muang sing

from luang nam tha, we took a two hour bus north to the small, dusty town of muang sing (pop 29,300). only about 15km from the chinese border, the area serves as a trade center for the local hill tribe groups of thai dam, akha, hmong, mien, and yunnanese. the main market in muang sing was once the biggest opium market in the golden triangle. a local tribal lady selling scarves and purses did try to sell us opium one morning while we were having breakfast, which is about the closest we came to an "opium market". our primary reason for visiting muang sing was to experience more of the ethnic hilltribe culture in he area. we did exactly that by going on another one day guided trek to the surrounding ethnic villages. this time the terrain wasn't nearly as mountainous and the trek was truly "easy" as described by the tourism office - thank god! only one river crossing and one "real" mountain to conquer made for a great experience as we visited (5) of the local ethnic villages. we had a fantastic guide, ket kau, that was enthusiastic, knowledgeable, and fun. it was a cold day, so fires (for warmth) were burning throughout all of the villages. warming our hands by the fire gave us good, up close interactions with the locals - and our guide taught us a lot about the different tribes and their cultures.

the hmong - this group lives at some of the highest points in the mountains. they are known for their knowledge of forest, natural medicines, and expertise at raising animals. they are also very industrious and trade a variety of forest products and agricultural goods. they wear traditional dress with intricate embroidery and heavy silver jewelry.

the akha - a tibetan-burmese speaking ethnic group that have an amazing knowledge of the forest and rotation agriculture. they also live at high elevations in the mountains and are expert hunters and also grow sugar cane and rubber plants. the akha women wear distinctive costumes of black mini skirts with decorative jackets and an ornate headdresses.

the tai lu - originally from southern china, they are known for their beautiful stilted houses with long sloping roofs. they sell their traditional head scarves and blouses at markets. tai lu are buddhist and every village has a buddhist temple and monks. our guide, ket kau, is tai lu.

although the weather was cold and the conditions were rather primitive, we thoroughly enjoyed the week we spent in northern laos. we got the exact experiences we were hoping for and will always remember the hill tribe ethnic groups of laos.

alina