FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 2016 Day 9: Part 2
This is the same day as the elephants, but the post was getting a little lengthy, so this is part two of Day 9.
Long Neck Karen Village
For our two day, one night adventure, Tracy and I stayed at a village with a group of people called Long Neck Karen. They are actually people from Myanmar and fled to Thailand as war refugees in 1985. The Panda tour bought a piece of land to build an elephant camp. They gave a small piece of that land to the Long Neck Karen to build houses and such in exchange for letting tourists stay in one of the houses.
The Long Neck Karen have a special tradition. Some of the girls and women in the village sported large brass rings around their necks. You can see them wear these rings on their wrists and ankles as well. It is their belief that the rings make them look beautiful. I was told that it is somewhat painful, especially at the younger age. It’s not required for women to wear the rings. Nowadays, the girls can choose whether or not they would like to wear the rings. The weight of the rings push down on the collar bone which is what gives the women a “longer neck.”
I didn’t see many males in the village. They were probably out and working by the time I woke up. The women also make souvenirs in their spare time. They can earn a little money from selling souvenirs to tourists.
Bamboo Raft
Last part of the package! In the two-day, one-night package that we paid for, it also included a bamboo raft. After lunch, we all filed in the back of a truck and they drove us maybe 15 min to a river/stream. From there, we all got on a bamboo raft and the truck met us an hour later at the other end. The fact that a few pieces of bamboo could stay afloat with 10 adults on it is beyond me.
I loved the whole experience! It was so beautiful. I know I say that about everywhere I go, but it really was breathtaking. The water looked clear and it felt amazing to put my feet in the cool water. The raft ride was incredibly smooth and very peaceful. It was a great opportunity to just enjoy nature.
We passed houses, other elephant camps, and even got to see an elephant trainer give an elephant a bath in the river.
The truck picked us up and we resumed our route back to our hostel. I slept the whole way back, haha.
For dinner, we bought some pad thai from a food truck. YUM! And we took it with us to the flower festival. At the time, there was a beauty pageant going on. One girl would be crowned the “flower princess”? I’m not exactly sure what the title was, but they were doing all the beauty pageant like things: showing talents, answering questions, etc. The girls seemed to be from a university as the contestants were very diverse. The winner would be able to participate in the flower parade the next day.
|
| Late night snack (rotti) |
We walked around a little bit more and then went to bed.
Steps walked: 7,802
