We met ‘Jackie’ this morning, our new guide while in Chiang Rai. He and driver ‘Chip’ picked us up around 8:30 this morning for a tour of the mountains north of the city.
The drive into the mountains was along winding roads where we encountered road works repairing earlier landslides and numerous police checkpoints as we neared the border with Myanmar. Illegal immigration and smuggling (especially drugs) are still big problems. Jackie pointed out ‘Sleeping Lady Mountain’ where a famous cave rescue of young Thai soccer players occurred a few years ago and drew international attention.
There are hundreds of Hill tribe villages in Chiang Rai province – the Karen, Akha, Hmong, Lahu, Lisu, Palong, and Mien villages can be found here. We visited two. Each of the tribes has their own language which they use to communicate amongst themselves. They speak Thai when conversing with each other.
Our first stop was a Yao hill tribe village near Mae Chan. The Yao migrated from China’s Yunan province, through Myanmar, Thailand and Laos. Once primarily Buddhist, most have now converted to Christianity. While they previously were opium farmers, they now grow corn and rice as their main crops after government pressure to halt opium trade.
Next up was Ban Lorcha, an Akha hill tribe village. The Akha are big coffee growers who are originally from Tibet and practice both Animist and Christian religions. While we saw some villagers in traditional garb, out of respect, I did not take pictures of them. The photos of people were ‘borrowed’ from the web as examples.
We continued up winding roads to visit a tea plantation near Mae Salong. The Doi Maesalong Tea Plantation which is one of the largest in the area – some 1000 ‘rye’, a Thai unit of area. Three rye are roughly equivalent to one acre. The tea grown here is Oolong. Most of the workers are Burmese as their wages are much lower than that for a Thai worker. Burmese make 400 Thai Baht per day vs. 500 for a Thai. After a tea tasting session, we enjoyed an excellent lunch at the onsite Chinese restaurant overlooking the tea farm.
Deeper into the mountains is the Chinese village of ‘Kuo Min Tang’. These peoples are originally from Yunan and fled to Thailand during China’s civil war. The community actively supported the KMT in its fight against the Red Army. They have retained their Chinese culture, language, and food. Nearby is the tomb of General Duan, a famous Nationalist general who fought with Chiang Kai-Shek. One heck of a view from his tomb!
The tour continued with a visit to the ancient hilltop temple of Wat Phra Tat Doi Tung. It is famous for having one of Lord Buddha’s collarbone relics which was transported directly from India. The temple was built in the 10th century and sits atop Doi Tung, the tallest mountain in Chiang Rai. The views and temple complex are wonderful. It is a tradition to ask for something, such as good luck or good health and ring the bell once for each wish at the temple. The louder you ring the bell the more important the wish is to you. I don’t know what Mary wished for, but they could have heard the bell in the next country.
On the return to Chiang Rai we stopped at the Lao Myanmar border deep in the Golden Triangle. The border station is in a gorgeous setting overlooking the Myanmar countryside. A bamboo fence separates the two countries.
Jackie stopped at a roadside vendor for fresh pineapple just before entering Chiang Rae. The fruit was from the smaller variety and delicious. Jackie maintains a large garden when not guiding and grows these pineapples among other fruits.
Scooters are very popular here and the road is sometimes overtaken by them. We saw an interesting use of a scooter by a gentleman clearly preparing to set up a vending stall. He had two chairs, a box of something, and a flaming grill all riding on his scooter! Alas, no picture.
After tidying up at the hotel, we wandered the local market then enjoyed the sunset from the hotel’s rooftop bar. It was a great day. We’re getting a little concerned about the weather though as we are heading to Hanoi in a few days and the weather looks dicey – two typhoons approaching!
Dick