from our hotel, and was an old village. The highlight of the village (depending on who you ask) would be the long neck tribe, but probably not according to Abi, who wore her highlight in her hair!The drive to the village was fun and crazy (more on the crazy Thai driving in a later post, I promise!). After getting out of the city, and into the rural farm lands, we began to notice different scenery. There is something about being outside of the city limits that is soothing, which we all enjoyed. After about 30 min's we arrived at the village, which was actually a cluster of 5 differen tradidtional Tribes.
We were all excited as it was the first "tourist" thing we were embarking on! While not all the tribes were Thai, they all had the warm welcome of the Thai people. Right when we got there, a few members of one of the tribes offered for us to walk up and into their house. It was elevated one floor from the ground (to protect from floods) and was traditional in every sense of the word. The floors were made out of what looked like bamboo and we almost thought we were going to fall through!
It was fun to literaly walk into another culture first hand and see how they lived life, alnd how much different it was from ours. I tried to think how I would adapt if this was my perminant life. While I would enjoy many aspects (quiet, simple life, beautiful surroundings), I think I am too addicted to technology to become a full time member of the tribe!
While walking around, we ran into many suprises. The first, and my favorite, was the old school cross bow that one of the elders of a tribe was showing off. When I walked by him, he looked at me and motioned me over. I thought he was going to perform and do something crazy like hit the same aarow 5 times in a row, but instead he handed it to me, showed me how to hold it and waited for me to shoot. 
It was awesome! I really wanted to take one home, but I know on the form you fill out when returning to the states it specifically says no cross bows (along with snakes and tigers!!). I was addicted and shot a few more times. The old man seemed pleased with my excitment and use of his invention. I could have stayed and shot that all day, but there were too many sweet things to see.
Next on the things to see at the tribe was unexpected to say the least. After taking some pictures in a cool, old school swing, a tourist tapped Abi on the shoulder and asked if she saw "that". Any guesses as to what "that" is? Well here's a hint, it's in the previous picture in this post! Yup, it was a marajuana plant growing out of one of the local trees (see pictures link for more pic's). It is funny to see how lax different cultures are about such "hot issues" in the states.
After we saw the weed, it was time to move on to the main attraction, the Long Neck Tribe. 
A small group of them were moved to live in this village with the other tribes, both better living, and more exposure to tourism, and eventually a better life. But don't worry, the tourism has not shifted them from their ancient ways. All the ladies wear rings around their necks, and they keep increasing the rings as the girls become older (or married). It is interesting that since their necks are held up by the rings, and stretched out so long, if they took the rings off, the neck couldn't support their head.
From abandond tricycles, to old school swings, cross bowes to marajuana plants, we got a chance to see a unique blend of culture, and enjoyed our first tourist stop!
~Randall
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