May 31 trek to Lahu Shi, Lahu Nga, Wa, and Palang villages

After the usual routine with a 6 am visit to the market for gifts, we drove west from the city to the foothills, where we left the car to hike. It was very hot and took 3 hours 15 minutes to reach the Lahu Shi village, climbing over 2,000 feet to something over 4,500 feet. We arrived drenched in sweat to see numerous small children at the edge of the village, then went to pay our respects at the chief's house. We took tea and pictures with the Lahu Shi, but they did not have any weavings to sell. Our guide complained that this animist tribe had moved their village twice since a water supply tank had been built. Their custom is to move the village if an accidental death occurs, and a young woman had been killed by a cave-in while digging for metals in an embankment.

We gave them the usual dried fish, biscuits to the kids, and Leslie made an impression on the girls by giving them lipstick, a valuable commodity for teenage courting rituals. They were also amazed to see pictures our guide had of their group that had been taken by our friend Victoria several years earlier. This Lahu Shi group could be considered the most isolated of the villages, and it was obvious they had little interaction with outsiders.

We then started trekking down, had lunch on the path, and reached a very poor Lahu Nga village.

Then we trekked further down to a Wa village, where again we had tea, but our driver had come around from another path to reach us there, and was able to get us to a Palang village and then to the check point going back to town at about 6:01 pm, which was allowed by the guard. We had our quick dinner and crashed, happy that we had made the distance.