A Letter from the Shan Village in the Hills of Northern Thailand…

 

...west of Chiang Dow, north of Chiang Mai.

October 8, 1983

I’m certainly ‘away from it all’ now.

The Shan people, my guide explained, are the most civilized of the tribes we will visit. They have a written language, as exhibited in the ‘Shan Book,’ a collection of writings centered on their history and Shan Buddhism.

Tonight we sleep in the former head chief’s house; a pretty nice place, actually. There’s no furniture, but it is clean, dry and built of solid teak - even teak shingles on the roof.

Our guide is now cooking dinner in a wok over an open fire. Earlier I bathed in a nearby stream - sure felt good. Time to eat. Rice, Shan beans and chilis. Shan beans are white beans steamed soft, rolled into a paste and dried over a fire. They taste like some soybean snacks I’ve had.

 

 

I really feel I’m in a different environment. Up till now there was always something I could identify as related to my lifestyle; an electric light, a bed, radio, something. Right now I’m reclining on a mat by a candle in a long room where small groups of villagers are sitting, gathered for some tea and talk. A very good feeling to get this far away from all that I know.

October 9, 1983

The floor sure makes a hard bed. No matter which position I tried it was quite uncomfortable. It was totally dark in here last night. ‘Darker than the tombs of Egypt,’ to quote a song lyric.    No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't make out even a blurry gray shadow. The darkest dark I’ve experienced. At dawn I got up, went for a walk and got lost. How stupid could I be. I don’t know where I am. I don’t know the language. I retraced my steps and made it back. But I did a composed panic as I walked past villagers who wondered who the hell I was.

Some profile information on our guides.

The senior guide (who left us this morning) is a Burmese. He graduated from the University of Mandalay, then worked for the government. In 1962, when there was a military coup in Burma, he was held in a prison camp for three years. In 1965 he was set free and went to Thailand to join other Burmese in a revolutionary army. Later, as he grew old, he left the army and became a guide. He takes groups into Burma to visit insurgency groups.

The junior guide - our head guide now - seems to be quite inexperienced, and tires easily. Sometimes he doesn’t know what trail to take. He does seem to know English fairly well, and is able to explain the history and culture of the tribes we visit.