Ban Doi Pui , a Hmong Hill Tribe Village in Northern Chiangmai
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Ban Doi Pui , a Hmong Hill Tribe Village in Northern Chiangmai
Early this year, I visited?? Ban Doi Pui, a ??Hmong tribal village located in a valley just north-west of Doi Pui on Doi Suthep Pui National Park. The Hmong has make the village their home by selling Hmong crafts and other souvenirs. Hmong are only one of the hill tribes in northern Thailand. There are approximately 60 000 Hmong live in Thailand.
It was??a pleasant journey travelling up to??the mountain and????the weather was pretty cool. ??But I was quite disappointed about the village. Perhaps time has changed. I expected an authentic village and hopefully,??I could ??take some beautiful??images of the people andits ??surrounding. Instead,??I saw a large carpark filled with coaches and?? souvenir stalls leading all the way up to the village.??
Hmong woman and children
Accompanied by??a local English speaking guide, I made my way leisurely up the concrete steps.?? I came across an elderly Hmong woman?? delicately making traditional?? Hmong clothings. Hmong is best known for their magnificient embroidery and silver jewellery.??The??tribe??is??divided??into??two groups: Blue and White Hmong. The White Hmong women wear black baggy trousers and Blue Hmong women wear beautiful pleated skirts with band of red, blue and white. That’s simple. The men are good craftmen making crossbows, musical instruments etc.??
Hmong man making a crossbow for hunting
We reached a terraced garden next to a??small museum??featuring??Hmong unique??lifestyle and traditions??and??information about hill tribes and opium production in the past.??The stunning poppy flowers????(Papaver somniferum, Papaveraceae)blooming next to museum caught my attention. I was??fastinated?? with?? the colourful poppy flowers. So??lovely… yet so deadly.??It was flowering profusely in shade of white, pink, violet etc dancing gracefully under the sun.??The flower??resembles the Tulip. Oil extracted from poppy seeds is used in cooking oil. The flower of the opium plant is used for intoxication purposes whereas its seeds are used for medical purposes. At least, it worth??my visit.????
A monument was erected at the lookout point?? to commemorate the King visit.?? It oversees the entire village of Ban Doi Pui.??The King visited the site many year ago and managed to convince the Hmong to change their crops??to vegetables ??instead of farming opium.
Ban Doi Pui , Hmong??Tribal Village
After taking a couples more shots, we??made out way down??to visit Wat Phra That Doi Suthep. A temple that I had missed twice. It is a must visit temple ??for people born in??the Goat year in the Chinese astrology and I am:-).
Ban Doi Pui , a Hmong Hill Tribe Village in Northern Chiangmai
