Frontier Touring

Up early and had a good buffet breakfast. Sart and Mr. Noon arrived right on time so back into the van for our drive to the mountain village of the Akah, Yao and Karen Longneck. I think I went to school with that last one?????

Ladies from the Akah Tribe

A lady from the Yao Tribe

Lady from the Karen Longneck Tribe

As we’re driving, I’m thinking this is like Indiana Jones. We’re going to tramp through the jungle with our guide, wade across piranha infested streams, be chased by the warring tribe with blow darts, narrowly escape by diving off 50’ cliffs and floating downstream to an old wooden pier where the Akah save us.

Just about then, we pull into the village. A dusty lot with no signs of electricity, running water or other modern conveniences. This is going to be a real adventure!

But then, the parking attendant motions for Mr. Noon to go right, tour bus parking is on the left. We pull into our slot, Sart pays the attendant and Mr. Noon places the placard in the windshield. We have 2 hours to see the village before Sart has to pay again, so off we go.

Skipping the escalator, we walk down the dirt path to this remote village. Chickens, ducks and dogs all wander around us while laundry hangs on an old rope drying in the morning sun. It’s warm already, and now dusty, but we’re here to see these people and how they really live in this mountainous region.

As we enter, both sides of the path have small buildings connected to each other with only a few people outside. First impression is that we have walked into a dirt-floored gift shop that sells everything from an imported refrigerator magnet (made in China), to hand-made scarves and table cloths.

Village shops

Not exactly what I thought we’d see but still, this is how these people make their living. Their homes are actually right behind these shops and are traditional mountain tribe homes. Most have two buildings with firewood and a laundry line outside. Living quarters are in one building and are separate from the cooking hut to prevent the heat from cooking from heating the main hut, and any odors from saturating the living area.

Yep, that’s a satellite dish in the background

Living huts behind the shops

The three mountain tribes all live together in this village and sell their hand-made goods to tourists. According to Sart these people are immigrants to Thailand and because of their unique traditions, chose to live outside of town.

The goods made by these tribal people are fabulous. The intricate weavings, detailed carvings and paintings representing their various tribes are really impressive. So impressive that we bought 3 different scarves to make a collage. And generally if you buy something, taking a picture with them is acceptable. The monies from selling all the goods in this village are split amongst the tribes with 60% going to the seller and 40% shared with the village.

Killed off our budget for the day, back into the van to see the border towns and later, the Opium Museum! Leave ya with a few random pics!

Collette Longneck

Akah tribe try-outs

Instead of a class picture, the tribe voted to have a carving made….