My Trekking Days Are Over

After living in Isan (Northeastern Thailand) for over a year, my first trip to Northern Thailand led me to see some truly wonderful sights, and also some I'd rather forget. The capital of the former Lanna kingdom, Chiang Mai, is quite popular with tourists and is frequently used as a jumping-off point for Hilltribe trekking. Backpackers are often misled to believe they've experienced the real Thailand after completing one of these treks. If that's the real Thailand, I'm going home.

Wat Doi Suthep

In Chiang Mai, eager to see the beauty of the North, we flagged down a songthaew (a covered pickup truck with two rows of seats, used as a local bus). The driver told us there was a Hmong village near Wat Doi Suthep that was perfect for trekking. He also showed us some postcards of a mythically beautiful terraced garden full of Hmong girls in traditional costume. Naturally my curiosity was piqued. My traveling companion, Valerie, agreed that this could be interesting, and away we went. The two of us were alone in the songthaew except for two other Thai tourists from Bangkok.

The Hmong people are believed to have originated somewhere in Central Asia and fled persecution all the way to their present areas in Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and China. Their crime has been an unwillingness to be assimilated into other cultures as slaves or second-class citizens. Wanting only a homeland for themselves, they have settled in the most rugged terrain in order to be left alone. Originally these people had blond hair and blue eyes. Due to miscegenation with Asian peoples over the centuries, very few blond Hmong are left.

Hmong Girls

Northern Thailand is often covered in clouds. The absence of direct sunlight and the higher altitude keeps the temperatures nice and cool. When we reached the Hmong village of Doi Pui, it began to drizzle. Hmong children met us on arrival, beseeching us to purchase postcards and other trinkets. This was our first insight into the destructive power tourism can yield. After having to say “no” a half dozen times, we were left alone.

We continued through row after row of shops, selling the same dubious homemade textiles, garments and silverwork. Then we arrived at a local-style restaurant selling Khao Soi. Khao Soi is a Chinese-Islamic dish of coconut curry and rice noodles that I've heard people rave about since I came to Thailand. Strangely it's not available anywhere else in the Kingdom. I've asked my friends why no restaurants in Isan have it. “That's Northern food”, is their reply. That's a ridiculous answer as Isan food is widely available everywhere, but I digress.

Khao Soi

After the sumptuous Khao Soi, we walked to the end of the village path. There was a little man, as old as Methuselah, sitting at a gate blocking our entry. He was collecting admissions to the garden. 7 baht a person (about 18 US cents). We were thus far unimpressed with our visit and, in hoping to improve it, 7 baht wasn't a ridiculous price, so in we went.

The Terraced Garden courtesy of Valerie Villa

Our first glimpse of the garden called to mind the idyllic postcard of the Hmong girls that the songthaew driver lured us out here with. The tiered garden was covered in exotic flora and, behold, about halfway up was a man and woman in traditional Hmong clothing! “Look, the Hmong have dressed up for us!” I exclaimed. The astute Valerie gazed up and corrected me. “No they're not. Those are the other two Thais from our bus!” And sure enough, I recognized them too. They had evidently paid money to dress up in Hmong garb and prance around the garden, photographing each other.

Thais in Hmong Clothing

Valerie, disgusted at the hollowness of this village, moved on to photograph the nearby “natural” waterfall. Unfortunately she was unable to get a good shot of it without the blue PVC piping at the top and gave up.

In the meantime, an old Hmong man approached me and, in Thai, wanted me to go down the mountain to see his monkey. “Two bodies, one head”, he assured me. When I declined, he then offered to sell me some postcards. This was beginning to feel like someone's idea of a joke, worn quite thin. It was time to leave, we'd had enough.

On the way back to Chiang Mai, I began to think about the village I just encountered. How was my being there beneficial to the people who lived there? Did my presence alter it somehow for the worst? Am I contributing to the loss of self dependence of these people? I'd heard of the human “zoos” of Padaung (long-necked Karen) people, imported from Myanmar for tourism purposes, and feel this village is a bit similar in kitsch and altogether artificiality. It makes me think of my hometown in the States. Would I want busloads of tourists to walk down my street ogling and photographing my mom as she tried to do her gardening? It's disrespectful and irresponsible. My trekking days are over.

Padaung Girl

We at North by North East Tours are deeply committed to sustainable tourism – tourism which is mutually beneficial and respectful of the people and environment. We uphold these seven values in all of our tours:

- Minimize impact

- Build environmental and cultural awareness and respect

- Provide positive experiences for both visitors and hosts

- Provide direct financial benefits for conservation

- Provide financial benefits and empowerment for local people

- Raise sensitivity to host countries' political, environmental, and social climate

- Support international human rights and labor agreements

If you are looking to do some responsible traveling in Southeast Asia, please let us help.