After a twelve hour bus ride from Pattaya I arrived in Chiang Mai at seven o'clock the next morning. I left Pattaya at eight o'clock in the afternoon and traveled to Chiang Mai by the VIP bus,which is the best way to go when travelling long distances, especially at night. The seats recline 155 degrees, movies are playing until around ten o'clock, and just like on a plane there is a stewardess. She directs you to your seat, provides you with water and snacks and later brings you out your dinner. For dinner you get rice with your choice of pork or vegetables. I didn't get to pick considering no one spoke English. That was the worst thing about the bus station. When they made announcements on the intercom it was only in Thai and even if it was in English it wouldn't have helped me since my bus ticket was written in Thai. I just had to constantly keep going up to the counter and confirming with them. In the morning you receive breakfast which is a sandwich and almond milk.
The first day that I was in Chiang Mai I checked into the Riverside Hotel, booked the Long Neck Hill Tribe tour through them, walked to old town, and spent the night walking around the night bazaar. While walking around downtown I saw my second motorcycle accident. This one just happened to be a mother and son getting knocked over on the scooter when one of the tuk tuk's cut them off, but it was still scary to witness. I have to say if you are looking to do some budget travelling Thailand is the way to go. Everything is super cheap down here and it's an amazing place with such a rich culture. I have absolutely loved my time down here and will continue to enjoy it until the day I leave.
Both times that I have been in Chiang Mai I have stayed at the Riverside house. It's a very quaint place with standard rooms starting at 500 baht, which is $13 Canadian, and working their way up to 800. This price includes a free continental breakfast and the place even has a swimming pool. The staff are very friendly and the girls speak very good English. The Riverside House is perfectly located, being only a five minute walk from the night bazaar and fifteen minutes from old town.
The next day I went off on my hill tribe tour. I got picked up from my hotel late, and from there I spent about half an hour in the vehicle till we finally picked up a girl who came from the Netherlands. We talked for thirty minutes until we finally stopped again were I was instructed to go to another vehicle. I was excited about the tour but was greatly disappointed at the end of the day. I had gone into the day with an open mind considering the reviews that I had read about the tribes basically just being a tourist attraction. I kept picturing us driving up to a gate, and entering into almost a theme park like setting but I kept telling myself to embrace it no matter how the day went. I however am glad to say its rather not that touristy. After driving for an hour and a half we reached a small village called the Ahka tribe. Only then were we informed that they were not wearing their traditional clothing since school was out and it was too hot for the multiply layers that they wear. Then we went to another village, this time the Lisu tribe, where yet again they were not in their traditional outfits. Only when we drove through the town did we see a handful of people in their traditional clothes but since we were driving photo opportunities were limited.
At both the villages we were the only tourists since the company choses to work adjacent from other tourist companies. After that we travelled to the Chiang dao caves and had lunch at a local restaurant. I loved the caves and even though we only got to spend thirty minutes exploring them. I found that to be the highlight of my trip. After a delicious lunch we drove for about an hour and a half to the Karen long neck tribe. There was a bunch of shops set up with handmade souvenirs and all the girls sitting inside their shops. I have to admit I was absolutely ashamed to take photos and didn't take many because of it. I felt uneasy and so did everyone else in my group. We all just huddled in a circle nervously looking around and wondering what to do. I even felt so guilty about taking a photo of one girl I bought a souvenir as my way of making up for it. I also have to complain that the guide gave limited information and had a tendency to repeat himself a lot. I also found my group to be bland and boring. I however socialized with a father and daughter from Calgary but everyone else stayed to themselves.
It is believed that the Karen tribe wears rings around their neck since back in the day it would prevent a tiger from biting into their neck and killing them. It is also said to make them look more like a dragon by increasing the size of their necks. They also wear the rings since it is a cultural sign of beauty. They begin to place the rings around their neck at the age of five and add a new one every three years until they have reached fifteen rings. At this point they can either decide to continue increasing the rings of stay at the same number. If they choose to proceed past fifteen rings there is a smaller brass ring that is attacted so that the woman are able to move the rings around in order to sleep more comfortably. The women are allowed to take the rings off whenever they please. The rings increase the women's neck size by pushing down on the collar bone and compressing the rib cage. The brass collars cause the women to have bruised and discolored necks which is permanent even if the rings are removed for an extended period of time.
The next day I went off on my hill tribe tour. I got picked up from my hotel late, and from there I spent about half an hour in the vehicle till we finally picked up a girl who came from the Netherlands. We talked for thirty minutes until we finally stopped again were I was instructed to go to another vehicle. I was excited about the tour but was greatly disappointed at the end of the day. I had gone into the day with an open mind considering the reviews that I had read about the tribes basically just being a tourist attraction. I kept picturing us driving up to a gate, and entering into almost a theme park like setting but I kept telling myself to embrace it no matter how the day went. I however am glad to say its rather not that touristy. After driving for an hour and a half we reached a small village called the Ahka tribe. Only then were we informed that they were not wearing their traditional clothing since school was out and it was too hot for the multiply layers that they wear. Then we went to another village, this time the Lisu tribe, where yet again they were not in their traditional outfits. Only when we drove through the town did we see a handful of people in their traditional clothes but since we were driving photo opportunities were limited.
At both the villages we were the only tourists since the company choses to work adjacent from other tourist companies. After that we travelled to the Chiang dao caves and had lunch at a local restaurant. I loved the caves and even though we only got to spend thirty minutes exploring them. I found that to be the highlight of my trip. After a delicious lunch we drove for about an hour and a half to the Karen long neck tribe. There was a bunch of shops set up with handmade souvenirs and all the girls sitting inside their shops. I have to admit I was absolutely ashamed to take photos and didn't take many because of it. I felt uneasy and so did everyone else in my group. We all just huddled in a circle nervously looking around and wondering what to do. I even felt so guilty about taking a photo of one girl I bought a souvenir as my way of making up for it. I also have to complain that the guide gave limited information and had a tendency to repeat himself a lot. I also found my group to be bland and boring. I however socialized with a father and daughter from Calgary but everyone else stayed to themselves.
It is believed that the Karen tribe wears rings around their neck since back in the day it would prevent a tiger from biting into their neck and killing them. It is also said to make them look more like a dragon by increasing the size of their necks. They also wear the rings since it is a cultural sign of beauty. They begin to place the rings around their neck at the age of five and add a new one every three years until they have reached fifteen rings. At this point they can either decide to continue increasing the rings of stay at the same number. If they choose to proceed past fifteen rings there is a smaller brass ring that is attacted so that the woman are able to move the rings around in order to sleep more comfortably. The women are allowed to take the rings off whenever they please. The rings increase the women's neck size by pushing down on the collar bone and compressing the rib cage. The brass collars cause the women to have bruised and discolored necks which is permanent even if the rings are removed for an extended period of time.
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