Snorkeling in the Adang Archipelago

Alice and Adam do headstands at low tide...reminded me of dad in yoga class.
mangroves
My friend Alice and a huge jelly fish!!!!
Doing a coral reef pilot project on giant clams.
On the longtail boat.
Anemone fish!! An anemone doesn't sting...unless you put your face in it like Gigi...
Colorful christmas tree worms...they retreat as you swim past.

Underwater scientists conduct research!!!!

Paddling...school has never been so easy to wake up for in the morning.
A view of Koh Lipe from the neighboring Koh Adang
our kayaks
One of our Urak Lawoi longtail boat drivers.
crown of thorns

Longtail boat
My good friend Leo above some coral
Lionfish

Islands

While there is much much much more to say about my time spent among the hill tribes of Mae Hong Son, I shall move ahead to our islands course.

After a 24 hour double-decker bus ride, we arrived on the southern coast of Thailand, only to hop onto a ferry for a four hour boat ride to get to Koh Lipe. Found in the Adang Archipelago in the Andamen sea, Koh Lipe is a small island that is currently undergoing rapid development to meet the demands of tourists.

The island is also home to the formerly semi-nomadic "sea gypsies" called the Urak Lawoi. Currently involved in land disputes with the national park and wealthy Bangkok resort owners, the Urak Lawoi are finding it difficult to maintain their traditional way of life.

To add to the stresses on land, the local fish stocks are declining as more international trawlers encroach on the coral reefs and Koh Lipe area. Some Urak Lawoi fisherman now only eat fish in the off season, instead of year round like they are traditionally known to do.

However, outside sources are not entirely to blame for the environmental degradation of Koh Lipe and its surrounding reefs. The Urak Lawoi have been known to use dynamite fishing techniques that destroy entire sections of coral reefs and are all together inefficient. Traditionally the Urak Lawoi would use handmade traps and fish in one area until the reef was nearly depleted and then move on and come back to the same spot many years later. It is clear that the Urak Lawoi's traditional fishing techniques are only sustainable in a world with fewer people and no competing fishermen.

During the islands course we spent half of our time on the island of Koh Lipe, speaking with Urak Lawoi, local stakeholders and doing an assessment of the island's restaurants, resorts, fishermen, religions, food sources, education and language. Our results will be compiled and added to a larger UNESCO publication about the Urak Lawoi.

The second half of our course was spent kayaking and camping on an island in the national park. We studied mangroves and coral reefs. It was primarily a relaxing course that involved a lot of snorkeling!!!!

Huay Tong Kaw

After Huay Hee, we spent five days in Huay Tong Kaw. It was definitely my favorite village. The people were so lively and joked all of the time. You could also tell that they were very proud to be Karen and to live out their traditional lifestyle.

My host family was fabulous. My two host brother spoke pretty good Thai and the eldest, Siri, took really good care of us. We spent one day in the rai harvesting rice. It was a perfect day. The view of incredible and it was fun harvesting rice with several Karen families and Pi's (Pi Carrie and Pi Sawong). I could see the charred stumps of the trees that the Karen had cut down and burned. My host mother explained that they left the trunks in to help the trees grow back more quickly. I could already see new branches sprouting. I worked in a pair with my host mother. For the most part we worked in silence because neither of us could speak really good Thai. She would cut and I would bundle. We harvested rice all day. I felt very tired and satisfied at the end of a long day.

Huay Hee happiness

The most adorable Karen boy.

It had taken a while for our young host brother in Huay Hee to warm up to us. At three years of age, he was skeptical about most things, but curious about everything. In the end, he’d become fascinated by how tall we were, the color of our eyes, skin and hair and I think he was certainly intrigued by our language and by our attempts to speak to him in Thai. We’d grown accustomed to his games—pretending to shoot him back and being his Muay Thai punching bags—and felt a real bond to the little fellow and they way he would squeal with joy when we chased him.

On the morning of our departure, he was particularly playful. He’d take our things and spread them out around the room as we tried to pack. He’d hand Ellen’s things to me and mine to Ellen. Once we finally had all of our belongings packed away, he blocked the door so we couldn’t leave. Once out of the house with our hiking boots and gaiters on, he clung to my leg and wouldn’t let go. His mother held him back and he started to cry as we headed down to the sala to meet our peers. After we set our bags down, Ellen and I fished out a double stuffed oreo (oreos were essential for forests) and took it back to the house where we spotted our host brother hugging a house support beam, crying. He saw us and turned his head away. We approached and he refused to look at us. I started to rub his back as he cried and he just scooted around the pole away from us. I held the cooking around the opposite side of the pole so as he came around he found it. His face lit up and he snatched the cookie. He screamed to his mother and ran to show it to her. He took a bite and beamed. We started to leave again and his face instantly became sad. A fresh tear rolled down his cheek. When I looked back for the last time and he smiled and held up the cookie.

It was perfect...

Huay Hee cultural exchange

The cultural exchange was definitely a highlight with members from each group singing songs to each other. We tried our best to compete with their impressive church choir that sang with in perfect harmony. Perhaps our best act was a 31 person rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. I thought we were going to break through the bamboo floor (which a few students experienced first hand elsewhere) during the instrumental/guitar rift section of the song. In all, the cultural exchange was a very well spent three hours. We were even able to sing some songs together. The exchange ended with a moving rendition of Amazing Grace, being sung in both English and Backenyaw.

Doi Pui and cultural exchangeass

View from the highest point in the Mae Hong Son province.
Class photo on top of Doi Pui.
Mid course seminar held on a mountain top.
Our fabulous field instructors!
Climbing Doi Pui, the highest point in Mae Hong Son.

Group work in Huay Hee

Huay Hee Happenings

The other half of our ISDSI comrades met us in Huay Hee, which was large enough to accommodate all 35 of us (including instructors). We spent the next several days working on group projects, including a village survey (during which we mapped out the village and tracked its resources), a forest plot survey of rai (acres) at varying stages of fallow, a town meeting, a mid-course seminar on the top of Doi Pui, and a cultural exchange.

Doi Pui was stellar. Towards the top of the mountain, the forests faded away and we made our way through a tunnel of bright yellow flowers, into a large meadow. I remember saying to a friend, “this is the meadow of my dreams!” With wild flowers everywhere, breath taking views and 31 dear friends to share it with, I was elated. At the top you could see the entire province of Mae Hong Son, and even into Burma. We could pick out every village we’d visited and see the places we were going to next. The sun was shining and there was a slight breeze. It was completely perfect!!!!