Just when we thought our 9 day Northern Thailand hill tribe adventure couldn't get any better, we ventured into the mystical world of the Kayan Lahwi Longneck Hill Tribe. It was an amazing experience and we felt as if we were in a National Geographic magazine.
In order to reach the Longneck hill tribe's Huay Pu Keng village, we had a very long drive to the Pai River's edge.
Pat, our guide, arranged for us to have a fisherman take us on his boat to the village.
Our boat was long and quite narrow. Its bow was a good 4 feet off the water.
As we donned our lifejackets, they pulled the boat closer to shore. We hopped aboard.
Our boat was long and quite narrow. Its bow was a good 4 feet off the water.
As we donned our lifejackets, they pulled the boat closer to shore. We hopped aboard.
For balance, Pat, Jeff and I sat on the threadbare green rug in the middle of this long, slender boat.
The only other passenger was the fisherman's relative who was perched on the elevated bow of the boat.
The fisherman powered his narrow boat with a huge motor. The motor was from either a tractor or a car.
The only other passenger was the fisherman's relative who was perched on the elevated bow of the boat.
The fisherman powered his narrow boat with a huge motor. The motor was from either a tractor or a car.
Attached to this high powered motor was a propeller that looked like a weed eater on steroids.
Perhaps you can see, at the bottom of the photo below, the long propeller that is sticking out from the motor mounted on the back of the boat.
The sound of the massive motor was deafening. We held on for we were literally flying upstream.
The fisherman's relative, who was precariously perched on the bow of the boat,
The fisherman's relative, who was precariously perched on the bow of the boat,
would periodically point to the right or left as a means of "telling" the fisherman where the rocks were in the river. After a memorable 45-minute boat ride, we arrived at the Longneck hill tribe's Huay Pu Keng village.
As had been our experience in other hill tribe villages, the Longneck village had a peaceful, relaxed sense of calm.
Soon we saw a lovely woman sitting on a bench, strumming her handmade wooden instrument which resembled an antiquated guitar. As we approached, we heard her softly singing.
She stopped singing and motioned for me to come over and sit beside her. Then she serenaded us with many beautiful songs. It was irrelevant that we didn't know Thai nor that she didn't know the English language. Her beautiful melodic words transcended the language barrier.
As had been our experience in other hill tribe villages, the Longneck village had a peaceful, relaxed sense of calm.
Soon we saw a lovely woman sitting on a bench, strumming her handmade wooden instrument which resembled an antiquated guitar. As we approached, we heard her softly singing.
She stopped singing and motioned for me to come over and sit beside her. Then she serenaded us with many beautiful songs. It was irrelevant that we didn't know Thai nor that she didn't know the English language. Her beautiful melodic words transcended the language barrier.
We soon realized that Longneck women wear heavy brass rings not only around their neck but on their forearms and shins as well.
Pat knew of a Longneck woman who spoke English and was able to locate her. I think she appreciated our genuine interest in the culture of the Longneck hill tribe for she gave us an extensive, in-depth personal guided tour of the village and of areas tourists normally do not see.
We were also fascinated by the history of the rings wrapped around the Longneck women's necks. I had mistakenly always thought that the rings push the neck up, but I was wrong. These rings actually push the collarbone and shoulders down giving the appearance of the neck being pushed upward. The coils that can weigh as much as 25 lbs compress the shoulders, chest, and ribcage. This creates the illusion of a disembodied head hovering over a shimmering pedestal of gold rings.
We learned that the neck rings are actually one long piece of brass coil that is wrapped around the neck. As one gets older and requires more rings, that piece of coiled metal is removed and then a longer brass coil is wrapped around the neck to add more rings. Since the coils do not lengthen the neck, the coils can be removed without breaking the woman's neck. However, the neck muscles are so weakened and atrophied that the neck needs to be firmly supported and held in place when the new, longer brass coil is added.
Longneck women wear these coiled rings throughout their life. Starting at ages 4 or 5, a coil is added annually until the child acclimates to the increased weight.
With very few exceptions, the coils are never taken off. They are worn year round, even when sleeping!
These rings on the neck, wrists, and knees of the long neck women now are considered a traditional mark of beauty. It is believed that long ago these rings were worn to protect women from tigers.
Through our time together, we learned quite a bit about the Longneck hill tribe.
The Longneck tribe members fled from religious discrimination, political oppression and civil unrest in Myanmar (formally Burma) to the safety of Thailand. While fleeing for their lives and crossing the border to the safety of Thailand was obviously the right choice, it created an economic problem for the Longneck Kayan hill tribe. In the eyes of the Thai government, they are illegal immigrants. Consequently, the Longneck's opportunity for gaining Thai citizenship is extremely limited to none.
The Longneck tribe members fled from religious discrimination, political oppression and civil unrest in Myanmar (formally Burma) to the safety of Thailand. While fleeing for their lives and crossing the border to the safety of Thailand was obviously the right choice, it created an economic problem for the Longneck Kayan hill tribe. In the eyes of the Thai government, they are illegal immigrants. Consequently, the Longneck's opportunity for gaining Thai citizenship is extremely limited to none.
We learned that the neck rings are actually one long piece of brass coil that is wrapped around the neck. As one gets older and requires more rings, that piece of coiled metal is removed and then a longer brass coil is wrapped around the neck to add more rings. Since the coils do not lengthen the neck, the coils can be removed without breaking the woman's neck. However, the neck muscles are so weakened and atrophied that the neck needs to be firmly supported and held in place when the new, longer brass coil is added.
Longneck women wear these coiled rings throughout their life. Starting at ages 4 or 5, a coil is added annually until the child acclimates to the increased weight.
With very few exceptions, the coils are never taken off. They are worn year round, even when sleeping!
These rings on the neck, wrists, and knees of the long neck women now are considered a traditional mark of beauty. It is believed that long ago these rings were worn to protect women from tigers.
The Longnecks live a rugged, tedious and simple lifestyle. While the men tend to be away farming in the fields, the women remain at home to weave and produce beautiful, colorful items.
While the majority of the men tend to be away farming in the fields for corn and kidney beans, some men have as their job to go into the hills each day and collect basket after basketful of huge fig leaves.
Our guide took us into the hills and one such fig gatherer passed us.
Our guide took us into the hills and one such fig gatherer passed us.
This gentleman has delivered his basket full of fig leaves and is heading back up the narrow, winding mountain trail to collect more fig leaves.
The morning fig leaves are more pliable for "threading". They dry out during the course of the day and become more fragile for weaving.
Our guide took us to the Kayaw hill tribe known as "Big Ears". We saw a Big Ear woman working on threading the fig leaves together.
Here are long strips of bamboo which have been stripped by hand.
This lovely Long Ear woman was busily inserting long strips of bamboo through the fig leaves.
On her right is a pile of the large fig leaves which have been woven into strips.
As she weaves the fig leaves together, she is creating the equivalent of shingles for the roof of houses.
Our guide took us to the Kayaw hill tribe known as "Big Ears". We saw a Big Ear woman working on threading the fig leaves together.
This lovely Long Ear woman was busily inserting long strips of bamboo through the fig leaves.
On her right is a pile of the large fig leaves which have been woven into strips.
As she weaves the fig leaves together, she is creating the equivalent of shingles for the roof of houses.
Here is the finished product you can see as the underside of the roof.
Here she is weaving the fig leaves together to form a row.
While living in close proximity to one another, the Longnecks and Big Ears hill tribes each have their own area of adornment. Just as the Longneck girls can start wearing neck rings at the age of five, so too the Big Ears start the young girls with holes and rings in their ears at age 5. The height of beauty is for their ear lobes to have a huge hole and adornment in the lobe.
Above is a close up of her ear "ring". It was quite large.
It is almost hard to believe in the photo above that the "ear rings" shown are in her ear lobe!
Back at the Longneck village, we had the honor of being invited into this woman's home.
While she was very dear to have the three of us in a photo,
it's plain to see that she MUCH preferred to be in the photo alone with Jeff.
While she was very dear to have the three of us in a photo,
it's plain to see that she MUCH preferred to be in the photo alone with Jeff.
The Longneck tribe women wear their neck rings with traditional pride.
It was an amazing day and all too soon it was time to go. We said our warm good-byes and headed to the riverbank. Our fisherman and his relative helped us board his boat.
The sun was setting as we motored our way downstream back towards civilization. Our time with the Longneck and Big Ear hill tribes is a day we'll never forget.
