Hilltribes of Northern Thailand
A tour to the non-touristy hilltribe villages
The hills and mountains of northern Thailand are inhabited by various ethnical groups called Hilltribes. Some of them are natives of Thailand and others are migrants from surrounding countries. On this one day tour with Thailand Hilltribe Holidays we explored and experienced a few different tribes and their customs.
My guide, Pat, picked me up from my hotel early in the morning. We talked about the itinerary and he asked me if there was anything I wanted to change or adjust, but what he had planned was just perfect.
After departing the hotel, we started our ~1 hour trek into the mountains. Before getting too far from civilization, Pat wanted to take me to have the best coffee in Thailand (and yes it was the best coffee I had in Thailand). Also, while we were driving, Pat gave me a good backstory on the various tribes we were visiting and he helped answer any questions I had.
Once we arrived to the first tribe we walked around and interacted with them (as much as I could because of the language barrier). The young men in the tribe were preparing a whole pig and younger kids ran around kicking a soccerball. In the few tribes we visited, we just walked through and Pat would talk to them and translate for me. Every person I met was so happy and always smiling. My favorite moment from this day was gathering in the a tribe members house to enjoy some of their food. They made a variety of dishes all made with local, organic ingredients, including the dessert. It was all so perfect.
We did so much in this one day making it rather hard to just highlight a few things, so here’s a list of the amazing things I got to experience: I met a 100 year old man, saw various farms, learn about how the tribes make a living, I shot a homemade gun (they used it for hunting small animals), and visited some local markets.
Out of anything you can spend a whole day doing in Chiang Mai, this is the one you should definitely do. Unlike any of the other Hilltribe tour, this one is not full of tourists (I saw one other tourist the entire day) and from the research I did it is also the most ethical.
