Karen Cultural Immersion – 2 days 1 night

⚠️ A portion of the money from your reservation goes towards funding meals for the children, which you will distribute yourself!

1st Day:

In the morning of the first day, we will meet you at your hotel in Chiang Mai to head to the market, approximately 45 minutes from here. This will be an opportunity to discuss your itinerary, the Karen people, or Thailand in general!

Afterward, it will be time to take the car to reach the first Karen village, where you'll start your trek amidst terraced rice fields and waterfalls (depending on the season). Your guide will be there to explain everything about the jungle and its surroundings. The trek will lead you through herds of buffaloes grazing in rice fields or nearby, and fields of sugarcane.

Since the trek is private, we will adjust the itinerary based on your fitness and preferences, to optimize breaks and walking periods. In the late afternoon, you will reach the guide's village, which you can explore at your leisure. The people here spend more time interacting in the village than watching television.

Your guide will introduce you to the Thai barbecue, and you'll have the evening to discuss customs, history, or Karen and Thai traditions. They will craft utensils and glasses for you directly from bamboo: we don't have an Ikea in the mountains! Then it will be time to go to bed for a good night's sleep.

2nd Day:

For the more adventurous, wake up to the rooster's crow, marking the beginning of a dive into the agricultural world! Indeed, the Karen are primarily farmers and herders, and today you'll have the opportunity to accompany them in their activities.

After a breakfast made exclusively from local and organic products (no chemicals here), if you're lucky enough to be here on a weekday, you'll head to the village school to meet the young Karen children. They are around 4 to 6 years old and are always delighted to receive visitors, as their village is very remote, and few people come to see them.

You will have the opportunity to help prepare the children's meal and distribute it to them. The day's food for the school will be covered thanks to your reservation! Thank you for participating in village life!

After playing with these little "monkeys" (that's what they call themselves, and you'll quickly understand why ^^), you'll have the opportunity to visit the village church, a rather unique place in Thailand, considering that 95% of the population is Buddhist!

Then it will be time for you to go to the fields. Depending on the season, you may be required to create or repair rice plots in terraced fields to prepare for irrigation for the next harvest. If your visit coincides with the rainy season, you will have the opportunity to learn to plant rice, perpetuating an Asian tradition thousands of years old! At the end of the season, you may need to transport rice bundles and separate the grains from the straw.

For those who prefer less physical activities, or if you have already finished your work in the fields, you can also try your hand at making textiles! The Karen are often recognizable by their very distinctive clothing design, and they are very proud to still make them themselves. Many women in the village have a wooden loom and will be delighted to show you their ancestral art.

At the end of the day, with unforgettable memories in your mind, it will be time to say goodbye to your adopted family.

*Activities may change depending on the days and seasons*