My first 20 days in Thailand has been great
What an amazing day tour of the area around Mai Hong Son where we visited hill tribe villages with coffee and tea plantations, teak forest, a bamboo bridge to a temple, a waterfall, a fish cave a short visit to Myanmar and more.
Many of the hill tribe people are refugees who have fled over the nearby border with Myanmar and are not recognised as citizens of Thailand and as stateless people, they cannot get ID papers and are not entitled to free medical care, schooling, nor can they get a driving licence and many jobs are closed to them, so they have to make a living whatever way they can. Tourism and aid provide most of their income.
We hesitated before booking the tour, but we saw so much in one day that it really was fantastic.
Our guide and his driver picked us up at our hotel at 9.00 and we both climbed into his comfortable pickup. We drove through the teak forests and past the fields that grow rice in the rainy season and soya or garlic during the dry season.
First stop was the very long bridge built entirely of bamboo to allow the people reach the distant monastery across the rice fields when they are flooded. After a visit to the monastery with lots of photo opportunities, it was back on the road through teak forests visit the first of the hill tribe villages up very steep winding roads. It is home to people of Hmong and Karen tribes
The vegetation was changing as we climbed with more bamboo, banana and mixed vegetation than lower down.
As we entered the village there was the wonderful smell of roasting coffee beans. Apparently a couple of Karen tribe people started growing coffee there and the quality was soo good that it became well known by word of mouth alone. Last year a tour from Japan liked it so much they bought out the whole stock. We had to taste the new crop from this year and it was very special. strong rich arabica and not at all bitter. They now also grow tea and have half a dozen rooms to rent. It would be an ideal retreat. The village was lovely build mostly of wood and most homes offered home stay accommodations or a small shop to generate some income.
A village of the Shan people of Chinese origin was the next destination. We visited two villages separated by the Thai/Myanmar border. Normally a visa is required but our guide talked to the border guards who allowed us across in return for depositing passports to ensure we came back.
The most imposing building was a Buddhist temple. There were also a couple of shops a school and a tiny medical centre, and that was about it. Life is simple here. Buildings are made of bamboo with zinc roofs.
Back to the Thai side and we descended to visit a beautiful waterfall and a tiny cave filled with very hungry carp.
After lunch we went to a village of the Karen tribe, also known as the “long neck” people because of the many brass rings they wear. Again they are refugees and depend on commerce to survive but the hand loomed scarves, jewellery, and other crafts are beautiful are easy to love.
After a long and full day we were glad to get back to the hotel at around 17.00.
But Mai Hong Son is a small town and we bumped into our guide later that evening and we shared a beer and a few laughs with him.
He is Mr Pordee who can be found at the Good View MHS hotel beside the lake in the middle of town. He was an excellent guide: knowledgable about the culture, history, geography, nature and everything else we asked him about. It turns out he is a member of the Karen tribe and guides trekking tours to more remote villages too.
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If you like this and want to know more about watercolor and art, I am holding some painting retreats in Vence on the Cote dÀzure in France in Mai and October 2021 and you can take my online class on drawing faces.
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