Hill Tribes and Volunteer work, Chiang Mai

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Favorite thing: STOP 4 on DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK TOUR

Just up the road from the ranger station is a Hmong market, which sells produce from the Royal Project and Hmong villages around Mae Chaem.
Actual Hmong hill tribe people live here.

We stopped to have a look at their wares (mainly produce), and to see them dressed in their colourfully embroidered clothing.
After buying some sort of glazed Cherries, Kiwi Fruit, and other fruits which tasted quite good, they were happy to be photographed.

No pressure here either to buy!

Even if you are not on a tour, I would stop here, as it was interesting to see what they grow and sell, and also, they were dressed in a few different Hmong outfits, all very colourful. They were pleasant people, and a smile goes a long way!

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Favorite thing: STOP 3...........DOI INTHANON NATIONAL PARK TOUR.

On my way through Doi Inthanon National Park with a tour, one of our stops was a White Karen Village.

This time it WAS NOT A SET UP, it was where they lived, worked, went to Church, and made their scarves, blankets, etc to sell to the tourists.
In saying that, there was NEVER ANY PRESSURE PUT UPON YOU TO BUY! such a pleasant change to every other Tribal village I had been.

We were told about their lives & homes, shown their Rice Paddies, then were allowed to walk around their village, all very interesting.
I learnt that the roofs are made of Mango leaves and have to be replaced between 5 -8 years. They are getting more modern, and starting to use Iron. Recently, a new Church had been built.

Also, the Karen occupy lowland areas, working in agriculture which includes rice cultivation. They are also skilled weavers and the most environmentally conscious of the hill tribes - practicing crop rotation, thus preserving the forest.

An old woman was sitting on her verandah, SMOKING ?????

The weaving they do is beautiful, I watched for a while, then had my photo taken with one of the Ladies.
It was really interesting for me, learning about their culture and seeing their homes and how they lived.

Favorite thing: Volunteer work is helpful and rewarding. Please, be more than just a tourist and do some volunteer work. Chiang Mai Province is just the place. Many trekking companies offer volunteer opportunities while on treks. Spend an extra day in a minority village laying pipes or teaching at the school. It all helps the people and their lives, especially in these minority villages. I helped lay down pipes and build a water tank, as well as being volunteer English/Thai teacher. You can also volunteer in a Thai town outside of Chiang Mai. This is also an amazing experience because you get to experience the Thai people and children. You can also help by doing some labor volunteer work if you want to. Wats are almost always in need of some help and if you want to do an actual project there are companies that can help you too.

Favorite thing: Volunteer work is helpful and rewarding. Please, be more than just a tourist and do some volunteer work. Chiang Mai Province is just the place. Many trekking companies offer volunteer opportunities while on treks. Spend an extra day in a minority village laying pipes or teaching at the school. It all helps the people and their lives, especially in these minority villages. I helped lay down pipes and build a water tank, as well as being volunteer English/Thai teacher. You can also volunteer in a Thai town outside of Chiang Mai. This is also an amazing experience because you get to experience the Thai people and children. You can also help by doing some labor volunteer work if you want to. Wats are almost always in need of some help and if you want to do an actual project there are companies that can help you too.

Favorite thing: Volunteer work is helpful and rewarding. Please, be more than just a tourist and do some volunteer work. Chiang Mai Province is just the place. Many trekking companies offer volunteer opportunities while on treks. Spend an extra day in a minority village laying pipes or teaching at the school. It all helps the people and their lives, especially in these minority villages. I helped lay down pipes and build a water tank, as well as being volunteer English/Thai teacher.

Favorite thing: Trekking in Chiang Mai Province is excellent. The hilltribe villages are great to visit and interact with. If you have some extra days in Chiang Mai go trekking in Chiang Mai's National Park! I have more picts under travelogues and tips from trekking!

Fondest memory: Volunteer teaching in a Karen Village.

Favorite thing: Festivals and activities in Khlong Lan vary every month, including the Muser, Lisu and Yao tribes.
New Year festivals in Jan-Feb.
Ploughing ceremonies in March.
Beehive searching in April. C
orn growing in May.
Rice growing in June.
Pest clearance in July.
Merit-making for better corn in August.
Corn harvesting in September.
Vegetable growing in October.
A rice-eating festival in November.
Hmong New Year celebrations in December.

Six hilltribes in Khlong Lan district are offering eco-tours and homestays to tourists who want to experience the lifestyle and culture of highlanders.

Eco-tours would create income and jobs for hilltribe people, encourage respect for hilltribe culture among children, and protect communities from drugs.

Each tribe has its own food for which it is well known: the Karen tribe have their chicken soup boiled with turmeric and acacia.
The Hmong people make a herbal chicken soup which relieves muscular pain.
The Muser tribe makes chili paste mixed with pork.
The Yao tribe is fame for its fried leaves with minced pork.
The Lisu tribe for its somtam with minced pork.
The Leu tribe for its spicy catfish.

Fondest memory: Visit local attractions such as
the Khlong Lan waterfall,
Tao dam,
Mae Wong forest,
and hilltribe villages.

Hilltriebs-guides are being trained to promote this project.

Favorite thing: If you would like to see some traditional Hilltribes you should have an opportunity around Chiang Mai. As more and more people discover this you have to deeper into the forest to find people that are still living in their traditional ways. Alot of the villages that are close to Chiang Mai probably have tv and statellite dishes! Alot of them still dress in their traditional clothing because it is such a draw for the tourists! If you would like to read about my trek that I did in 1984 you can read about it on my other Chiang Mai page. But the tips in it may not be accuarate as it was 20 years ago but you might find it interesting.
You can find lot's of trekking agencies in and around Chiang Mai.

Favorite thing: The 3 rd day was going to give us a strange twist and quite a bit of hard hiking. We got up early and had some rice for breakfast and were on our way fairly early. I was pretty much fully recovered from the first second days stomach problems that I had. And I was feeling good about hiking. This was a day when some of us where feeling quite strong a couple in the group were not. I think their legs were feeling like rubber and really sore as the pain in their legs finally caught up with them. So a small group of us with one of the guides would walk ahead for 30 minutes or so and then find a good spot and then wait for the rest of the group to catch up. We did this a few times in the morning until we reached a village where we would be taking our lunch. It was a great village of what I think were Yao people. The kids were shy yet always curious of us. It was fun playing games to make them laugh. Some of the kids would only hide behind their mothers. After our wonderful lunch..Not the food just the kids and the people were wonderful. The food was plain rice soup with something else floating in it. It was ok but I was just getting tired of eating the same thing every day! I wasn't expecting any special food either....
After we said our good-byes to the kids we were on our way. The next stretch of hiking had alot up uphill walking and not much down hill! I enjoyed the scenery as we could see a couple of villages on the hill sides. At one point we were on a stretch of the trail and a couple of guys came out of the bushes carrying some really long rifles. At first I was a little startled as the year before my roommate from Alaska had been caught in a hold-up on a hill tribe trek and all of the people in their group lost all of their valuables! So I thought that might be happening now! Our guide greeted them and spoke with them for a minute or so and he told us they were hunting for small game. Wheewwww! I was glad they were'nt hunting for foreigners!

Favorite thing: In some of the villages I could hear motorcycles riding on the trails in the middle of the night. Our guide told us that they were probably Opium Smugglers. Which sounded pretty exciting as long as we didn't get caught up in the middle of anything. We saw quite a few of the old men smoking the Opium too. The Yao villages seemed to have more of it then the others.