Marcia Goes Hiking

Marcia on the trail to Mae Hae Khee
November 27, 1984

I’ve seen it written that hiking is walking but with more expensive shoes and where it is acceptable to do your toileting in the bushes. Hiking also implies the terrain is rugged and steep. By that criteria Marcia and I definitely did more than just walk to villages. We hiked. For the Karen however, who were born walking up and down mountains, they eschewed expensive hiking boots in favor of flip flops, and they literally took the steepest terrain in stride. Even on the hottest, steepest, most strenuous trails they wouldn’t even begin to sweat. OK, they might do some toileting in the bushes but other than that, they walked while we hiked.

Marcia did her share of village visits. She also took many strenuous walks in and around villages that could well have been called hikes. But she only did a few genuine hikes to reach a village. One such hike was to visit the village of Mae Hae Khee in November of 1984. Consulting diary entries, here is a record of the trip:

November 27, 1984

We’re up at 5:30 am with the goal to get ready, pack, load and head out at 7:00 am. By 7:30 we were already a half hour behind schedule but just about ready to go. Roads didn’t reach the village but to minimize hiking/walking time, we took our motorcycle so we can ride the trails and get closer to the village before we start walking. I hopped on the driver’s seat, then Marcia strapped on our shared backpack and climbed on the back. By the end of the day, the small 125 cc motorcycle engine would feel every bit as worn out as we did. Two full grown, burger fed Americans are a heavy load for a 125 cc motor.

Not the road in this post, but Duane on the 125 cc
motorcycle that couldn't quite make it up some of the 
mountains making Marcia walk and Duane push - 1985

From Mae Sariang, we headed north to Mae La Noy where we met up with Waw Hae, our agricultural worker. From Mae La Noy, we left the pavement and headed up the mountain road to Chaw Tii. They were working to complete the dirt road all the way to Chaw Tii, but it wasn’t finished yet. However, it was wide enough that our motorcycles could get through. But the mountains were steep and long and there were several climbs where our 125cc motor just couldn’t complete the climb. So, Marcia had to dismount and walk up the mountain while I tried to convince the motorcycle it really had the power to complete the climb with just one of us aboard. Failing that, I pushed the motorcycle up to the top. Meanwhile, Waw Hae who was smaller, lighter and carried less stuff was waiting patiently for us up at the top of the mountain.

Reaching Chaw Tii, we parked the motorcycles at a friendly house and at 10:30 started the hike to Mae Hae Khee. Along the way, we passed through the village of Khlo Ha Khee, had some lunch in a rice paddy field, rested again at Mae Lae Kho finally arriving at Mae Hae Khee around 5:00 pm. Any Karen would have completed the walk in 3 hours or less. Our hike took twice the time.

Not the home of our host in Mae Hae Khee, but the home
of Khu Dee in Phue Rue Khee village. But it shows a
Karen kitchen with the smoke stained shelves above
the cooking fire area - 2004

We stayed in the home of one of the village residents. Mae Hae Khee is high in the mountains and in November it was quite cool. So, we went into the kitchen area where the cooking fire was located to keep warm. Karen kitchens usually have several shelves up over the cooking fire where they store various food items and utensils. As I recall, we were going to have some dried fish cooked into a Karen style stew over rice. As our host and cook reached for the dried fish on the shelf over the fire, we noticed a number of bugs scurrying away. Not many wound up in the final stew and if we found one, we just threw it out. We’ve sat and observed in many Karen kitchens, and that is the only time we saw bugs scurry to avoid being part of dinner, but we were new to village life and hungry. So even a few bugs didn’t discourage us from eating. Besides, our host was giving us the best they had and we likely had a better dinner than her family was going to get. So, pointing out the presence of a few bugs was out of the question.

Arriving at Mae Hae Khee - November 1984

After dinner, the usual village scene was that various people would come by to visit and say hello. We’d
chat by the light of a candle or a kerosene lamp until time to sleep. The evening usually ended with a short devotion and/or prayer time. Then the host would spread a woven mat on the bamboo floor. We’d spread out our blankets or sleeping bags on the mat, lay down and drift off to sleep.

Wednesday, November 28, 1984

Village mornings are not quiet. Roosters usually crow all night and throughout the day. Dogs, pigs, water buffalo, etc. also make their share of noise. Though many villages now have access to mechanical rice mills, in 1984, many Karen families used wooden rice pounders to loosen the husks from the rice grains so the husks could be winnowed away. Rice pounding often began in the wee hours of the morning while still very dark. Their distinctive sound would definitely wake up anyone sleeping above it. The diary didn’t record just what woke us up, but we were fully up and functional by 6 am. We chatted with people and strolled around the village until our host made breakfast. Finally, about 9:30 we got down to the business part of the visit and took a walk to check out a spring that was to be the source for a village water system.

With no pipeline in the village, it was the job of the women and children to carry water from the spring to their home. The project could help provide a pipeline to take water to a number of centrally located outlets. Easier access to water could improve cleanliness, convenience, make possible toilets as well as make possible kitchen gardens. We needed to make sure the spring was a reliable source of water and had reasonable water quantity and quality. We also checked to see how far the spring was from the village so we could provide an estimate of how much pipe was needed. We’d figure up the numbers and costs to prepare for an evening meeting with the whole village to help determine if they wanted to complete the project or not.

After looking over the spring, we walked to a nearby village that was home to a number of former opium addicts. In particular, we visited an ethnic Chinese villager who was an energetic gardener. We tried to encourage him and checked out his garden. We got back to Mae Hae Khee in the early afternoon. We visited with people, took a bath in the creek, got numbers together for the evening meeting, rested a bit then had some dinner.

Marcia in her elastic topped phasin doing some laundry and
getting ready to take a bath. At least there was no audience
in this village. Bee Law Khee Village in 1987

Taking a bath in the village took some getting used to especially for Marcia. At least in 1984, there were still Karen villages where having a white woman visit was rare. In fact, Marcia was told at least once that she was the first white woman to ever visit their village. As a rare and exotic person, there were a number of villages we visited where a group of 20 or more kids would just follow her around where ever she went. The Karen style of bathing occurred in the open air at a spring, creek or river. Modesty was maintained by using a phasin, a large wrap around cloth skirt that could be pulled up shoulder high. Marcia sewed elastic into her phasin which gave her more confidence it would stay in place as opposed to the wrap and tuck method. But still, not having any history in open air bathing and phasin management, Marcia was nervous having an audience of 20 or more at bath time. But, it came with the territory when visiting in remote areas.

Village along the road to Chaw Tii - 1987

In the evening, we met with the village and hashed out how much they could contribute financially,
what size pipe they wanted to use, just how the pipeline would be laid out, and what ever else needed to be decided. After the meeting, there was a little general talking, then a prayer/devotion, and it was time for bed.

Thursday, November 29, 1984

We’re up before 6 am, packed up, ate some breakfast prepared by our host, said our farewells, and left about 8 am. Along the way back, we passed through a Lawa (another ethnic group) village called Baan La Ahang Nuea and then walked on to Da Law Phu. We stopped for lunch there and also took a quick look at a waterline that the mission had helped with a few years previously. I think we walked mostly downhill on the way back which allowed a better view of the mountain scenery which would be similar to some of the views of the Appalachian Mountains in the US. We got back to Chaw Tii about 2 pm, rested for an hour, then headed out on the motorcycles at about 3 pm. The ride back was much easier for the motorcycle as it was definitely all downhill. We got back to our home by 5 pm where it was time to unload, have some dinner, catch up with what we’d missed in the last couple days and get ready for the next trip.