokmaigarden.co.th/ Eric suggested I visit the village headman and his wife Duangtaa for a place to stay. They have both shown him around the village in the past introducing him to a number of flora and fauna. At present, they are in the process of building a house for the oldest son that sits in a pomelo orchard adjacent to the rice fields and surrounded my their native mountain range. I have pitched a tent inside their stilted work of progress and have had the opportunity to join them in the annual rice harvest. I have also enjoyed walking through the forest, especially the mountain hike Duangtaa and Oey (her husband the village headman) took me on yesterday.
Mae Khanin Tai is a traditional Thai village in the most common sense of the word. They farm primarily sticky rice
for consumption (some for sale) and they raise a number of other crops to raise cash. More than this, everyone in the village still helps each other sow, transplant, harvest and store the rice. It is a true group effort. Some of the young people still help out even though their primary occupations are part of the modern cash economy. However, I haven't met anyone there who has a reasonable handle on English, it is strictly Thai that is spoken here except for fun.....as you will see here, much of the photo blog here documents my time helping with the village rice harvest which takes place soon after the end of rainy season.
It still really feels traditional here even though everyone in the village now has motorcycles, cars, satellite dishes, mobile phones, etc. For example, my phone carrier does not operate in the village so I am without phone service unless I bike about 5km plus outside the national park boundaries. I do have electricity but no runnning water in the conventional sense. I bathe in the stream that runs past my tented abode and use the same stream for washing dishes and other water needs.
Mae Khanin Tai
The village rests in between the peaks below You can drink it I am told, but it is not recommended. Further up the mountain, there is a water tap that is perfectly drinkable. The water comes from the mountain summit near the village and there are no villages above it, also no industrial or other developmets in the forest, so it is a pretty safe bet to drink. Nontheless, they supply me with locally delivered water.....and two square meals a day!! With that being said, some of the land has begun to be sold off to outsiders. An American has an orchard there and Duangtaa and her husband have sold off some of their land as well to help support their children and adapt to the changes of life required in our era.
As much as I enjoy sticky rice, I cannnot eat it in the quantities that the villagers do-usually three times a day. It is just too carb and sugar rich for my to maintain my current metabolic rhythms. However, I have enjoyed some wonderfully simple, traditional as well as what we would consider exotic treats. Many flowers and strictly local fruits/vegetables are included in my meals. It is a wonderful privilege to
try it all. But I have to admit I have sneaked into Chiangmai on a couple of occasions to get phone service, enjoy pizza and even a glass of wine.
Op Khan National Park, about 5km away, currently is free to enter and they have a wonderful river for swimming. I have bathed there and taken a dip after working the rice fields on several occaisons. There are some terrific trails along the river as well and the forest woodlands contrasted with the rocky/sandy outcrops along the river provide an extremely pleasant journey. Outside weekends it is wonderfully tranquil and there are numerous opportunities for birdwatching. Along the river seems to provide the clearest views and the birds often won't fly away if there is a river between you. It is much more difficult to get close to them in the forest. Op Khan sits between the illustrious Doi Suthep and Doi Inthanon National Parks, among many others, so it is underappreciated. It is not spectacular in the way they are, but it is very enjoyable indeed as long as you are not looking for more sublime thrills.
I am not satisfied with many
Op Khan National Park
The river slows further downstream where it is nice to swim. This section is nice for hiking. of these photos, especially those taken in the forest, but I hope you will enjoy the rice harvest. I did, but my back didn't.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.122s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 12; qc: 43; dbt: 0.0749s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Sandy
non-member comment
Great blog
Wonderful pictures and I love hearing about your experiences. I wish I could have done all those things when I was younger.