Hill Tribes and Elephant Rides...

This past weekend was unbelievable. Pi Ti-- one of our partners-- was taking us to a Lahu tribe up what I call a mountain, but what everyone from Utah tells me is a hill. On the way, we stopped in a Karen village where he showed us attempts at sustainability. Many of the attempts failed because the volunteers and organizations did not communicate or work with the villagers. The lack of unity in their efforts has led to a failure of utility, which could have easily been avoided.

Pi Ti’s truck drove up the side of a hill to the Lahu tribe. The road was quite treacherous; I had the plausible idea that we were the first four wheeled vehicle to ever take that trip. However, as Ralph Waldo Emerson advised us: "do not follow where the path may lead. Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." Once we arrived at the village, it was as if we were entering into a new world.

There were animals absolutely everywhere: dogs, pigs, cows, chickens, roosters, cats, goats and all kinds of bugs. I originally thought it was difficult being in Thailand where I know a limited number of phrases; I know NO phrases in Lahu and that was quite hard. We spoke with some of the villagers through hand motions and simple Thai phrases. They seemed very happy with their life there. I wandered by myself for a while and as JRR Tolkien said “not all those who wander are lost.” I found this gorgeous viewpoint of the mountains (hills) and stood in awe for a half hour.

We had dinner with the village elder and we played Crazy 8s with him. Soon after this, he invited Matt, Nate and I into his hut to watch the World Cup. We were taken completely off guard. The village had recently acquired running water and we had not seen any signs of electricity, but there we were—watching Ghana v. Australia. That night the animals kept me up all night and I learned a valuable lesson: I should not work/ live on a farm.

The next morning I “woke up” relatively early and noticed something on the side of the village elder’s hut. It was a poster with a woman’s face on it and some writing. Through Pi Ti, I discovered that there were recent elections and the village elder’s preferential candidate had a great amount of sway in voting. From my campaigning days I learned it, but I didn’t think it would follow me here; the world is in love with yard signs.

Garrett and I climbed on our elephant—Nuang Li, who we believe was recovering from a cold. My right leg was damp from elephant snot by the end of the journey. It was incredible that the elephants were taking us down a mountain (hill) as we soaked in the great view. Once it was time to get off the elephant, he wouldn’t let me go. He let Garrett and the trainer jump down, but he loved me so much he was unwilling to crouch down to let me dismount. After much effort from the trainers, I had to jump on another elephant’s back to finally get down.

We walked around the corner to the beautiful Kuang Pow waterfall where we swam and I jumped off rocks into the water below. It was exhilarating. We drove the rest of the way in Pi Ti’s truck to the Akha clinic where we helped put on the roof. It’s fascinating how they use bamboo and grass to make an entire structure. I am so glad that I am being presented with these opportunities to learn about and participate in different cultural activities. As Ken Keyes once said “everyone and everything around you is your teacher.” Through these experiences, I’m trying to live the world with that understanding.