Village People

On Tuesday morning (28 Feb) the guides gave us a hearty hangover-relieving breakfast of boiled eggs, toast and pineapple (but no bees). We found out that the other members of our group had opted for a two-day trek only (wimps!) and so it was just Sharon, me and our two guides who set off on the next leg of our trek to a hill village inhabited by members of the ancient Karen tribe.

If anything, the heat was even more fierce today, and every uphill stretch was greeted with a chorus of groans from us. Nevertheless, the scenery once again kept us motivated. We noticed that the pathways were dotted with huge termite mounds, and Pon obligingly offered to show us the inside of a newly constructed mound by braking a large chunk off with his hand. To his surprise, a large and enraged termite attached itself to Pon's thumb, drawing blood. Stifling our sniggers, Sharon offered a plaster.

After three-and-a-half hours walking, we reached the Karen village, a collection of basic bamboo houses which are home to nine families - 52 people in total.

The Karen way of life is as far removed from modern western living as you can imagine; there is no electricity here and the people live off the land, hunting with home-made rifles. The only real concession to modern life is the presence of a couple of motorbikes used for occasional sorties to the nearest town for provisions.

A bamboo dormitory again tonight, but at least we had it to ourselves.

As evening fell we were treated to another cracking (and huge) meal by Pon and Phim and then it was entertainment time...!

The Karen people are extremely friendly and convivial, and seem to relish visits from 'farang' (foreigners), taking a genuine interest in us. For the willingly accepted cost of a couple of beers we were treated to an evening of brain teasing puzzles constructed from nothing more than simple bamboo sticks, and to beautiful songs played on traditional instruments.

Curiously, as the night drew on and we sampled the locally-distilled rice whisky (moonshine) and banana-leaf cigarettes(!) we descended into a mellow silliness, with our new-found musician friend singing us what he called the 'Lovvly Jubbly Song' - a random string of comical English phrases sung in a wobbly falsetto and punctuated with outbursts of hysterical laughter... you had to be there.

Thankfully, Pon and Phim's plentiful and recuperative breakfast the next morning helped to prepare us for the final day of the trek.