On December 30, Amber and I joined our friends Chai and Tamla, along with some of the students at Jen’s House, in Sanpatong.  That afternoon, we took a 3 hour journey over the mountains and through the jungles to an authentic Thai-Karen village (and Chai’s hometown).  To say the road was windy and bumpy would be an understatement.  I sat in the bed of the pickup truck, and my hair and my teeth were filled with dust from the dirt roads.  When we arrived in the village, we met a lot of Chai’s family and lifelong friends, including his grandmother (see the pictures below).  His grandmother, in her 80′s, picked up a machete and hacked us a few pieces of raw sugarcane out of her garden to snack on, which was so sweet and delicious.

It was very cold up in the mountains, colder than we’ve ever been in Thailand. We all huddled around a campfire while we grilled fish and chicken, steamed rice and vegetables, and listened to Chai play the guitar and sing praise music. Amber and I were treated like guests of honor the entire time, which means we got the warmest blankets at night! The house that we slept in was made entirely out of bamboo and wood, and the bathroom was an outhouse.  But after living in Thailand for four months, we were totally comfortable and appreciative of the accommodations.

The village itself was very remote and rural.  Everyone that lived there was Thai-Karen and seemed to be related in some way.  On December 31, the entire town took a day off from their farming and gathered at the local school (which only teaches through the equivalent of 5th grade) to play soccer and volleyball, share good food, listen to music, and have a great time.  That night, the entire town gathered together to celebrate New Year’s Eve.  Everyone huddled around about 20 campfires and watched singers, dancers, speeches by local officials, raffles, and fireworks.  Happy New Year 2011 from deep in the mountains of northwestern Thailand!

The next day, we packed up the truck and drove another few hours through the mountains to a different Thai-Karen village where Tamla’s sister and her husband owned a small restaurant.  We explored the area, ate some home-cooked Karen food, and joined the entire family for their church service.  We visited some friends of theirs at night and ate rice cooked inside a hollow bamboo log, mixed with coconut milk.  We had read about this specialty in Zoya Phan’s books about Karen life, but we had never tasted it before.  It was the best rice we have ever eaten!

On the way home from the Thai-Karen villages, we stopped at a huge botanical garden with flowers of every color, shape, and size.  On Monday, January 3, we visited one of Tamla’s brothers, as well as her parents, in a suburb of Chiang Mai.  We feel like we know both of their extended families now!  After that, Chai and Tamla dropped us off at the bus station.  Since it was the first travelling day of the year, the buses were sold out, and we ended up spending one additional night in Chiang Mai before heading home to Mae Sot to begin whatever adventures the year 2011 would bring.

Tags: sightseeing