Click here for photos from Jack and Mary's Thailand trip Nov. 2002

Part IV: Burma border, Laos, farms, indigo dye, dancing shrimp and Elvis

November 28: Moving day as we head out at 8 a.m. going further north to the town of Chiang Rai and then on to Chiang Saen.  After a few hours we had a rest stop at an interesting open- air coffee shop/restaurant which is called Cabbages and Condoms - yes, you read that correctly!  http://www.sli.unimelb.edu.au/pda/ccrest.htm   

Mechai Viravaidya, who has held four cabinet positions and who was at one time Thailand's Minister of Health, is an ardent proponent of birth control.  He began a huge campaign encouraging people to use condoms both for birth control and health reasons.  In fact, condoms in Thailand are now known as mechais, named for this well-known politician.  He owns and operates this restaurant chain. There are numerous branches with the main restaurant in Bangkok.  You can buy condoms as easily as cappuccino.  This gentleman has also become active in the fight against the spread of AIDS.  He is Thailand's leading philanthropist and his nonprofit organization, the Population and Community Development Association (PDA) backs birth control, environmental conservation, rural development and AIDS.  His champion cause continues to be birth control and thanks in part to his effort, Thailand's birth rate has dropped below 1.5% per year. 

The road was curvy as we climbed and climbed.  Note had told us earlier that American style pie was the specialty of the house at the place where we were having lunch - The Charin Garden Resort Food and Bakery.  He was not wrong!  The Thai lady who owned the lovely outdoor restaurant traveled extensively when she was younger and had lived in Florida for a number of years.  There she learned to make pie.  There was a huge assortment in the cold case way out here in the forest!  Apple, pecan, pineapple, banana cream, chocolate cream, lemon cream, key lime, as well as several kinds of cheesecakes!  You never know what you will find around the next bend in the road when you travel!  That's what makes it so much fun!!

Reaching Chiang Rai about 2 p.m. we had a bathroom stop at a gas station.  It was here that we began to find eastern (squat-type) toilets rather than our familiar western (sit-down) style.  There is no comfortable way for a female in slacks to deal with these but having no other alternative we learned to use them.

Chiang Rai is the gateway to the area known as the “Golden Triangle,” where the borders of Burma, Laos and Thailand come together.  Thanks to the sheltering hills, navigable rivers, and fiercely independent tribal cultures, the region was once infamous as a center for renegades and drug smuggling.  There are many legends and stories about the opium warlords who once held sway here.

At one time local people did indeed turn to the cultivation of opium for survival - including several bands of Chinese nationalist followers of Chiang Kai Shek, who have been living in the area since the Revolution.  But times have changed.  The government has established many programs to introduce more viable crops, and most of the people are law-abiding farmers.  Tourism has become a more profitable and safe alternative than drug smuggling.  The local people are more concerned about preserving their old traditions.  And life in the Golden Triangle is much more peaceful than in the old days.

We transferred to the back of small pickup trucks to head up into the hills to visit two ethnic tribes.  These little pickups were covered but have open-air sides.  An uncomfortable wooden or metal bench, which held four people ran along each side.  We had seen these vehicles crammed with up to 20 people.  It was very spacious for the eight of us who climbed in; however, once we hit the dirt tracks that led into the mountains where the tribes lived, it was extremely dusty!  I tied my bandana across my face, wild west style, in order to cut down on the dust that was getting into my mouth and lungs.  Even though we were picking up tremendous amounts of dust, it was great fun to bump along in this vehicle for a bit.  

More than 20 distinct, semi-nomadic tribes inhabit northern Thailand and the borderlands of Burma and Laos. Some have obscure origins, most have their own language, and all have unique customs.

The first tribe we visited, the Ekaw, appeared very poor.  Most of the adults were away from the village helping with the rice harvest in order to bring some hard cash to the tribal coffers.  The school teacher and the children were there along with a few elders and all the animals.  The teacher cradled a cat in her arms as she had the children recite for us in their language.  The school was an open air hut with dirt floor.  There were wall charts and some books.  After school let out, it became apparent that each child had a pet of some kind: a cat or dog or bird or little piglet to hang onto. 

The second tribe, the Yao people, seemed better off.  They were nearer the main road and very much into commerce.  They had little stalls for selling items in front of their homes in the village.  One lady was weaving silk shawls and scarves while her daughter handled sales.  Several ladies were selling the type of hats they wore.  In fact, I ended up with a shawl and two different hats from tribal ladies. 

The Chiang Saen River Hill Hotel was small and less elaborate than the others we stayed in; however, it was quite adequate.  The village was full of roosters who began their wake-up calls about 3:30 a.m. long before the sun began to come up!

November 29: Departing our hotel around 8:30 a.m. we headed to the town of Mae Sai which is on the Sai River.  Just across the river at that point, is the Burmese village of Tachilek in the Shan state.  Our base in Mae Sai was the Wong Thong Hotel lobby and restaurant.  The town was crammed with shops.  Note gave us 45 minutes to stroll around and ward off vendors while he took all our passports and went to deal with the paperwork to get us across the border.  We walked single file with him in the lead through the Thai and Burma checkpoints, crossing the border by bridge.  Once we were on the Burma side each of us was assigned to a bicycle rickshaw driver.  With Note and his driver (pedaler?) in the lead we threaded our way through the village, stopping to visit several sites, including a Shan temple. 

One settlement we visited was very primitive.  The women were drawing water from a well, washing their clothes and their hair.  Their looms were set up in the open-air homes, and some were roasting peanuts in the shell.  The smell was delectable.  We also visited a very simple Buddhist temple, not at all ornate like the others we have seen.  It was very interesting in that it had the 10 steps of Buddha's life, from birth to death, painted on the walls. It reminded me of the stations of the cross in Catholic churches. 

 Our last stop in the village was the shopping area.  There were stalls and then there were vendors who carried their wares and approached you in the street.  They were the most persistent that we encountered during the entire trip.  They were mostly selling cigarettes and gadgets of all sorts and they would not stay out of your face.  Even more annoying were a number of small children who had been taught to bother the tourists.  They got so bothersome that Note took them to task verbally and some of them backed off, but not all.  This was the first adverse experience we'd had with vendors or children, but I suppose that their way of life is a bit more desperate than that of the Thai people.

We came back across the border (river) to the aforementioned hotel for a buffet lunch and then 30 more minutes of shopping before boarding the bus to head to the Mekong River on the Thai side.  Before we left Bangkok, Note told us he would try to find time and a boat that would take us across the river to Laos, if some of us wanted to go.  Of course, we all did.  Who would turn down another chance to ride in a boat or a chance to say we had also been to Laos.  This was not included in the itinerary so he worked out a price with the boat owner; we each paid our share and we were off.  It was a super boat ride.  We could see Thailand, Burma and Laos from a vantage point along the river.  When we got to the shore that was Laos, there was a little settlement.  The people are enterprising so there were the vendors stalls but these were extremely laid back sales people compared to what we had experienced in Burma that morning!  It was just nice to settle down with a cold can of Coke and watch the ebb and flow of life in the settlement.

As we came back to the village on the Thai side we stopped to watch a boat from China unloading boxes of Fugi apples.  There were numerous workers who loaded themselves with three boxes of apples down on the boat.  Then they had to climb a very long flight of stairs to reach the truck where the boxes were stacked for transport.  As we watched we noticed that each worker carried a special bamboo stick on each trip.  When they reached the top of the stairs, they dropped the stick in a box.  Note told us that each worker's sticks were distinctive unto that worker.  After the boat was completely unloaded, the sticks were taken from the box and in this manner it was determined how many trips each worker had made and this is how they were paid.

Jim and I had a chance to walk around the village late that afternoon.  There is an ancient city wall that surrounded and protected the area at one time.  The local people were building their fires for the night as they cooked and heated with wood.

Interestingly enough dinner tonight was billed as continental and we had to declare our choice of chicken, pork or fish a few hours before the meal was to be served.  We chose chicken and it was good.  Before mealtime there was a demonstration of making bean-curd marzipan fruits and vegetables.  After we watched the local ladies, one of the men who spoke a bit of English, guided us through the process.  It was quite interesting and fun.  

November 30: Time to move on and we stopped to see the ruins of an ancient temple as we were leaving Chiang Saen this morning.  It is being restored but the work only progresses when they accumulate a bit of money so it will take a long time. 

Nearby on the street a family was preparing a delicacy to be sold to passersby.  It is known as kaolam and consists of sticky rice, black beans and coconut milk.  But it is the preparation of this dish that is most interesting.  Lengths of bamboo are filled with the rice and bean mixture, then coconut milk is poured in to fill the tube.  A bit of coconut husk is stuffed into the top of the bamboo to close the tube.  A wood fire had been build on a piece of sheet metal sitting on legs with a framework of bent tubing over the fire.  The lengths of bamboo were rested against the frame and cooked until the outside turned black.  The blackened outside was scraped off leaving the beige-colored bamboo holding the cooked rice and beans.  Note negotiated for several cooked lengths of bamboo and we boarded the bus.  After we got under way he showed us how to  peel back the remaining bamboo and use our fingers to take out a bit of the warm rice and beans.  The coconut milk had done its work and the treat was delicious! 

Later that morning we came upon a Buddhist temple under construction.  Quite different to any of the others we had seen, this temple is totally white in color and decorated with small pieces of mirrored glass.  With all its mythical characters and curlicues it looked like a giant wedding cake.  It is known as Wat Rong Khun.

As it neared lunch time, Note told us that we would be stopping in Phayo for lunch and that he would prepare the appetizer which is called dancing shrimp.  When we arrived he led us to a corner open-air shop that was very modern and clean.  A lady was there with all the ingredients that he needed: cut limes, chopped cilantro, chopped green onion, red chilies, rice flour, salt and a plastic tub of very-much-alive tiny brine shrimp.  Note measured the ingredients into a large bowl asking us how spicy we wanted our appetizer.  Then a very fine net was used to catch the live shrimp.  Water was squeezed out and the shrimp were dumped into the bowl.  Note quickly stirred them into the mixture as they were jumping around.  The lime juice served to “cook” some of them the way it does in seviche, but some of the shrimp were still hopping off the spoons when we got ready to taste them!  It was great fun, but a bit salty and it felt rather strange with the shrimp dancing in your mouth!  Along that street there were a number of food vendors grilling fish, chicken and squid.  Some had dried fish and squid for sale as well.  This town was build around a reservoir and our restaurant looked out on the water.  Very pleasant.

After lunch we set out toward Phrae where we would spend the night.  Our drive took us  through hilly areas as well as flat areas where rice was being harvested.  In this region tobacco is grown as a second crop after the rice is harvested.  We also saw corn, beans, squash and other vegetables being grown as second crops.  Mid-afternoon found us stopping for fuel, bathroom and ice-cream.  Every place we stopped for fuel had a mini-mart and sometimes local food vendors as well.

Our special visit today was to a family that ran a cottage industry involving indigo.  The plant is grown in this area of the country.  This industry begins with the making of the dye and the making of the items to be dyed.  Natural colored cotton was made into shirts, pants and jackets on treadle sewing machines.  The indigo plant was crushed and mixed with ashes to produce the dye which was stored in large earthenware jars.  The garments were dipped by hand into the liquid which interestingly enough was green in color rather than blue.  Then the garment was laid out to dry.  The reaction of air hitting the dye turned the garment blue.  Repeated dipping made the fabric darker.  The intense blue-black color was achieved by dipping seven times; however, I favored the items that were dipped only once.  After the final dip the articles were allowed to dry for several days and then washed in cold salt water to set the dye.  All of this took place on the bottom level of the home which was floored with packed dirt.  

We were invited upstairs where the sewing machines were located in what was also the family's living quarters.  We were offered bananas which were delicious.  Someone in our group asked if they had indigo garments for sale.  Surprise!  In the adjoining room was a piece of teak furniture filled with niches.  Each niche held different style garments.  They were very reasonably priced and many of us purchased items.  Note told us later that since it was Friday we should wear our new garments to dinner (or something blue, if we had not purchased anything new) because in this area on Fridays everyone wears blue in support of this cottage industry.  The restaurant was a sea of blue that evening!

Before reaching the Nakorn Phrae Hotel (http://www.sawadee.com/thai/nakornphrae/details), we stopped at a temple built in the Burmese style.  A body was lying in state and the relatives were insistent that we come and look at the decorations.  The casket was closed, decorated with twinkling lights and mounds of paper flowers as well as real ones.  Offerings of food and other items were all around the casket and there was a picture of the deceased on an easel nearby.  The mourners were not mourning in the way we expected.  They were laughing and talking loudly which was a bit jarring to us but Note said that if this person had been a good Buddhist he would be reborn to a better life and that the mourners were celebrating the better life to come.  After a certain number of days, the body will be cremated and the majority of his ashes will be scattered on a nearby river.  Some of the ashes may be kept in an urn in the home for several years.  He said that the Chinese Buddhists bury their dead but that the Thai Buddhists practice cremation. 

Decked out in our blue finery we had another super meal ending with ice-cream with salty corn sauce.  Corn is often found in desserts!  There was a musical combo playing during dinner which was very pleasant.  As dessert was brought out, we noticed that Note was no longer at the table but it didn't disturb us because he often went to the kitchen to get something much hotter and spicier to eat.  All of a sudden, someone was singing “I Can't Help Falling in Love with You” and that someone was none other than our guide, Note!  After our wild applause, he continued with “Please Release Me” and then “It's Now or Never.”  He has a very good, mid-range tenor voice, just right for these songs.  He returned to the table to great praise and acclaim, which probably embarrassed him a bit because he is very modest and self-effacing.  As it turns out, Elvis is very popular in Thailand and many people sing his songs.

(Click thumbnails for larger versions)

The politician who owns this open-air cafe is Thailand's most famous proponent of birth control.

The children of Ekaw were in the open-air school while the adults harvested rice. They are members of one of the 20 semi-nomadic tribes of northern Thailand.

This woman of another tribe is weaving silk scarves and shawls.

This local delicacy of sticky rice, black beans and coconut milk is known as kaolam. and consists of sticky rice, black beans and coconut milk and is cooked in lengths of bamboo.

• Part V: Thailand's birth place, full moon festival, the River Kwai, the king's birthday, and farewell
• Back to Part III: A massage, a blessing, home life and temples
• Contact Ruth Marie