Thursday, June 9, 2011

Hill Tribes of Thailand

Another beautiful face.
Just outside of Chiang Mai is a hill village where three different hill tribes
live and demonstrate life in their villages.
Though I would have actually loved traveling through the hills to each village,
the visit here was a total delight.  I love seeing how others live when traveling
and this was the perfect setting for our last day in Thailand.
The women in each tribe weave on harness looms and sell their wares right from their home.
If you look closely there is a string tied to this woman's toe.  She was moving her
foot, which pulled the string, then rocked a baby in a cloth hanging cradle.
There were several women throughout the villages doing just the same thing.
The largest group and the most fascinating are the "long neck" women.
They are the Palongs from Myanmar and have lived in Thailand for over 30 years. What is unique about them is that their women wear brass rings around their necks and legs. As you can see from the picture, the older they are the longer are the brass rings.


From the top of the hill looking back on the village of the "long necks".
Behind me at the end of the road was a school and a Catholic church.

Tomorrow will be the last day to visit Thailand and share,
then onto Taiwan and a lot of tea on Monday.
Double click on any of the smaller pictures to see more detail.