Now I get it! As beautiful and wonderful as Thailand has been, I have felt
I was missing something. Then I
saw a poster in a breakfast café in Chiang Mai for this place called Limeleaf
Eco-lodge, a couple of hours northeast of Chiang Mai. It was not so easy to get to, and we left our big suitcase
at the owner’s house in the village, then climbed 800 metres uphill to the
lodge, with suitcase, backpack, bags and guitars.
The air is clear, the mountains are
beautiful, and we are surrounded by Lahu villages. The Lahu are hill tribe people who migrated south from
China, Tibet and the surrounding areas over the past 200 years. Now the King has provided them with
land and papers so they will stay in their villages and farm. Totally by accident we arrived at the
beginning of the Lahu and Chinese New Year celebrations.
The Lahu get dressed up in bright-coloured
costumes, headdresses, gold chains, and all ages celebrate with a dancing
circle that goes on all night, and during the day as well. The men dance in a line, holding hands,
and stamping left foot, right foot, step back, step forward in a pattern that
can vary in 32 different forms.
The numbers swell, the costumes get
brighter and more elaborate, and neighbouring villages arrive to honour the
holiday and celebrate together, dancing in the spirit circles and setting off
firecrackers almost non-stop. They
are happy, yet serious about honouring the nature spirits with their
dance. During the first day, a pig
is sacrificed to send away the evil spirits and bring luck for the New
Year. I think I’ve eaten more pork
in the past three days than in my whole life before that! – Oh well, holy pork!
(Not really.)
There is a community of volunteers here at
Limeleaf, working five hours a day five days a week for room and board. They are building mud huts, working the
vegetable gardens, and hanging out.
They are from all over the world, Germany, France, US, UK and other
places. There is a pool table,
lots of Thai beer, a sweat lodge and dunking pool! The lands are so beautiful, I could sit here for weeks!
Chris, an Englishman who lives and works
here six months a year, and Noi, our Thai host and manager, work hard to make
sure both we and the volunteers have everything we need. They feed us, pamper us, take us on
excursions to see the dancing, and to waterfalls and other Lahu villages. We have extended our stay here till
tomorrow (Sunday), and today is a chill and relax day (Don’t make us climb the
hill again today!). Then the owner, Winay, will take us on an excursion to an
elephant camp in a Karen tribal village.
We’ll spend the night there, then head onto Chiang Rai the next morning,
where we’ll spend the day before boarding the overnight bus to Bangkok.
Our time is winding down in Thailand, and
here at Limeleaf I feel I have finally arrived!
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