I had absolutely no joy yesterday sorting out some nice trekking; all I found out was more about the sex tourism of Thailand!!
I basically spent the day divided between trying to sort out some trekking as well as trying to see some of the great sights of Chiang Rai.
The Emerald Buddha
I did visit the Hilltribe Museum which actually was more of an eye opener that I thought it was going to be. One of the things that really sticks in my mind is the plight of one of the Karen tribe otherwise known as the long neck tribe. It seems that this tribe is purely in Thailand for tourism reasons and because of the way they look. They are not in the country legally so have absolutely no legal rights here and are therefore exploited by a greedy hierarchy. The women are paid a sum of 1500 bht a month, but only if they wear the rings around their necks and the men are paid nothing. The tribes people are allowed to go in to the local town to shop but because they are not allowed an ID card they cannot stay overnight. Originally they have come from Myanmar so for them returning there is not an option. I found it quite sad that this was the plight of a tribe with no real sense of home who are basically being kept prisoners in made up villages just for tourists to take photos of. I know in the postcards they look happy but I guess we would too if the alternative was returning to a war.
It was a very interesting museum and a real eye opening one. Prior to this visit I had already decided that if I was going to do some trekking that involved visiting hill tribe villages I would try hard to make sure it was done in a sensitive way and not in a way that involves the parading around of villagers for pictures.
So on that note, it seems that again the lone traveler is not a particularly easy traveler to accommodate when it comes to organized activities, unless, of course, they’re willing to pay twice the fee! In Chiang Rai at the moment it’s very quiet tourist wise, meaning with all the tour companies available there are fewer people to go around to make up tours and everywhere you ask they want a minimum of two people. A French guy who was staying at the same place as me had the same problem and it was a shame I didn’t find this out earlier than 5 minutes before he was heading out on the tour otherwise I could have joined him, he was ok though as his Thai ‘girlfriend’ from Bangkok had stalked him all the way to Chiang Rai and went with him! He did not look happy about it that’s for sure, serves him right I say! ;-)
The clock tower in Chiang Rai
Some people with views a little similar to mine have been called travel snobs but that I’m certainly not, I just don’t really have a desire for Tiger Kingdoms, snake farms, crocodile wrestling, elephant trekking or river rafting or any other fake environments that are put together just for the best picture - although I was nearly swayed on the tigers, only because they’re cats! But animals in cages or in chains just doesn’t feel right to me.
Of course I’d love the best picture but my pics are ok, and I’d rather get the shots I do with a clear conscious than in any other way. We’re all tourists whenever we go anywhere away from home and that’s what I love but there’s ways of seeing and doing everything.
Anyway back to sorting out the trekking tour. There are four companies in Chiang Rai that seem to offer responsible travel. Two don’t have treks already booked so nothing for me to join. One is linked to the Hilltribe museum but spends 1 hour on a boat, 2 hours on an elephant and just an hour walking. The other company says they have a tour booked to visit the Lahu hill tribe and involves several hours walking a day and staying overnight with a Lahu family.
I’ve visited homestays before, I think in each place I’ve been and perhaps the most uncomfortable experience for me so far was the Longhouse tribe in Borneo and I really do not want to repeat that so am a little wary of this tour, but the several hours of trekking a day is selling it to me and in the end I went for it and booked up with them. They had no office in town so it was all arranged on the internet and by phone and they said I would be travelling with another woman and they’d pick me up at 8.30am tomorrow, sounds great!
Having finally sorted it out I treated myself to a green curry in the more expensive part of the night bazaar, I think all of about £1.50 for the entire meal and it was delicious.
As I was finishing my meal two (older) American woman sat down and were soon joined by another two and we began chatting. They had just spent the last 10 days visiting a hilltribe somewhere offering Christianity advice! I’m sure that wasn’t all they were doing but it did seem a large part of it. Sadly some hill tribes have lost all their original cultures and traditions to such experiences a long time ago and it seems a shame that these days we can’t just allow people to be themselves. They were telling me how filthy the children’s clothes and how they had nothing, no electricity or anything! I just ooed and aared in the right places and soon left them to it. As I was walking away though I thought to myself I feel a little like Louis Theroux, I’ve ‘interviewed’ two Canadians on the virtues of the Thai sex industry, one French guy on the downside of the sex industry and four American women on the virtues of instilling Christianity into others! It did make me smile, although a little sadly!
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