Long Neck Karen

After a hearty breakfast we hit the road and head to a village where the famous Long neck Karen tribe can be found. We look for the place for hours and eventually we end up finding it. There are actually different communities that live together which makes it easier for tourists to know their culture while earning themselves some money although it feels a little bit like a human zoo.

We first meet the Akha tribe who play us some traditional music and Noemie is delighted and is shouting ‘encore’… Then we encounter the Miao, another minority from Yunnan province in China. They also have a nice dance to show us and their little kids end up spending a lot of time playing with Noemie. We then meet tribes from Burma, among them women wearing really big earrings that makes you wonder what has happened to their ears.

At last we get to the famous long neck Karen, the tribe known for having metal bracelets around their necks which have earned them the nickname of human giraffes… It is amazing to see them in this heat with stacks of hot metal on their skin, getting on with their lives. It is said to originally protect them from tiger bites, but there are so many theories that we don’t know which to believe… We have lunch and then head to the pool and then get a well deserved massage, but not the pain in the feet. Jeremie somehow attracts the mean ladies! Aie aie aie!

 

At night we walk around at a slow pace at the night market and do some shopping and decide to eat at the same place as last night and order wonderful steamed fish and fresh juices.