Mr. Horse the tuk-tuk driver proved indispensible to us: for a great price he transported us about Chiang Mai to a variety of handicraft outlets and galleries. With the breeze keeping midday heat at bay, he safely negotiated the sea of motorcycles, cars, other tuk-tuks, bhat buses – and pedestrians leaving us time to look about and appreciate the heartbeat of the city.
He soon understood what we were interested in: culture, nature and handicrafts. Soon he was making recommendations and, after a nanosecond of deliberation, we placed ourselves in Mr. Horse’s capable hands.
Off we scooted to Baan Tong Luang village. Think of Upper Canada Village – but where the traditionally costumed “animators” are authentic hill tribe peoples who live and work on the farm. This put what at first appeared to be a disappointingly over-the-top tourist venue into perspective. Politically, the hill tribe peoples have suffered from the hands of various oppressive regimes. In fact, they still do. Members of four tribes: Karen, Lahu Shi Bala, Palong and Hmong live here, marry, have children, work the fields, look after and work with their elephants, and make and sell traditional clothing and crafts.
Touristy? We spent 2 1/2 hours here photographing the tribal people, watching the women weave, playing with the children – and learning how to shoot coconuts with a traditional bow and arrow. (I thoroughly impressed the old gentleman who asked me to try to hit a small green coconut on a stump: I got two direct hits and got very close to it three times. Neither he nor Eric knew my parents used to call me “Annie Oakley” when I was young…)
I ended up purchasing several scarves from the Lanna long-necked (aka “giraffe”) women. In fact, it was a thrill to buy a brightly coloured one which was being woven before our eyes!
We later learned that had we taken a bus tour, we would only have had 45 minutes to experience this worthwhile village project.
