Today we did the hill tribe tour and met women from the following tribes: Padaung, Akha, and Palong.
On the way to the first tribal area we stopped at the Orchid and butterfly farm, a beautiful place to observe flowers doing their thing.
The Padaung long neck women wear gold around their neck, weighing around 5kg (I can barely carry my backpack!), but after a few years of wearing them their neck muscles become too weak to support the head, so if they are ever removed they experience awful effects. In the past, women could only marry those in their own tribe. Today, they can marry anyone, but at the cost of leaving the tribe.
We also went to the Chiang Dao caves, and had a tour with just a lantern to see into the caves with. Natural formations of limestone and crystal provide an excellent photo opportunity underground:
It was a bit slippy and no one was wearing hard hats. On several occasions on this trip I have thought to myself “hmm this wouldn’t be allowed in England” but it’s Thailand and anything is possible. What made the trip a bit extra was seeing hundreds of bats flying around.
After some poached sea bass we headed over to Perception blind massage, where visually impaired therapists give the massages. It helps them into employment and clients benefit from their unique talent for therapy. Must admit, we both found the massage very painful, but in the best way possible – I think a tear came out of my eye as the 3 year old knots in my shoulder were being worked on.
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