Hill Tribe Trekking

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We survived trekking through Thailand's jungle!
My UK friends and I signed up for a trek from Mae Hong Son, to be picked up early in the morning and last 3 days. Joined by a French couple and a large German man, we boarded a pick up truck with our friendly half Tibetan/ half Shan guide, Long, and our Lisu porter, Jembruut, and were taken out of town and up into an accessible Hmong village; our jumping-off point. I've been excited to walk through a Hmong village simply because my SEA anthropology classes focused so much on them, but it was slightly different because the documentaries I've watched depicted them in "traditional garb", whereas now everybody wears sweatpants and baggy t-shirts.
From the Hmong village we walked across, up, and down the mountain tops all afternoon- a grueling journey uphill but even more difficult downhill because it was so steep. We stopped for lunch at a peak overlooking the valley and ate sticky rice and fish wrapped in a nice little banana leaf bundle, with another bundle of coconut flavored rice for dessert. Afterward we made our way down the valley and through another Hmong village, then down even more into the thicker forest, finally coming back up and arriving at a White Karen village, where we stayed the night. There are several types of Karen villages around this region, this one is deemed White because the women wear white garments until they are married, then switch to the traditional woven sarongs.
Our group rested for the evening, exploring the village school and watching the boys play bamboo ball (kind of like volley ball, but only the feet and head are used to get the ball over a horizontal bamboo pole). The huts of the village are also made of bamboo, raised up about 4 feet from the ground so the pigs and chickens can live underneath. We were shocked at the invitation to go in their herbal sauna-- which turned out to be a box of tarp close-pinned shut and rigged next to a fire that piped the steam from a pot of boiling water and herbs. Needless to say it was a bit awkward to find myself in a little plastic room, stripped down to my underwear and soaking in an herbal sauna with 3 recently acquainted women. But we all laughed, and then groaned when we had to "shower" in the frigid night air, using water trickling out of a pipe from the bathroom hut. Afterward, we were prepared a feast by a bunch of local villagers, and ate in a circle in their hut next the the cooking fire. Long and Jembruut carved us cups out of bamboo using their machetes, and served us boiling hot Chinese tea to keep warm.

Next morning we woke and began the most exhausting journey into the jungle-- going uphill is pretty hard carrying our packs, but the super steep downhill parts were the hardest. I thought we would actually slide down the hill because the ground was so slippery and there was absolutely nothing to hold on to. Doing this for 4 hours really made my toes and quads ache, and I was terrified the whole time. There were also moments of rock climbing along the river because there was no ground to walk on, that was lovely but mentally exhausting. Along the route Long pointed out wildlife and trees or plants, teaching us about the uses of different herbs and fruits. I tried a slice of quinine tree bark, which tasted like wood at first, but left that terrible bitter effect of quinine on my tongue. At one point we spotted a banana tree and they used slingshots to cut down the banana flower hanging from the bottom, a delicacy. Long told me the bananas were wild and inedible, and when I answered 'yes' to his offer to see why, he took out his machete and chopped down the whole tree before I could cry out. He then pulled on little banana off and peeled it to show me how the inside was all seeds.
We also walked through a bamboo forest, which was fascinating to see the large clusters of enormous poles jutting up from the mountainside. I couldn't even reach my hands around them! And on that note, we came across quite a few spiders that were as big as our hands as well. 😊
Finally we reached our camp-- a bamboo platform Long built, uphill from the river. He cooked us "jungle food" and we ate sitting on enormous banana leaves spread like a blanket. The soup had banana flower, bamboo shoots, and other veggies, cooked and served straight from long tubes of bamboo our tribesmen fashioned. We ate from bamboo bowls and with spoons ingeniously carved out as well. They roasted chicken in the fire, and also served bamboo-cooked rice and tea. Rice rice rice! I haven't yet mentioned the staple of life, but believe me there will be rice coming out of my ears by the time I come home!
Before bed Long invited us to follow Jembruut, the "world's beast frog catcher" on a mission. Kate and I were the only ones awake and brave enough to go splashing around the river at night, so we followed and watched him easily gather frogs perched along the rocks. It made me cringe sadly to see him snap their legs and shove them in a plastic bag, still alive. After gathering about 30, we turned back to camp, and they encouraged (read: peer-pressured) us into trying to catch a frog ourselves. I actually got my hand around one, but screamed at the last moment and let it free. I just couldn't help thinking of my own pet frog, Eert Gorf, from my childhood. I couldn't kill him!
I fell asleep before they roasted the frogs and ate them as a bed-time snack.

On the last day we packed up and trekked out of the jungle, a long and arduous journey. There weren't as many steep slopes to wedge down, but a lot more rock climbing and river-crossing. Sometimes the water came up to our armpits (we were holding our packs up as far out of the water as possible) and the currents quite strong. The most impressive thing was Jembrutt, an experienced hill tribe man, who could jump up and down the hills and cross rivers without breaking a sweat, all the while carrying an enormous wooden basket with our supply of food, extra water, the sleeping bags some people couldn't carry, his own belongings, a gun, etc., strapped to his back. Near the end Long gave me a leaf and told me to rub my hands back and forth, thereby dying my palms a deep shade of red. It was a teak leaf, is one of the leaves used by hill tribes to dye their clothing.
Finally, totally exhausted, we arrived back at the dam where a truck could pick us up. We had walked about 5 hours each day, and through terrain that was at times absolutely terrifying. When someone's water would slip out of their packs and slide down the mountain edge, crashing against the rocks below, we'd all stop for a moment and pretend we weren't afraid.
En route to Mae Hong Son we stopped for a well-deserved lunch of noodle soup and then took a break at a nearby hot spring. There were separate baths with hot herbal water piped in, so we took a soak before being dropped back off at the cafe we began.

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We stayed one more night in Mae Hong Song, enjoying the night market surrounding the lake and lit temple. In the morning we caught an afternoon bus to Pai (pronounced "bye"), a hippie mecca and international-fare hot spot. The view from the bus windows were spectacular, however it was too bumpy to do any reading, so we sat quietly at the back in "bus position" (arms folded across our chests). Twice we had to stop and be searched by armed guards-- the first time by Shan military and the second by Thai police, who checked local people's passports and ignored us completely. Not sure what they were looking for (drugs?) but we had no one to ask.
We arrived in Pai on a crowded Saturday night, the same night as a huge music festival in town, and had a really tough time finding a guest house. Everywhere was full, or charging crazily high rates, but we were lucky to find a bamboo hut village just across the river. We walked across the bamboo plank bridge and into a field of tiny huts, big enough fore 2 persons. The huts were very, "basic", shall we say? And the shared outdoor shower did not have hot water. But it was a bed, with a mosquito net, so I was just fine. (My UK friends were not so thrilled at the idea of spiders, despite the fact that we just camped in the heart of the jungle...)
After sundown we wandered the two main streets of town, along with a million other farang, and settled down in front of an art gallery-turned-venue to watch some Thai jazz players. I wasn't quite as impressed with the scene because it reminded me of the First Fridays we have in Phoenix, and I quite hate jazz music. But the girls were thrilled and I amused myself by staring at Asian hippies.
From there we walked to the music festival, a huge field full of Thai music fanatics, set up with two stages and encircled with food vendors and carnival games, like shooting balloons with darts for a big teddy or large Singha beer (this is a fair for adults, after all). I was so happy to find Thai ska blasting from the stage when we first arrived, which then switched to reggae, and finally to rock. The big act for the night was a Thai female pop singer, who must be quite famous judging by the crowd's reaction and sudden thrust into swaying and shouting. Her singing was accompanied by a troupe of what appeared to be young Thai Las Vegas showgirls, sort of odd I thought. The were just there swaying in the background in their skimpy, sparkley outfits, reminding me of cheap playboy bunnies.
After a few hours we wandered back across the tiny little town and over the river to our huts. I shared mine with Carly, who dramatically searched for spiders and anything bug-like before she would get in bed. For the first time I was able to sleep through the night, waking happily at 7:30 to begin a new day. Every single night on the trip so far I've become really sleepy around 10 pm, but then I wake up at about 3 or 5 and can't get back to sleep; just waiting for daylight. For now I feel refreshed and ready to spend a relaxed evening at a coffee shop, maybe even get a massage? Massage shops are abundant here, charging 200 baht per hour, which works out to about 6 dollars. We've changed guest houses, now in-town in a very nice lush garden setting. The three of us are sharing a big room with hot water and a toilet (actually two: one squat, the other western sit-down). After I'm finished here I'll go collect my laundry and then who knows.....? Cheers!

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Comments

[Anne]

AHHHHH
AH Courtney!!! I have so many questions!!! hehe It sounds amazing! Did you eat a silk worm?! Why did they wrap your lunch in a banana leaf? It looked so gorgeous though! And did they make the bamboo spoons as you went a long or pack them in with you? Did the guide pack in food or did you eat what you found along the way "jungle food?" Well I guess you did say you ate a lot of rice and Im assuming it didnt come pre cooked from the jungle. lol! It sounds like you had an amazing time. How much longer will you be with the Brits? This trip sounds absolutley wonderful. I love the pictures, keep posting!!! Love, Anne

[Brandon]

Wow
It sounds amazing. Love the pictures too. I'm so jealous. LOVE YOU!!!