March 20
The five of us (Josie, Mark, Emily, Dad and I) got up early to meet our tour guide, Poo, and get on the road to begin our 2 day/1 night expedition into the mountains of Chiang Rai complete with a homestay with the Akha Hill Tribe people! I couldn't wait as our songteaw (pick up truck with benches and roof) pulled out and began the winding course up the mountains.
Our first stop was at an Oolong tea plantation on Doi Mae Salong. We were seated at a counter and got to try some of the different teas produced at the plantation and learn about the differences between them.
The area we were in was part of the opium trade back in the day and as a way for the refugees who lived on this land to stay in Thailand without being deported they were made to quit farming poppies and were taught the ways of tea cultivation. We learned that some teas are made from baby tea leaves and are harvest every 3 months or so while others are left to grow longer and cultivated less often. It's an amazing setting looking out upon row after row of tea plants stretching to the bases of the surrounding mountains.
We stopped for lunch in Sanctikili, a small town made up entirely of Chinese refugees from the Yunnan provice. We were treated to a traditional Yunanese lunch consisting of various noodle dishes, pickled veggies and soups as well as some dried/candied fruit which we bought by the kilo from a smiling old woman. After lunch we headed to the highligh of the trip: the Akha village where we would spend the rest of the day/night and the next day.
We were greeted by Acha, our dad for the trip along with Milu, our sister, and Chai (Acha's nephew) would would serve as our local guide. The company we went on the tour with works hard to get the locals in these villages involved in the toursim (ie having them assist with the tours) rather than exploiting them like many organizations do.
On our first walk through the village we ran into Bupay, our host mom, dressed in traditional Akha garb with a big smile (her teeth covered in a red juice from the Betle nut which is supposed to be good for your teeth--but makes it look like your mouth is bleeding!) The village was small and fairly simple: wooden shacks linked by dirt trails, smiling and curious people going about their daily chores, chickens running amock, etc. Our house was pretty nice with wooden boards on the floor and walls and a few rooms. The kitchen was off to the left and across the hall were the bedrooms/living room. Out back was deck made of thick grass that somehow managed to hold all of our weight even without dropping us to the ground below. There was an interesting parallel between their traditions and the modern world as we took note of the many satellite dishes installed on the straw roofs of the homes. At first you kind of think it takes away from the experience seeing these modern amentities, but after a night with these people you come to the realization that just because they have these things doesn't mean they lose their identities as Akha people (more on that later).
After the tour we spent some time at our new home talking and learning more about their lives.
Then we got to spend some time working on traditional handicrafts--Acha showed us how to make wood carvings while Bupay taught the girls how to make bracelets with beads made from seeds they find in the hills/river. Chai invited us to go play Takal with some of the local guys and, having never tried it before, we agreed happily. It turned out to be one of the hardest games I've ever tried. We played 3 vs. 3 and it consists of bascially getting a small woven ball over a badminton size net. It has rules similar to volleyball only you can't use your hands-and 
what do you naturally want to use when the other team has just roundhouse kicked at a ball at your face? Yes, correct, you want to use your hands! Needless to say we had a great time and I only got kicked in the head once (Chai was yelling 'Boi Boi Boi' as the ball was coming over the net and not knowing that this was the word for 'move' in Akha I thought he was telling me, 'Boy,' to get the ball. Anyway he went up for a full body windmill kick complete with backflip only to be stopped mid rotation by my head and we both ended up laughing, and a bit disoriented, on the ground.)
Dinner proved to be a feast as they pulled out all the stops for us (endless bowls of veggies, chicken and mountain rice--they they grew!). We were all being polite at first and taking little bits of each only to realize we had better get it while it was there because Acha and Bupay were wolfing it down; Emily and I started laughing hysterically as we watched our house mom lean back in her chair without batting an eye and let our a hearty belch. After dinner the whole family and some of the extended family was there and we spent a couple hours just sitting around talking. We learned about their customs and they asked us about America (they were floored by the fact that we have rice that is black and grows in the wild while they work so hard to grow their rice in terraces on the sides of near vertical mountains). We were able to communicate fairly well Chai (who gave us his thoughts on his future and how they perceive love) and Milu (who were both around my age and had learned English in school/from working). To talk to our host parents we had to speak in English to Poo who spoke in Thai to Milu who repeated what was said in Akha.
It was really an amazing experience seeing how much you could understand someone through just body language and facial expressions even before the coversation had been completely translated. I can't imagine a more genuine and sincere group of people who welcomed these strangers into their homes and tried so hard to make our stay comfortable. It was sad to learn that a lot of times they feel like 'animals' (is the word they used) as tour groups come traipsing through the village to see the 'hill tribes' in their costumes and take pictures before leaving after 20 minutes. At the same time it was so cool to see how happy they were that we would take the time to get to know them and learn about them. What an adventure.
We were more than ready to crawl into our mosquito net tent in the living room and under our thick blankets when it was time for bed. It was such a nice change to sleep with windows open and have it be chilly instead of the heat and humidity of southern Thailand and, despite the multiple sets of alarm clocks (aka the roosters below our floorboards outside crowing at 3am, 4am, 5 am and 6 am) we slept really well.
The five of us (Josie, Mark, Emily, Dad and I) got up early to meet our tour guide, Poo, and get on the road to begin our 2 day/1 night expedition into the mountains of Chiang Rai complete with a homestay with the Akha Hill Tribe people! I couldn't wait as our songteaw (pick up truck with benches and roof) pulled out and began the winding course up the mountains.
Our first stop was at an Oolong tea plantation on Doi Mae Salong. We were seated at a counter and got to try some of the different teas produced at the plantation and learn about the differences between them.
The area we were in was part of the opium trade back in the day and as a way for the refugees who lived on this land to stay in Thailand without being deported they were made to quit farming poppies and were taught the ways of tea cultivation. We learned that some teas are made from baby tea leaves and are harvest every 3 months or so while others are left to grow longer and cultivated less often. It's an amazing setting looking out upon row after row of tea plants stretching to the bases of the surrounding mountains.We stopped for lunch in Sanctikili, a small town made up entirely of Chinese refugees from the Yunnan provice. We were treated to a traditional Yunanese lunch consisting of various noodle dishes, pickled veggies and soups as well as some dried/candied fruit which we bought by the kilo from a smiling old woman. After lunch we headed to the highligh of the trip: the Akha village where we would spend the rest of the day/night and the next day.
We were greeted by Acha, our dad for the trip along with Milu, our sister, and Chai (Acha's nephew) would would serve as our local guide. The company we went on the tour with works hard to get the locals in these villages involved in the toursim (ie having them assist with the tours) rather than exploiting them like many organizations do.
On our first walk through the village we ran into Bupay, our host mom, dressed in traditional Akha garb with a big smile (her teeth covered in a red juice from the Betle nut which is supposed to be good for your teeth--but makes it look like your mouth is bleeding!) The village was small and fairly simple: wooden shacks linked by dirt trails, smiling and curious people going about their daily chores, chickens running amock, etc. Our house was pretty nice with wooden boards on the floor and walls and a few rooms. The kitchen was off to the left and across the hall were the bedrooms/living room. Out back was deck made of thick grass that somehow managed to hold all of our weight even without dropping us to the ground below. There was an interesting parallel between their traditions and the modern world as we took note of the many satellite dishes installed on the straw roofs of the homes. At first you kind of think it takes away from the experience seeing these modern amentities, but after a night with these people you come to the realization that just because they have these things doesn't mean they lose their identities as Akha people (more on that later).After the tour we spent some time at our new home talking and learning more about their lives.
Then we got to spend some time working on traditional handicrafts--Acha showed us how to make wood carvings while Bupay taught the girls how to make bracelets with beads made from seeds they find in the hills/river. Chai invited us to go play Takal with some of the local guys and, having never tried it before, we agreed happily. It turned out to be one of the hardest games I've ever tried. We played 3 vs. 3 and it consists of bascially getting a small woven ball over a badminton size net. It has rules similar to volleyball only you can't use your hands-and 
what do you naturally want to use when the other team has just roundhouse kicked at a ball at your face? Yes, correct, you want to use your hands! Needless to say we had a great time and I only got kicked in the head once (Chai was yelling 'Boi Boi Boi' as the ball was coming over the net and not knowing that this was the word for 'move' in Akha I thought he was telling me, 'Boy,' to get the ball. Anyway he went up for a full body windmill kick complete with backflip only to be stopped mid rotation by my head and we both ended up laughing, and a bit disoriented, on the ground.)Dinner proved to be a feast as they pulled out all the stops for us (endless bowls of veggies, chicken and mountain rice--they they grew!). We were all being polite at first and taking little bits of each only to realize we had better get it while it was there because Acha and Bupay were wolfing it down; Emily and I started laughing hysterically as we watched our house mom lean back in her chair without batting an eye and let our a hearty belch. After dinner the whole family and some of the extended family was there and we spent a couple hours just sitting around talking. We learned about their customs and they asked us about America (they were floored by the fact that we have rice that is black and grows in the wild while they work so hard to grow their rice in terraces on the sides of near vertical mountains). We were able to communicate fairly well Chai (who gave us his thoughts on his future and how they perceive love) and Milu (who were both around my age and had learned English in school/from working). To talk to our host parents we had to speak in English to Poo who spoke in Thai to Milu who repeated what was said in Akha.
It was really an amazing experience seeing how much you could understand someone through just body language and facial expressions even before the coversation had been completely translated. I can't imagine a more genuine and sincere group of people who welcomed these strangers into their homes and tried so hard to make our stay comfortable. It was sad to learn that a lot of times they feel like 'animals' (is the word they used) as tour groups come traipsing through the village to see the 'hill tribes' in their costumes and take pictures before leaving after 20 minutes. At the same time it was so cool to see how happy they were that we would take the time to get to know them and learn about them. What an adventure.
We were more than ready to crawl into our mosquito net tent in the living room and under our thick blankets when it was time for bed. It was such a nice change to sleep with windows open and have it be chilly instead of the heat and humidity of southern Thailand and, despite the multiple sets of alarm clocks (aka the roosters below our floorboards outside crowing at 3am, 4am, 5 am and 6 am) we slept really well.
No comments:
Post a Comment