Old posts from my very first travel website and my first backpacking trip (a year in 2000-2001)!

We decided against Laos at the last minute after reading the travel adviosories stating that a group is rumored to be targeting tourists right in the area we were going to visit in the south, and that visiting Laos in general might put your life at risk. So we are happily in Northern Thailand and are going on a 3 day hill tribe trek instead.

The hill tribe trek was incredible! We had a really fun group, the hike was beautiful, and visiting the tribes was like being in a museum display.

The Akha tribe women wear headdresses with large silver beads and a silver board on the back of their head. They never take them off even to was their hair, and as part of their wedding ceremony the women have animal dung put on their head to symbolize how miserable their life will be from then on. We also got a great massage from the women for only $1.25. The next day we hiked and rode elephants for an hour or two to the Dara Ang village where we spent that night - we even got to sit on the elephant’s head and drive. We happened to be there on the night of a once yearly celebration where they stay up all night dancing, singing about when they came over from Burma 18 years ago, and playing music. They welcomed us to be a part of it and we had a wonderful time. Then the next day after more hiking, we took a bamboo raft down the river and then back to Chang Mai. We all went out to dinner that night after thoroughly enjoying a hot shower. The next day we pampered ourselves with a massage from the blind masseurs and a manicure and pedicure for me. We also went to one of the local Wats (temples) and chatted with a monk for a couple of hours. Today Steve is taking a Thai cooking course. Yum!