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Lisu, Yao, Akha, Lawa and Karen hill tribes live throughout
northern Thailand’s mountains. They share animist beliefs
and honour numerous forest and guardian spirit. Each
tribe has distinctive ceremonial attire, courtship rituals,
games, dances, agricultural customs, and puberty rites,
languages or dialects, aesthetic values and hygienic
and hygienic habits. Popular
Jungle treks lasting from 2 to 7 day, take visitors
through forested mountains and high valleys and meadows,
and include visits to remoter high-altitude hill tribe
settlements for overnight stays. The best guides are
hilltribe youths who customarily speak English, Thai
and at least three tribal dialects.
Treks commonly feature travel by foot, sometimes by
boat, elephant-back, horse-back or jeep, frequently
a combination of two or three modes of transportation.
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Prospective trekkers are advised to shop around companies
offering such tours for the best conditions. All treks must
be registered with the Tourist Police. This is done for trekker’s
protection. Avoid companies that do not abide by this law.
Visitors are welcome to Enquirer from the Tourist Police to
confirm which tour companies have negative or bad reputations,
or visit the TAT Chiang Mai office to obtain a list of registered
travel agents.
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Also, avoid narcotics, essentially everything from soft drugs such as marijuana to hard drugs such as opium such as opium and heroin both during travel and at hilltribe villages. There are severe penalties for such usage.
Wear sensible clothing to protect your limbs and sleep under a mosquito net at night. Malaria is a real threat, and sensible precautions should be taken to avoid it.
Visitors shouldremember
to
A. Respect hilltribe beliefs and religious
symbols and structures.
B. Dress modestly. Hilltribe people are generally
modest. Inappropriate attire may offend them.
C. Ask permission before photographing someone.
Some villages do not permit photography.
D. Avoid trading western medicines and articles
of clothing. Contributions to their welfare, items such as
pens. Paper, needles, thread, clothe and material used for
embroidery is perfectly acceptable.
Trek prices are determined by the duration of the trip, transportation
modes, meals available and the size of the trekking party
determine trek prices. Check directly with the Chiang Mai
TAT office for current information
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