To Hilltribe or Not

Karen (Kariang, Yang), Hmong (Meo), Yao (Mien), Akha (Ekaw), Lisu (Lisaw), and Lahu (Mussur).
These are the six main hill tribes originating from China, now living in countries like Burma, Laos, Vietnam, and Thailand. Nowhere are they more visible than in Thailand, particularly Northern Thailand. You're likely to encounter hill tribe merchants selling their wares in any major tourist night market throughout Thailand (If only they would sell something I was interested in purchasing).

In Thailand, for years we believed they were essentially exploited by the local people for personal profit. We heard stories of hill tribes confined in remote areas simply as a tourist attraction. This was especially true for the Karen Hill Tribe women with their unusual ringed neck ware.

So while in Chiang Rai, we booked a day trip up the the Golden Triangle, with "stops along the way". The day trip took all of ten hours winding it's way through gardens, the northernmost point of Thailand, Opium museums, temples, a boat trip across the Mekong into Laos, and of course, the Golden Triangle where the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma (Myanmar) come together.
On our way back to Chiang Rai, we were told our last stop was to visit the hill tribes. We didn't ask to see the hill tribes but we went along. Driven to a remote area just outside Chiang Rai we arrived at one of the local Hill Tribe encampments just as it was getting dark. The place was definitely set up for tourists but aside from our small group of seven there were none around.
This particular encampment housed four different hill tribes, the Akha, Hmong, Lisu, and Karen. The each had their own staging area where they would perform a customary dance. All except the Karen.

An Akha Hill Tribe merchant at the Chiang Rai Night Market. The Akha are probably the most visible with their unique head wear.

When visiting, you're encouraged to have your picture taken with the Hill Tribe women. A donation is encourage and give you should.

Karen girls begin the process of stretching their necks rather early in life. The rings are actually a solid brass coil and at adulthood could weigh up to three kilos.

We came away with mixed feelings visiting the Hill Tribes in these encampments. It's all a big show as many things are for the typical tourist. The encouraged donations certainly would benefit the people. If you bought something from them they would benefit as well. But how much of the ten dollar per person "visit" fee would go to them? And would they benefit if you didn't visit at all?

If you encounter Hill Tribe merchants, buy something from them if you can. Chances are you won't just run into Karen Hill Tribe women on the streets in Thailand though.

A visit will certainly educate you on these very interesting, gentle people.

More on Hill Tribes of Thailand:

* Wikipedia

* Hill Tribes of the North

* Virtual Hill Tribe Museum

What Goes Up

New Years Lanterns in Chiang Mai.

In recent years, sending lit lanterns into the skies, particularly at night, seem to be taking off to celebrate one thing or another.
Nowhere is it a bigger festival than New Years eve in Northern Thailand, and especially in Chiang Mai.
It's still pretty much an Asian phenomenon as it's meant to bring good fortune and luck to those sending up the lanterns.
We've spent New Years Eve four of the last nine years in Chiang Mai and every year it gets a little more festive.

When we first stumbled upon the lanterns being sent up into the skies, we couldn't help but wonder where they all ended-up. Visions of the countryside littered with spent lanterns immediately came to mind as we witnessed hundreds, perhaps thousands of lanterns filling the night skies.
It is an incredible sight though.

So this year, we decided to join the revelers and we each sent up a lantern.
The lanterns are made of bamboo frames wrapped with some sort of parchment paper. They're essentially hot air balloons. A waxy coil of paper is secured under the open end of the lantern and when lit, fills the lantern with hot air, propelling it skyward.

You wonder why the lanterns don't just burst into flames but for some reason they make their way up towards the sky without doing so. The most dangerous thing is the hot dripping wax falling on you as the lantern begins to ascend.



Surprisingly they don't burn up on re-entry. They seem pretty much intact as you find them littered throughout the city the next morning.

Australian Open

Nadal
On a roll and seems unstoppable, currently holding three of the four slam crowns.

Federer

A devastating loss in the final in a match he could and should have won.

Nadal certainly has his number and it's going to be tough for Roger to get Sampras'.

Serena Williams

What can you say? Serena can usually turn it on when the going gets tough and she certainly did this year. Admittedly women's tennis doesn't have a superstar at the moment with a host of mediorce players in the top 10.

Safina

Watching Safina play is pretty much like watching her brother play.

She has that female Russian serve, most going into the net.

She's also shed some pounds and does have a great game though. Hopefully she can get her head together and win the big ones. I'm certainly rooting for her.

Two weeks of Hot Hot tennis.

The Australian Open is our favorite tournament. This year marked our fifth year at the tournament in the last ten years. Australia is a great place for Americans to visit especially when it's winter back home. It's January and summer down under. Unfortunately this year the weather turned HOT. The hottest week on record with temperatures soaring towards the mid-forties (centigrade) for almost a week. The players didn't like it and the fans, especially those sitting in the sun, didn't like it.

Attendance the second week dropped off significantly during the day sessions. Many fans just didn't want to make the hot trip to the tournament just to sit in the heat. The massive heat wave had also buckled rail lines and brought transit systems to a standstill with massive power outages cutting electricity to twenty percent of the city.

It seemed tournament officials didn't know how to handle the heat. There is a heat rule in effect but it had been altered from years past. The roof over Rod Laver arena remained open when the mercury rose beyond comfort. Players complained more and began dropping like flies. On one of our day sessions the first two matches ended in retirements. Finally organizers decided to close the roof after Serena Williams had dropped the first set against Kusnetsova. Serena went on to win the match and Kusnetsova was rightfully upset since she felt the altered conditions favored Serena. Tournament officials had finally felt the heat, even from Rod Laver himself who questioned why the roof over the stadium named after him remained wide open in the stifling heat.

Night matches the first week on Margaret Court Arena. Always a great atmosphere and some exciting matches.

Rafa's fans. Always there and usually happy.

What makes the Australian Open fun are the crowds. Yes, the tennis is good but it's summertime down under and school is out.

There is much talk of moving the Australian Open to February or March. All the top players want it but there is much resistance from Tennis Australia. The main reason of course is money. School would be back in session in February and organizers feel it would cut into their take.

But the players do have a valid point. Mid-January for the first slam of the year leaves little time after the off season for them to prepare. Maybe the heatwave this year will spark a change of date for the tournament.

Chinese New Year Down Under

Chinese New Year is being celebrated around the world and we're celebrating this year in Melbourne, Australia. It falls on January 26 this year which just happens to be Australia Day (Australia's Fourth of July).

There's a healthy Chinese population here in Melbourne, perhaps even more than there is in Sydney, but probably just less diluted than in Sydney. In any case, the organizers didn't hold back on any of the celebrations as a full slate of activities and day of partying shut down most of the streets in and around Chinatown.

There were at least a half dozen Lion Dance troupes making their way through Chinatown helping the merchants beckon in the new year with prosperity and good luck. Many shopkeepers simply hung out some lettuce in their entryway and waited for the lions to show up.

What's a Chinese New Year parade without a dragon?

Where there are Lion Dancers there are usually firecrackers and they weren't shy about lighting them up. Many of the merchants had strings, twenty feet long, strung out waiting for the lions.

Welcome Year of the OX.

Yes, if you were born in 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, or 2009, you're an OX.

People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily. They have fierce tempers and although they speak little, when they do they are quite eloquent. Ox people are mentally and physically alert. Generally easy-going, they can be remarkably stubborn, and they hate to fail or be opposed. They are most compatible with Snake, Rooster, and Rat people.

Find out more about those born in OX years, and any other year for that matter by clicking OX

Melbourne time in the year of the OX:

Hot in Melbourne

It’s summertime down under here in Melbourne (pronounced Mel-Bin) Australia and we’re enjoying every minute of it. However it’s getting a bit too hot to be comfortable. The forecast is for the hottest week in over a hundred years with temperatures soaring into the 40+ range every day for the next week. Massive power outages from the extreme heat have cut power to over twenty percent of the city for the second straight day. Bushfires are flaring up all around the outskirts of the city and some rail traffic has been halted by tracks buckling under the heat.

We’ve been attending the Australian Open Tennis Tournament every day and for the most part it’s been very enjoyable.
There was great interest in the Obama (pronounced O-bom-mer) inauguration here with about 10 hours of live coverage of all the activities in Washington D.C. We watched some of it which began at 3 a.m. here. As with everywhere else, there’s great expectation with the new American president.

Australia Day was celebrated a few days ago with lots of fanfare, flag-waving and of course beer. Next to huge portions of food, especially breakfast, Australians love their beer. Come Friday, after work, restaurants and pubs overflow onto the streets with people enjoying beer, after beer, after beer. It’s a great way to unwind and cool off during these hot summer evenings but beer drinking among some youths in the inner cities is getting a bit out of control. In just the past few days, a small minority of drunken, flag-draped, youths gathering on beaches in the suburbs became unruly and created some pretty ugly scenes. Controversy has erupted on whether the flag should be allowed to be worn as a cape, as is popular among many youths at events ranging from national holidays to many sporting events. In some cases the drunken rabble rousers spewed racist hatred aimed at certain minority groups, all under cover of the flag. Again, it’s just a small minority that’s gotten a bit out of control. For the most part, Australians are warm and friendly and racism is much less evident than it is in the United States.
Melbourne is a great cosmopolitan city and a wonderful place to visit especially during the summer.

When You Go:

* Take the Sky Bus from the airport into town. It's $16 AUD per person, one way, but book a return for only $26 AUD.

* Don't miss the ChinaTown Dumpling Restaurant on Swanston St. Order Chili Oil Dumplings and Lamb wraps.

Melbourne time:

Walking Thailand

We walk. I follow Herman, ten steps behind, like a dutiful wife.
How to avoid going back? Get lost. It’s easy, let any street sign lead us astray. Refuse to recognize familiar landmarks. I make my mind a blank, and keep pace with the tall Chinese man in front of me, opening my eyes to the shapes and colors, my ears to the overpowering city sounds, my nose to the smells of the marketplace and street vendors’ cooking food. He directs our steps towards the most hostile point on the horizon, towards the end of vast, bustling avenues, bewilderingly crisscrossed by what seems a thousand alleyways. We walk on.
This is our routine. Day after day we walk, at times following a set path, other times simply wandering through side streets and back alleys. Reaching one limit of our knowledge of a city, we push on to the next, and the next, storing new information, new shapes, and smells, and textures.

With bowed heads, we seek shelter from the harsh midday sun in the cool interior of a temple. With bowed heads we sink to the floor before glittering alters of golden Buddhas. Even lost, there is always the familiar alters, the prostrating worshipers praying for an easier life, the chanting monks. We don’t pray, don’t want an easier life. We watch, examine each detail, then walk on to become lost again.
We only need to put our minds to it. What is unknown and hostile today will become known and appealing tomorrow. That is what I think I heard a monk say as we fled the cool interior of the temple for the harsh afternoon light. I believe it to be true. We persist, we walk on, we explore the unknown, so that it becomes familiar.

With bowed heads, we walk on. Herman walks, I follow. His strength is very great, his stamina greater, but his hunger surpasses all. He needs to explore, to know more. We walk to the point of exhaustion, to the edge of the city, eat a bowl of noodles from a street vendor, and begin to circle back. We achieve nothing. It is only the accumulation of knowledge and experiences. That is our greed, hording knowledge and experiences.

This is how we explore most places, but it is especially true in Thailand. Within this wonderful, predominately Buddhist country, we have explored a number of interesting destinations: Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, The Golden Triangle, the World Heritage sites at Sukhothai and Ayuthaya, Pattaya, and a smattering of islands in the south. Every destination we’ve experienced in Thailand offers a unique glimpse into a rich Buddhist tradition and an ancient culture, and the country’s distinctive natural and architectural beauty.

And the way to experience any place in Thailand is on foot. That is because of the rich and varied street life. Yes, there are many interesting and even glamorous sites to see, but the backstreets, local markets, and street vendors are not to be missed. They are the soul of this amazing culture. You can’t experience these wonderful street people from the back of a Tuk-Tuk while racing from one site to another. One must step slowly along the street restaurants, weave through the market place, and rub shoulders with the local people. You must smell the produce, haggle over the price of the fruit, and exchange a smile once a bargain is agreed upon, even when you know you’ve paid too much. And if you question the freshness of the fish, you risk having the fish pushed under your nose for a closer examination, for these proud vendors have no fear of foreigners.

The irony is, that Thailand is notoriously pedestrian unfriendly. There are seldom sidewalks at all, and if there are, they are jammed with wide metal boxes where the vendors display their goods and cook food. There are often large vats of scalding oil, cooking chicken or seafood, right in the middle of the sidewalk. The walkways are uneven, often having large holes that sink into the sewer. You have to watch your step at all times on Thai streets -- one eye on the shops and street vendors, one eye on the ground.


There is also the danger of walking along a street or crossing the street. Pedestrians do not have the right-away in most Asian countries. In Thailand, size counts for everything. Trucks and buses have the right-away over cars, cars have the right-away over motorcycles and tuk-tuks, and everything on the road has the right-away over pedestrians. It becomes a game of dodging through traffic to cross the street, and you had better be damned quick because these drivers won’t even slow down for you. Fortunately, unlike in Hong Kong, they won’t actually try to run you over.

Still, to experience this wonderful culture, one must brave the elements and do so on foot. You not only experience so much more, but you also get into the rhythms of this laid-back culture. And at the end of the day, there is the woman calling from the street, “Massa?” and you smile gratefully, because a foot and leg massage is exactly what you need most.

Be careful when you're speeding down the road. There may be a tree in your lane.