Trekkers Lodge, Doi Saket Area

[wpbr]

Returning from Mae Sai to Chiang Mai we're tantalized by the sign on the road just before Doi Saket saying "Trekker's Lodge, 7Km".

Of course we've never stopped. But I wonder if anyone knows about it? Are there good day walks to do from there (without a guide)? Are there maps available?

Any info would be much appreciated. There's only minimal reference to it on the web.

[Maejo Man]

Trekker's Lodge in years gone by was a haven for smoking funny smelling cigarettes and the like, I have no idea if it's the same today. There are a few local TV members that would remember it better than I

[chanchao]

It's a very nice area. When you go up that road you first pass a Lahu village (Huay Muang), then you pass the turnoff to a nice waterfall where you can swim, then further you get to a regurlar Northern Thai village called Muang Noi. The road is completely paved now. JUst past Muang Noi up the hill is Huay Nam Rin, a Lahu village. Around there there's fields and further Lahu and Karen villages. Trekker's Lodge is just past Muang Noi on the way to the hilltribe village. Further up from there is a Royal Project, and in that area are also some new bungalows that are rented out fort accommodation. I'd check those first.

Very nice area, I used to go there a lot.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[wpbr]

Thanks for the replies!

We'll give it a go in a few weeks and report back.

[Ajarn]

I'm pretty sure that they have a website... I seem to remember reading it... But, for the life of me, I couldn't find it on google.... Sorry

[...Ken]

It's a very nice area. When you go up that road you first pass a Lahu village (Huay Muang), then you pass the turnoff to a nice waterfall where you can swim, then further you get to a regurlar Northern Thai village called Muang Noi. The road is completely paved now. JUst past Muang Noi up the hill is Huay Nam Rin, a Lahu village. Around there there's fields and further Lahu and Karen villages. Trekker's Lodge is just past Muang Noi on the way to the hilltribe village. Further up from there is a Royal Project, and in that area are also some new bungalows that are rented out fort accommodation. I'd check those first.

Very nice area, I used to go there a lot.

Cheers,

Chanchao

Chanchao,

Did you know Vinai well ? Vinai was the original owner of trekker house.

An interesting place at one time...that became quite squalid as time went on.

Inevitable from the onset, but seeing the culture clash over several years was interesting.

A Farang woman I know well, who spent many months at Trekker House, went up to the Lahu village and was told by a (the first) Farrang who had moved in to the Lahu village, to go into the other room and meet his new Lahu wife. She returned saying "there are no women in there, just children."

......Ken

[chanchao]

> Did you know Vinai well ? Vinai was the original owner of trekker house.

No, don't know him at all though I may have run into him at one of the village festivals. I never actually stayed at Trekkers Lodge but always in the village up the hill.

> A Farang woman I know well, who spent many months at Trekker House,

> went up to the Lahu village and was told by a (the first) Farrang who had

> moved in to the Lahu village, to go into the other room and meet his new

> Lahu wife. She returned saying "there are no women in there, just children."

Well Lahu girls marry young no matter who they marry. Plus they tend to not the tallest people in the country to put it mildly, so it's not THAT strange that a person would consider them children. Few Lahu girls make it to age 15 single. Then they have at least 3-4 children, so 5 years later by the time they're 20, they turn 40.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[...Ken]

> Did you know Vinai well ? Vinai was the original owner of trekker house.

No, don't know him at all though I may have run into him at one of the village festivals. I never actually stayed at Trekkers Lodge but always in the village up the hill.

> A Farang woman I know well, who spent many months at Trekker House,

> went up to the Lahu village and was told by a (the first) Farrang who had

> moved in to the Lahu village, to go into the other room and meet his new

> Lahu wife. She returned saying "there are no women in there, just children."

Well Lahu girls marry young no matter who they marry. Plus they tend to not the tallest people in the country to put it mildly, so it's not THAT strange that a person would consider them children. Few Lahu girls make it to age 15 single. Then they have at least 3-4 children, so 5 years later by the time they're 20, they turn 40.

Cheers,

Chanchao

Oh...so you were one of THOSE sorts. :-) What you said above is the common stereotype.

Being the father of three daughters from 10 to 32 yrs. of age and ample experience around young women of Farang/Thai/Ethnic origins I say ....bullshit ! The bodies grow far faster than their brains mature. That 17 year old with the two babies, however pragmatic, is usually still a fearful 14 year old inside.

I believe the first Farrang to actually move into that particular village 'married' a 14 year Lahu old girl.

Reminds me of a Farrang I was introducing to a Lisu Phu Yai once, who wanted to marry a young Lisu woman.The Lisu chap says " of course, all men want a young wife. how about a 19 year old ?"

"Younger" says the Farrang ( a 40 yr old Brit). "How young?" says the Lisu. "14 - 15" says the Brit.

The Lisu says " why would a man want a child for wife ?"

'nuff said.......Ken

[sabaijai]

The topic is Trekkers Lodge, not age of consent in hill tribe villages. Take it to General Topics if that's something you want to debate.

[chanchao]

> Oh...so you were one of THOSE sorts. :-)

Just for the record though let me state that I'm most certainly not one of THOSE sorts. (I realise you don't specify what exactly are THOSE sorts, but even not knowing that for sure I'm still pretty sure than I'm not in that group, whatever it is. )

Cheers,

Chanchao

[...Ken]

> Oh...so you were one of THOSE sorts. :-)

Just for the record though let me state that I'm most certainly not one of THOSE sorts. (I realise you don't specify what exactly are THOSE sorts, but even not knowing that for sure I'm still pretty sure than I'm not in that group, whatever it is. )

Cheers,

Chanchao

Good to see you have a sense of humour Chanchao.

The 'those sorts" comment was concerning ' those sorts' of fellows that choose to stay in tribal villages rather than in more comfortable lodgings. I have been found guilty of that myself.

It always makes good sense in the evening....but seldom in the morning ;-)

...Ken

[Johpa]

Did you know Vinai well ? Vinai was the original owner of trekker house.

An interesting place at one time...that became quite squalid as time went on.

Reminds me of my old guesthouse up north. Started off rustic, yet nice and clean but the local partner would not re-invest a sataang from generated income into maintenance and upkeep and I had no intention of paying for it out of my pocket. In a very few short years it went from turning away guests due to full ocupancy to a single room with a few Farang junkies living in squalor.

[...Ken]

The topic is Trekkers Lodge, not age of consent in hill tribe villages. Take it to General Topics if that's something you want to debate.

Relax your knickers a tad sabaijai.

I believe Chanchao is a group moderator and he responded regarding age consent in the village related to the Trekker Lodge discussion. My response was relating to that flow of topic . I also added the 'nuff said to show I was not interested in further debating age of consent.

.......and as this has little or no relation to Trekker Lodge I will also not debate your comment further.

...Ken

[Ajarn]

The topic is Trekkers Lodge, not age of consent in hill tribe villages. Take it to General Topics if that's something you want to debate.

Relax your knickers a tad sabaijai.

I believe Chanchao is a group moderator and he responded regarding age consent in the village related to the Trekker Lodge discussion. My response was relating to that flow of topic . I also added the 'nuff said to show I was not interested in further debating age of consent.

.......and as this has little or no relation to Trekker Lodge I will also not debate your comment further.

...Ken

If only you had some useful information to add...

[chanchao]

Nah, it's okay, let's move on. After Ken's explanation of THOSE sorts I guess I might be in the group after all:

> The 'those sorts" comment was concerning ' those sorts' of fellows that choose

> to stay in tribal villages rather than in more comfortable lodgings.

WHAT, you mean tribal villages aren't comfortable!!!!?

What better way to wake up than the sound of pigs snorting around straight under your room.. I used to visit there often mostly for fun and to unwind from a week's work at the office, then got involved with some people who tried to get medical and education projects going there. The medical projects are quite successful, but education (Mathayom level) less so. The main problems are that there's pressure to go to work and/or get married well before they could finish M3 level. (Perhaps I dind't quite phrase that perfectly, as much a reason could be the ABSENCE of (parental) pressure to finish an education. Then kids become teenagers, want to be free, get boyfriends/girlfriends and more often than not end up married with kids real soon. There's no pressure/encouragement from either parents, society or government to finish any kind of education for hilltribe people. (Yes there's exceptions, several that I know of)

Sorry, off on a tangent again not related to a travel oriented visit.

Cheers,

Chanchao

[...Ken]

Then kids become teenagers, want to be free, get boyfriends/girlfriends and more often than not end up married with kids real soon. There's no pressure/encouragement from either parents, society or government to finish any kind of education for hilltribe people. (Yes there's exceptions, several that I know of)

Sorry, off on a tangent again not related to a travel oriented visit.

Ahh, it's the tangents that make these groups interesting.

I certainly agree with you regarding pursuit of education. It seems that some tribal groups are more focused on educational value than others. In our geographical area the Lisu appear to be generally more outward looking than the other groups. Many older Lisu kids are sent out to boarding school in Chieng Dao. However it may be just the influence of that villages pu yai.

...Ken