An account of our visit to Kham
Siri and stay at Nong Tao
I’m not sure if pictures can do the experience justice, but it definitely engages more. So I’m gonna attempt to relay the trip, more or less chronologically, through photos.
(L) Exploring Chiangmai upon arrival and searching for the supplies we planned to bring up to Nong Tao. (R) Me and Pastor at dinner
(L) Team photo at the hotel lobby with Stefan & Tina, the husband and wife team who runs Khamsiri, a centre for youths in Chiangmai. (M) Visiting the family of one of the youths, Anusha. Although the family lived in Chiangmai city, the condition of the house was rather poor.
(L) Visiting another old lady. We were told that some of her children had died early because of HIV and sickness. I could see that although she seems rather independent, she misses her children alot. We prayed for her and asked especially for God to heal her of joint pains.
(R) On the back of Stefan’s pickup truck and on our way to Khamsiri.
(L) I was still sick on my second day in Chiangmai, so it didn’t help when the sky suddenly turned dark and those of us at the back of the vehicle were caught in the downpour. Our umbrellas and ponchos came out too late. (R) Soaked through. The day spent at Khamsiri was rather tough for me when my nose started to drip profusely and my body temperature rose to an uncomfortable level.
(R) I still felt sick when we went for a scrumptious steamboat dinner at MK the same night… But Pastor & the team really prayed for me to get better, and praise God, because the next day, I felt way better! (L) Pi Chai & Pi Tamra, caregivers of Nong Tao, picked us up early the next morning. Our two hour drive to the Maewang province begins.
Stop over at a local market where we grabbed some chicken, vegetables etc.
(L) Second pit stop for a delicious bowl of beef ball noodles. I looove Thai food!
(R) Finally we arrive at Nong Tao! This is the little wooden house we stayed in
(L) The weather was still rather wet, so here’s us in our ponchos!
(R) The “outhouse” aka toilet.
(L) Inside the toilet. We realised soon enough that there was nowhere to place the necessities – toilet paper etc. Thank God Vic came prepared with some string, so tada! We managed to hang our roll of toilet paper. This was to be where we bathed and relieved ourselves for the next few days up at Nong Tao.
(M) What really bothered me on the first night were the countless “insects” that flew around at night. We didn’t bathe that night because the water was tooooo cold, and I just found it impossible to step into the outhouse which was literally swarmed with a mob of insects. Even our little house was under insect & beetle attack.
(R) Those are the wings of the “insects” I spoke about earlier.
(L) A dead “insect”. Did I mention that they were quite huge? Yup, the size of a stone.
I’m amazed how the villagers don’t seem too bothered by them, and I suppose so if you grew up exposed to them. After our second night, even I grew less bothered by these winged creatures.
(R) The facade of Nong Tao hostel.
Inside Nong Tao
(L) The boys & girls’ quarters (R) The area where dishes were washed
(L) Our first photo with some of the girls at Nong Tao. They were all so stiff cos they barely knew us, and vice versa. I’m glad this all changed as we interacted.
(R) S and cute Popet after Charis’ art lesson on making Sock Puppets. Man, did the kids have fun!! Good job, C!
(L) One of my favourite boys, Miyoko!!!! Yes, besides the fact that he has a japanese (girl’s) name, he’s really a Karen kid in all other aspects. Haha! Fearless with boundless energy man. The other boy we all really liked is Diduk, Pi Tamra’s 9 year old. Born leader. So the kids would just pull our hands and run off with us, ask for piggy bag rides, etc. Playing with the kids really saps out loads of energy, though we all had tremendous fun in the process! Think of jumping into deep ditches, getting all muddy, climbing through barbed wired fences… yup, we had to do all that! Run run run!! So hard to catch up man… I feel tired just by typing all this. 
(L) Playing “Lao Ying Zhuo Xiao Ji” with the kids
R) This little girl is wonderwoman I tell you. She is sooo strong, she could actually piggy back Nigel! (If you know Nigel, he’s skinny but more than 1.8m tall). The kids at Nong Tao simply amaze me…
(L) Sunday morning service (R) The same night – we were invited to visit and minister to an elderly villager who was sick. I’m so thrilled that we can do the stuff in Chiangmai!!!
(L) A beautful rainbow!!!!!! What a rare sight… Truly a kodak moment
Trekking to a nearby waterfall
(L) They told us its a 15 minute walk to the waterfall. Honestly, I didn’t expect that it would be such a hike!!! I think it actually took us 30mins down and almost a full hour back-trekking up those countless hill steps. And it puts my gym work to shame. The climb back was so torturous my heart almost failed.
When we started, I was wondering why the girls kept holding my hands, as if I needed to be supported. Later on, I knew why… and yes, very malu indeed, but boy did we need the support! They were so sweet and took leaves to fan us, and even climbed trees and plucked fruits so that we could quench our thirst (we were so unprepared for the hike, and none of us brought a bottle of water… silly) We are most definitely, useless and helpless city dwellers! haha!
(L) Diduk and a yellow edible wild mushroom. The trek to the waterfall marked our last day with the folks at Nong Tao. We departed sadly but even as we said goodbye to our new friends… in our minds, we were already planning our next trip up. It was too great an experience, and I thank Nigel & Sinyong for paving the way.
(M) Back at the city, our aching bodies yearned for an indulgent spa treatment. We booked ourselves massage appointments at the posh Legends Spa just next to our hotel and aaah, it was good.
(R) Thai BBQ dinner on our last night!
