Tribasia Blog

After trekking hundreds and hundreds of miles (or km), greeting thousands of smiley faces and a few grumpy ones, travelling through many different landscapes -from the turquoise seas to snow-capped mountains, discovering fascinating cultures, living in indigenous villages and sleeping in too many kinds of beds to remember -without having slept around, we have come to the end of these Asian adventures.
For every end, there is a new beginning. We might have gone quiet in the last few months and might remain so until summer but it does not mean that our tribal adventures end here. Indeed, they are just starting.
We are actively seeking ways to share our experience with you in 2010 or early 2011 in London, and possibly around Europe.

Keep in touch via our Contact page and let us know if you have any suggestions on how we can best share our 'tribal experiences', not only via the website, but also in real-life venues in London and around Europe.
We look forward to hearing from you!

Labels: Asia, contact, discovering, indigenous, Trekking, tribal

We are coming to the end of our Asian travels. We are closing it off by a country in which we have met in the past wonderful people: Myanmar.
Despite its difficult past and present situations, we hope to be able to meet different ethnic minorities and better understand their day-to-day life.
As internet is not widely available -and barely tolerated- in Myanmar, we will not be able to post during our stay.

We would like to thank you for following us up. The Tribasia blog will not end with this trip and we hope to see you again on our site. In the meantime, take care!

Labels: Myanmar

Being out on the streets of a European city at predawn can feel spooky or at best weird. In northern Thai cities, as in many other parts of South-East Asia, it is, on the contrary, a soothing experience.
Monks in saffron robes wander the streets barefoot, in search of alms, only breaking the morning silence with grateful chanting to their charitable donors. Markets are already bustling with traders. Older people deprived of sleep enjoy the fresher air for a walkabout.
When the sun finally rose on the city in which we had just arrived on an overnight bus from Chiang Mai, we felt re-energized.

We have since been enjoying the beautiful landscapes of northeastern Thailand and trying to grasp its complex ethnic blend, with its many former or actual refugees from Myanmar and, to a lesser extent, Southern China. The Karen minority was at the centre of a human rights uproar many years ago as there again, many Karens were parked in 'villages' for tours to come and visit them, along the Thai buffer zone with Myanmar.

We discussed with a young White Karen woman who has been living in the Thai buffer zone - a refugee area sheltering at least 20,000 Burmese. She mentioned that she had applied for asylum in the U.S. but as in many others in her situation, she has had to wait and hope that her case would be heard. In the meantime, she was earning some money by selling refreshments and handicrafts.

We felt very free on that occasion. Sometimes we tend to forget how much freedom is precious. :))

Labels: Chiang mai, Karen, monks, Norheastern Thailand

(picture by Jurvetson)
We went walking along the long ugly paved road full of fast cars leading out of Chiang Rai, northern Thailand. The advantage of walking on a road full of traffic is that you can always count on finding a fresh bottle of water every couple of kilometres if you need to. That's about the only advantage.

The fact that our walk was not as scenic as the past ones was a warning sign of what we were going to witness later that day. A dozen kilometres away from Chiang Rai, we noted a signboard with 'Long Necks' and 'Akha Villages' plastered on it, which seemed weird as ethnic villages are not usually advertised on the road side.

We walked to 'the villages' in question. A poster by a wooden gate was boasting the place's trumps: '5 groups in one village'. We were by then very suspicious of the real nature of this so-called village: although minorities mix in modern urban Thailand, small villages remain pretty much ethnically segregated.

When we checked out more closely the hill tribes in question (Long-Neck Karen, Padong, Lahu, Akha and Yao-Mien) and witnessed a few tour groups pouring in with their guides and the entry fees (which we did NOT pay), we had no doubt about the real nature of this place: a refugee theme park!

We discussed this matter with a T.A.T. representative (Tourism Authority of Thailand), he mentionned that some refugees were initially relocated from the Mae Song area (border area with Myanmar, also close to China) but the Thai government later withdrew its support towards the project (most likely following complaints from Human Rights groups and sickened travellers). He added that the T.A.T. was now powerless in closing down the place as the lobbying of the tourism industry (read tour operators and travel agencies) was too strong. Basically, too much money is made on the back of these people for the authorities to backtrack...

Therefore, it's time for us to appeal to all of you out there who think of ever going to a refugee theme park (there are a couple more in the area), dont'! If you really want to go to one, triple check where your money is going as most likely you will contribute towards the rich becoming richer and the refugees becoming more trapped in their golden 'village' cage.

Tomorrow, we are off our feet and back on the bike to visit some real villages.

Labels: Chiang Rai, refugees, Thailand, theme park, Tourism Authority of Thailand

We spent the rest of our stay in Laos in the western part of the country.
Time and time again, we used our legs as tools of mass discovery by trekking through hilly rural sceneries. Dirt roads, jungle trails and field paths often lead to hidden treasures of ethnic life and nature. We thus killed two birds in one stone by keeping fit and being eco-friendly. :))

We came across new groups such as the Lahu Musur but also refugees such as Hmong people. The Musur (also called Muser) appear extremely shy but good-natured while the Hmong seem secretive and proud. Both groups live at higher altitude.
The Laho's appearance (physical features and traditional dress) reminded us of some ethnic groups in southern China, which can be easily explained by the fact that they initially migrated from this part of the world.
We also met again various sub-groups of Akha and Thai people as well as Hor.

On our last day, we ditched walking for hitchhiking to make it on time to cross the border. We found ourselves at the back of an open-roof van tucked between bags and veggies. We enjoyed a 360-degree view of mountainous landscapes while going up a winding road and being driven through sharp turns. Many of those... but nothing better than some fresh air to prevent road sickness ;0)

As our visas expire today, we've had to cross over to Thailand and leave Laos behind. We would really have loved to extend our stay there but we have to prepare for our next destination in the coming days.

More on the forthcoming entry ;0)

Labels: Black Hmong, ethnic diversity, Lahu Musur, Laos, Trekking