Each village has been different and special in its own way. Some have been Christian and some have been Buddihst. In the first village, we had the opportunity to stay in huts on the temple grounds. This was a great experience. We got to spend a lot of time with the monk there. The night we were there, he sat down and talked to us for nearly an hour about the problems of the world and what we can do to find solutions. We have eaten many weird things in the villages as well. So far, I have eaten bbq lizard, small frogs from the rice fields and pig brain. We were at a village last night that wanted to serve us dog, but the two other americans and I opted out of that and decided to head into town to get a real meal. I have to draw the line somewhere.

So, here is an outline of our trip. You guys can check it out on a map of Thailand. I will try to post it here as well. We went from Chiang Mai to Hot to Mae Sariang to Ta Son Yang to Mae Hong Son to Pai then back to Chiang Mai. We did so much driving on this trip, but got to see some of the most beautiful scenery Thailand has to offer. That made the trip go by a bit faster.

I already told you guys a little about the experience near Hot. The main things there were staying at the temple and eating the weird foods. We also got to see a pig get butchered and found many good projects to do in the villages. Moving on, Mae Sariang was amazing. We got there late in the day and started asking around about villages. Rustic has many connections in there, so it was easy to find a village to go to. The hard part was finding a 4Wheel drive truck so late in the day. The solution to this was the teacher at the school got us 5 motorbikes to take out to a village. So, the 11 of us set out on 5 bikes. Over an hour later we finally made it to the village. The road was rough being dark outside made it much worse. It was all dirt with many river crossings and steep rutted hills. It was so much fun making the journey out there. The village was beautiful as well with huge houses made of teak wood and we found a good project to work on there.

Back to Mae Sariang, there is a huge project going on there of which I hope to be a part of this summer. The owner of the company, David, has decided that for the 25th anniversary of Rustic, he will build an orphanage here. This will be no ordinary orphanage though. This town is very near the border with Burma. There are many kids who cross the border everyday, leaving their families behind, for a chance at education and a better life. When these kids get to Mae Sariang they have very poor living conditions. David is build the orphanage to house these kids. Also on the property, he is building an Eco Resort Hotel. It will be made all out of recycled teak wood. No new trees have been cut down for this project. They have bought many abandoned houses in the area to reuse the wood. The property has a beautiful view of the mountains and is right on the river. He will train the kids to eventually work at the hotel after they finish with school so that they can have jobs and good training in the hospitality industry which would be hard for them to get otherwise. He will also present guests at the hotel the opportunity to sponsor a kid for one year while they are still in school. This will be a very personal way for people to get involved. It is not like the things you see on TV where you send money to some random kid. The people will actually know the kids they are supporting. On top of all of this, they are creating an organic farm on the property where the kids will learn to grow fruits and vegetables organically and the food will feed both the kids and the hotel guest. This is going to be one huge self-sustaining organism. I am excited to see what the future holds for this place.

The other villages we visited were a similar format to the ones before, but each having their own distinct character. Most of the villages that we visited were Karen villages while the last one was Lisu. We will se more people groups as we continue to Chiang Rai tomorrow.

written by  jasonreevesmiller on May 30, 2008 from Mae Hong Son, Thailand
from the travel blog: Thailand Summer 2008
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Wow Jason! What an amazing experience you're gonna have travelling. Thanks for the updates. It's so cool to hear what you're doing. We'll be praying for your safety, and that God will use you in might ways. We love you. Lisa and the Johnsons.
P.S. Good call on the dog thing : )

written by  Lisa Johnson on May 31, 2008

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