Sabadee!
Have you ever felt like you were going to fall off the side of a mountain simply because the width of your elephant was wider than the width of the path you were on? I'm sure you all have, so you know how utterly scary it is. Good ol' Sapu, rebellious as he was, I guess didn't want his life to end, and so spared mine along the way.
I'm going to try and describe briefly my last couple days here. First, I'll start by saying this: I'm used to the sort of hikes that last an hour and have an ice cream truck waiting at the end for me, so when our pickup truck dropped us off in the middle of the jungle and said 'so long', I didn't realize that we wouldn't see it again for 3 days.
We hiked uphill for hours with heavy bags on our backs. Tung, our guide, carried mine for a bit cuz I thought I would die (do you see a theme?). I don't know how the others did it so nonchalantly. We hiked to the Lahu village where we put our bags in the bamboo hut (fully equipped with...a floor and a ceiling) and began running around with the children, chickens, dogs, and pigs. No electricity on this one particular hill, so when the sun went down, our day was over. THe kids came in for a while and put on a little show, and then we sang back to them, Row Row Row your Boat and I'm a Little Teapot. (My choices, of course.) (Oh, btw, we=me, molly, 2 brits, 4 kiwis (new zealanders), and Tung, our THai guide.) We played cards all night around the candles and drank lots of beers (but not me cuz I decided I don't like beer anymore). The next day we were on our feet all day walking from village to village and waterfall to waterfall. Skinny cows grazing around us. Jungle trees, bamboo, intense beauty all over the place. We drank the next village out of beers the next night, the kiwis doing weird things like downing hot chilis and taking off their clothing. Day three was like camp. Elephant riding and bamboo rafting. What? You didn't do those things at your camp? We also went white water rafting which was fun. By the end of the day we were covered with so much dirt, sweat, contaminated water, and elephant snot, even I was ready to shower. (So of course I came back to my bug infested guest house and took an ice cold shower. Yum.)
The Lahu are interesting people. THey get about 40 tourists a day, sleeping in their huts, playing with their children, eating their food, and get paid for their hospitality. In the last 10 years or so they have been exposed to more western culture (and more thai city culture) than ever before, yet we remain their only exposure. They still have no TV or even any newspapers. THey go to school until they are 11 and get married shortly thereafter. What must they think of us overgrown white people still carrying on like children, toting around expensive technology? The children are all familiar with digital cameras and camcorders, but have probably never seen a light switch. They've probably never seen a proper bed or couch, for that matter. Over the course of 10 years they get a road down the mountain? Then in one year, things go digital. Who know what they will get over the next 10 years? And do they want it? Do we care if they want it?
The whole experience got me very excited, though a bit nervous, for the Africa part of my trip, where I will not be a tourist in a village like this, but will be a resident for 3 months. How much progress is good progress?
I think I'm going to the zoo today. I will rent a bike there for 1 bhat. (100 bhat= $2.50)
Shabbat Shalom to everyone!
Love, Sarah
P.S. Do you want to know the most amazing thing about
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