It has become a tradition for me to scoop up
volunteering family youngsters once a year and take them to a place far
away from their parents’ reach. The moms and dads’ mental health in
general could be in serious danger if they stayed together for too long
during the holidays. Thus, the team building excuse was introduced.
A
rose in the north.
The age range of the volunteering batch changes every
year. Last year it was from age 11 to 25. This year the 22 and ups were
fully employed, so what was left were the jobless kids from ages 13 to 21
years.
After giving my bosses hard times for the whole year, I
decided to give myself a break from work and really go as far as I could
(afford). Either far south or far north.
The
scenic Mat Cliff Water Fall
Since it was winter holidays I decided we should give
winter a go and taste the chilly crisp air up north.
I read somewhere that to make life meaningful you
should go to a place you have never been to at least once a year. That’s
how Mae Hong Son came to mind.
Sheep
graze on the royal project grounds.
All together, 7 members converged on Hua Lampong train
station and headed north on a night sleeper.
Khun Charn waited patiently at Chiang Mai station with
his mini-van the following morning and off we went, up the hills, down the
slopes, left into the jungle, and right into our little adventure of 245
km via Amphoe Pai. It took us 5 hours with some short pee, view, and
stretch stops.
You
mean we have to actually paddle-ourselves?
Mae Hong Son is Thailand’s second northern provincial
city, set in valleys hemmed by jungle ridge and has a cool climate through
the year. In the past, this town was a mysterious land, isolated from
other cities in the Lanna region because of a lack of good transportation
and communication. No paved road until 1968!
Dave
(shown here rafting, right) said, “The train journey was fun. The
rafting was a cool experience. But the most memorable thing was the team
spirit that we had. It was commendable.”
The province is bordered by Myanmar to the north and
west, and a strong Burmese influence can be seen in many temples,
buildings and in the lifestyle. As the story goes, about 1831, Chao Kaew
Muang Ma was sent from Chiang Mai to capture wild elephants, and not
wanting to herd them back, the hunters built an elephant kraal near the
River Pai, thus a small community flourished.
Vicky
trekking with help. “The trekking part will forever be in my memory.
Without Eddy, Dave, and Chris, I would not have made it through the
mountain forest. Without Alisa and Marisa I would not have laughed when I
was crying in pain, and without Aunty Sue’s mental support, I would not
have discovered my inner bravery and strength. I owe this to all of them
and love them even more now.”
Until 1874, one of Thai-Yai refugees from Myanmar was
assigned by Chao Inthavitchayanon from Chiang Mai to rule this community.
His name was “ChanKaLay” or “Phaya Singhanartracha”,
the first local ruler of Mae Hong Son.
Sue,
group leader: “Is it this way or that way?”
After his death, his wife was selected to rule this
small city and had several local rulers. In 1900, King Chulalongkorn (Rama
V) united this city with Chiang Mai to become a northern state. In 1933,
the city became one of Thailand’s provinces named “Mae Hong Son”,
administrated by a governor, designated by the King.
The nickname of this city, “City of Three Mists” or
“Muang Sam Mok” was felt on our first morning as we set off on
our first tour with Charn for the Mat Cliff Water Fall.
Enlightened
and refreshed by the hot spring (from left) Eddy, Marisa, Chris, Sue,
Alisa and Vicky.
Chris, a rock climber from Germany ‘ape’ jumped
from one rock to another, and drew wowwws and whoahss from the female
members of the group. Alisa tried to follow suit, but came back with a
pale face when she discovered her new digital camera fell out of her
pocket and into the fall. At least the fish will get their bits and bytes
from it for a while.
Marisa:
“C’mon let’s dance to celebrate your neck before you are ringed! ...
What impressed me most was the cooperation and effort everyone put in when
faced with challenging tasks. ... The Long Neck village was
fascinating.”
After the waterfall and camera fall, we went on to the
Pang Tong Palace, a royal residence surrounded by a variety of beautiful
plants, flowers and grazing sheep on a hill overlooking Pai River.
Start
of a Long Neck life at the age of 5.
On the way back, we stopped at a hot spring and visited
Mok Cham Pae mud spa, where the 7 were masked with cool natural mud.
Fifteen minutes and a rinse later, it revealed a 10 years younger look on
everyone’s face. Marisa, age 13, now looks like a three year old.
The night wound down with a nice Lanna dinner at the
hotel and an international amateur championship singing contest, where
Chris became the singing star in one night.
Who’s
who under the clay pack?
The next day was D-day - the test of teamwork and
endurance of the members. After breakfast we set off on rafting along the
Pai River. The two-hour estimated journey took us over three hours. Blame
it on the still water. Members looking for the excitement of strong rapids
entertained themselves by hitting other members with their oars, jumping
into the cold water, or doing exactly the opposite of what the local
village guide wanted us to do.
Alisa
(left) singing the blues away: “I lost my most valuable possession
during the trip, my digital camera, but I’ve gained thousands of
precious moments spent with family and friends. Being part of this great
team made me laugh through all crises.”
When told to steer left, we went right and to steer
right, we went left. That was to get some excitement from the raft being
stuck to the rocks every now and then. Some even unpacked their lunch
boxes and ate the wet rice that already fell into the water that filled
half the raft, to kill boredom. The water was so calm that we could even
unpack ‘prik nam pla’ (fish sauce and chilli) to go with the khao
pad (fried rice).
Chris
Schmidt in the middle leads the aspiring group of future rock stars.
After two hours when it became obvious that without
cooperation in synchronized paddle work, we were not going to get anywhere
anytime soon. Teamwork was put into action and within one hour we reached
the designated river bank to start our next challenge - hiking.
Eddy
(second from left): “I was really impressed by the friendliness of the
local people up there, unlike the big cities where people care less about
others, as well as their environment.”
The trek took us through breathtaking mountain scenery
along ancient trails, streams, brooks, and rivers. We walked into the
forest, up the steep trails, across the mountains, and down the slippery
slope. The four hour walk not only tested our endurance, but also our
patience and sense of being part of family; to care and look out for each
other. When one gives up, another will encourage, when the other falls,
there is always someone to back up and pull them through.
After 7 kilometers of bruises, sweat, and tears, the
deep forest trekking and rugged trail treading ended at the Karen Long
Neck Women village at dusk, much to Vicky’s relief. Hard work paid off,
and everyone had a great sense of accomplishment.
The Long Neck village, to me, was a bit commercialized
I thought, because foreigners have to pay 250 baht to go in, but oh well,
they probably need the money for neck maintenance.
Karen women still attach brass rings to their necks and
limbs to give them what they consider a good appearance. Some young Karen
girls about 5-7 years old already have them. The number of rings increases
according to their age. The rings are taken off while bathing and sleeping
only. The secret of long-neck is that the clavicles and rib cages are
pressed lower and lower which makes the neck seem longer. “It’s
tradition,” one woman told us. “It makes us look more attractive.”
That night a few of our members just conked out as I
had hoped. All were exhausted from the day’s activities and couldn’t
care less for the karaoke championships anymore, except the two older ones
who were still celebrating their legal age identification cards and had a
few more drinks and some singing before going to bed.
We departed the next morning, with a short stop at Wat
Phra Tart Doi Kong Mu, the hilltop temple with a wonderful view of the
town and surrounding countryside. This temple was built in 1874 by “Phaya
Singhanatracha”, the first ruler of Mae Hong Son.
The main Chedi (stupa) holds 7 Buddha images
with different posts for each day of the week. The rite is to walk around
the chedi once and stop in front of your own birth “day” to
light up scent sticks and candles and ask for blessings.
Then we proceeded into the temple sala where we
tried our luck with fortune sticks or ‘Kau Chime’, the oldest
known method of fortune telling in the world. It is a set of 78 numbered
sticks held in a bamboo case. Holding the container with both hands and
shaking it causes one of the sticks to rise and fall out. The number on
the stick is cross-referenced with ancient texts, and a fortune is told in
a short poem or rhyme.
One of our team dropped her jaw when her fortune read,
“Your luck does not come easily. When wishing for someone handsome, you
will only get his buffalo instead. However, be patient and all will be
well.” We wondered if it meant the buffalo would turn into a prince
after a kiss.
After team maintenance, we boarded the bus and started
our journey back to Chiang Mai train station.
Before dinner, each of us reminisced over the previous
5 days together, which passed by so fast it was hard to believe it was
time to part again. But did we take back anything from the trip at all?
Everybody had their own favorite bit to store in their fond memory box.
Karaoke was new to me, and obviously one either needs a
huge amount of self-confidence or lots of alcohol to sing in front of
other people for the first time. But everyone in the group so strongly
supported my pop-star ambition and virtually lifted me to the microphone.
I realized I really enjoyed singing. The mutual respect and help shown in
this respect was mirrored during the whole trip, and was the biggest
single point I came upon.
To a lot of people, team leader’s criteria sounds
demanding and hard to achieve: Commitment to members, desire to support,
to serve, and to lead. Endless enthusiasm, energy, inspiration, and
sufficient expertise. Then you also must be willing to shoulder
responsibility rather than passing the buck, and finally the ability to
make the team come together to achieve the common goal.
Sounds like rolling the mortar up the hill (khen
khrok kuen Pu Khao) doesn’t it? However, I did not feel that I had
to lead or to tell the members what they had to do.
Everybody had a share of opinion in everything we
decided upon, from the youngest member all the way up to the oldest. What
to eat, where to go, how far to go, and what time to leave.
Strong support from team members with their suggestions and
contributions made the team building process achieve more as a team. It
was a very valuable experience for me and I’m lucky to have worked with
such a cooperative, caring, humorous, and positive group. I can’t wait
for the next trip to be the Lord of the Lings (monkeys) again.
Judge
Patinya Sootsuwan head of the regional court in Chonburi presides over the
funeral rites and made merit by presenting holy robes to the monks.
Sophin
Thappajug received tremendous support from friends in the community during
this emotional time.
Hundreds,
perhaps thousands gathered at this beautiful setting to say goodbye.
Sopin
Thappajug’s children, Phakkawat Pupha and Sophawadee Mack presented
donations to the various organizations in Pattaya, one of which was the
Redemptorist School for the Handicapped.
Manat
Kongwatana Head of the Administration Organization of Educational
Institutions in Pattaya receives a kind donation from Phakkawat.
Children
from the Redemptorist Center for Street Kids console Aunty Noi.