Caving and Visiting Hill Tribes in Northern Thailand

Keep close to Nature’s heart…and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” — John Muir

Nestled into a lushly wooded hillside overlooking the Lang River, the Cave Lodge serves as a hub for travelers interested in caving and visiting hill tribes in Northern Thailand.  From there, you can visit one of over 200 caves, trek into the hills to visit nearby tribal villages, or kayak down one of the nearby rivers.

For my first excursion with the Lodge, I went on a single day trek to a Karen village and Long Cave.  The day started with a short drive up a dilapidated jungle road to what seemed like the middle of nowhere.  “Everyone out!” yelled John Spies, the owner of the Cave Lodge, from the cab of the truck.  We disembarked, and our guide, Pat, led us up a slippery path into the woods.

Immediately, the road seemed distant.  We walked and munched on fruits and leaves which Pat found along the path, letting her show us which ones we could eat and learning about their various uses.

The path was narrow and overgrown in places.  Pat used her bamboo stick to knock aside encroaching plants, while I — being the tallest member of the group — acted as a natural magnet for spider webs.  Luckily, I attracted only the webs and not the creatures themselves.  Spiders in the Thai jungle are large, colorful, and menacing.

After a long trek through the woods, we heard a metallic jangling sound.  As it grew louder, we could hear the sound of something large lumbering through the jungle.  A herd of cattle soon came into view, walking along a gulley towards a marshy clearing.

“They come here because the ground is very salty,” Pat told us.  No one decided to test for themselves to see if she was correct.

Gradually, we began to see signs of civilization: a motorbike parked beneath a tree, an animist shrine to local spirits, a wooden shed on the edge of a field.  We stepped blinking from the shade of the trees into the baking heat of the sun.

Our first stop was at Long Cave — hidden at the end of a barely-there path past someone’s shack.  They met us at the entrance, since it’s illegal to enter the cave without a local guide.  Once inside, we stepped gingerly around glistening stalagmites and kept a sharp eye out for cave snakes.

After exiting the cave, we walked for another half an hour before coming to a beautiful picnic spot next to the river.  As we approached, the two monks in burnt orange robes stirred themselves from their seats and began their slow walk back up towards the village.

The Karen village of Ban Muang Phaem sits deep in the jungle, and is accessible by a single, narrow road or one of several forest footpaths.  In the village, visitors can participate in a home stay, observe traditional weaving, and enjoy the beautiful scenery.  When we arrived, a group of women snatched up their bags of handicrafts and spread them out for our perusal.  It was an awkward 20 minutes, since I had no intention of buying anything, but it was nice to see the crafts.  We left shortly thereafter, walking through the heart of the village to exit on the far side.

The walk back took us along a road, through someone’s cornfield, then finally through a ridiculous number of river crossings.  We were trudging along silently now, worn out from a day of exertion in the tropical heat.  Still, compared to my four-day excursion through the jungles of Borneo, this had been a breeze.

As we neared our village, the thick greenery of the jungle gave way to fields of sesame, rice, and corn.  Farmers worked their fields, while their children waved shyly in our direction.  Thick mud caked our shoes, sweat soaked our shirts, and weary smiles split our faces as we climbed the last hill towards home.

Have you done any treks to visit local tribes?  What was your experience?  Share in the comments below!