Baan Tong Luang to Waterfall

Today the owners of the Homestay drove us an hour north to visit Baan Tong Luang village. They told us that the village is made up of 8 distinct tribes who came to Thailand as refugees, often escaping war in Tibet, Mongolia, or China. They were given the land to use, not own, & the original refugees are not allowed to move away from there. Their children, if they were born in Thailand, are allowed to be educated in other places & can leave or stay. The most famous of these groups is the Kayan, the so-called long necked people. The women stretch their necks & lower legs with brass coiled rings. We saw how they made these coils. They never take them off, except only to put on longer ones as they grow. The women start wearing them at about 4 yrs of age. We saw a 6 year old girl wearing a neck ring. We bought a couple of things to support their community. We started back down the mountain & stopped at a National Park where we hiked in to a waterfall called Mae Sa. It is a popular spot for tourists & locals who brought in food & bamboo mats to sit on. We had planned to swim until we put our feet in the mountain runoff water.... We then stopped at an Orchid farm which grows orchids hydroponically. They were quite stunning. On the way back to the Homestay our host surprised us with stops at a Silk factory & 2 silver factories. It was a full day.Read more