Hike to Huay Nam

Hikes through Mae Hong Son

Our first hike us took us through small streams and a few shallow rivers. In all we had about 30 “river crossings.” It was a beautiful hike. Shaded and peaceful. Some of the hike was pretty technical. I remember at one point I was practically rock climbing as I shimmied over a damned up part of the river, clutching onto a boulder. The last part of the hike was brutal. It was straight up hill with no shade. I was cursing the terrain under my breath. It was such a relief to enter the village, Huay Nam—or the village of tots as I like to say. There were so many little kids and young animals running all over the place. The piglets, kids and baby water buffalo ran away from us whenever we got too close. There were so many cute things in the village that it was a little overwhelming.

At one point I was trying to coax a baby goat into coming closer and a Karen woman saw me. She walked out of her house and, without hesitation, picked up the baby goat and put it in my arms. It was so adorable! The next day I tried to follow her example, by scooping up a baby goat. It’s mother came after me and started to get pretty aggressive, ramming it’s head into my knees. The Karen woman just laughed as I ran away screaming.

We spent two very enjoyable days in this village. In the morning of our second day I got to harvest rice with my host grandmother. She also didn’t speak any Thai, but we got by through pantomimes and smiling. I really enjoyed harvesting the lowland rice. With the help of the other two girls I was staying with, the four of us cleared quite a lot of rice (although we only cut and did not bundle the rice). I got into a rhythm and could have stayed out there for hours with the company of my thoughts. The entire rice harvest process is a lot of work and I can see why it is a community event.

In the afternoon we went to the village school to play with the kids. We passed out cookies and asked them their names. The ages ranged from 4 to 11. They were adorable. We played tag. London Bridge is falling down (but with Karen lyrics about vegetables and fruit), duck duck goose (again with Karen words for different animals), birdie on a perch and set up an awesome obstacle course. Of course the little kids always won the obstacle course because they were so tiny and nimble. It was so much fun laughing and playing with the little kids. Hanging out with kids is one of the few times when the language barrier isn’t a painful obstacle.

An excerpt from my journal:

A typical village morning…I was awoken at 3:30 a.m. by the roosters. The one across the street and the one under our house did a call and response for about 2 ½ hours. I officially woke up at 7 a.m. Around 8 a herd of water buffalo walked down the path in front of our house. The were unattended and seemed to know exactly where they were going. The last in line paused, looked me in the eyes and then continued.

(I remember thinking how bizarre this morning was at the time, but by the end of my time in Mae Hong Son, I’d grown accustomed to large packs of animals wandering wherever they pleased. I never got used to the roosters, however.)