Have you ever heard of the many hill tribes living in the North of Thailand? They bear melodious names like Lisu, Karen or Lahu and although they differ in their way of life, they all have one thing in common: they’ve kept their traditional way of life.

Culture, spirituality and the unique nature shape their lives, which differs a lot from the lives in the Western consumer societies. Today, we take you on a journey to meet the people of the Black Lahu tribe, who are home in the Thai province Mae Hong Son.

The hill tribe Lahu

The Lahu are an ethnic minority originally coming from China and Tibet. Today, they live in the mountains in northern Thailand as well as in the border areas of Burma, Laos, and China. The Lahu, living in Mae Hong Son, Chiang Mai, and Chiang Rai, are divided into four tribes: The Black Lahu, the Yellow Lahu, the Red Lahu, and the She-Leh. The names are characterized by their traditional clothing – for the Black Lahu, it’s kind of a black cloak with cream-colored stripes. The sleeves are in strong red and yellow colors.

The luxury of personal encounters

In the last years, some of the villages have opened up to tourism through community-based projects and are happy to introduce you to their traditions and way of life. For example, Ban Jabo: Like many of the Lahu villages, the houses are built on stilts and the roofs are traditionally thatched with palm leaves. If you come here, you should not expect luxury – at least not in its proper sense – because the villages and their inhabitants are poor. During your stay, the luxury lies in the encounters with the people, their traditions – and in the breathtaking nature, which you can enjoy in silence! That’s why you should pay a visit to the “Noodle Shop” at the entrance of the village: from its terrace, you can enjoy a beautiful panoramic view of the wooded mountains.

Welcome culture

The Black Lahu are warm and kind people: Shortly after the welcome, a woman invites us to her home, shows us how she lives, her kitchen and her traditional robe. Although we need a translator to understand them, we can feel the friendliness without exchanging words. In Ban Jabo there’s a lot to experience: We meet Mr. Jaha and learn how to make the little luck charms from palm leaves. The Black Lahu hang them directly at the entrance next to the huts as they are supposed to bring luck to the inhabitants. This is also a great souvenir for home! Mr. Jaha also takes us to another hut; it looks like a workshop and is the place where he makes the traditional wind instrument “Nor-Ku-Ma”. While playing music together with other villagers, we realize that the Chinese influence is still also audible in traditional music.

In a cave long before our time

In addition to the various crafts and exciting insights into the culture of the Black Lahu, you should also allow for some time in nature. Trekking tours are very popular up here in the north and there are a lot of travelers visiting Ban Jabo as a stopover on their multi-day trek. But no matter how long the hike should be: Surefootedness, sturdy shoes and/or good equipment are important in the Thai mountains because especially after the rain, the paths can be slippery.

By the way, the wooden coffin cave is worth a visit. To get here, you have to climb up the mountain from Ban Jabo: over some rickety bridges and wooden ladders up the mountain! Sounds exhausting (and it is), but it’s worth it because up in the cave are impressive teak coffins, some of which are said to be up to 2000 years old and were brought up here by a nomadic tribe.

We could go on and on about our amazing stay in the village of Ban Jabo and the experiences we made, but maybe it’s enough for you to get a first impression. A visit here, and especially the encounters with the Black Lahu and the views of the impressive nature, have impressed us tremendously and will remain in our memories for a long time!

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