Travelling to the Village in Doi Mon Lan, Chiangmai
In summer after I graduated from high school, I had a wonderful trip travelling with my two friends to a hill tribe village located in Doi Mon Lan, a mountain in Chiang Mai. My friends and I had always wanted to experience the way of life of hill people. As one of my friends were from the villages, she offered that she could be a tour guide. We started to plan a trip and choose the date when we all were free. April 20, 2014 was the day that the trip began. The trip helped me see the world from new perspectives and learn many new things.At 10 o’clock in the morning, I left home. My father drove me to the bus station. After I arrived, I waited for one of my friend that was coming by bus. Five minutes later, my friend arrived at the station with her big backpack full of foods and snacks. Then I called another friend, who was from the village, to let her know that we both were waiting and ready to go. She would come and pick us up from the station to her village. Later, she came with her younger brother by their motorcycles. I was rather nervous to ride on a motorcycle traveling to the village since I had not known how the road was like. Moreover, riding on the motorcycle that my friend’s brother drove made me feel more nervous because I had never talked with him before.
Next, we left the station and started the trip. At the time, we were still in town, and then we stopped at the gas station to fill up the gas tanks to make sure that we could travel a long trip. Afterward, we moved on and then reached the road that led to the village. We were now in the forest. There were a lot of trees with very green leaves on two sides of the road. Then, I saw a village but it was not the village that we would visit. Next, there was another village but it was still not the one that we headed to. After that, we had to travel along a narrow path, which was a shortcut road to the village, with a bank below. It seemed dangerous and scary. After we got through that path, I was relieved.
We finally arrived the destination; the journey took around one hour. Then, we visited a christian church. The villagers gathered at the church on Sunday. They gave us a very warm welcome as we were visitors. After visiting the church, we travelled to the villagers’ farms. We also visited strawberry farm and sheep farm. Next, we went to the top of Doi Mon Lan. It had a beautiful view of the village and the forest below. We took some pictures and spent time at the place for a while. After that, we went back to my friend’s house. Before we had dinner, we all had to take a shower because the water was very cold. It could be colder at night. After we finished dinner, we went out to visit some villagers and talked with them. They were very friendly and kind. At night, we spent time watching TV. Kids in the village visited us then we played together. We went to sleep at 10 P.M. In the next morning, my friend and her brother brought me and another friend back to the town. At last, I went back home.
Travelling to the village in Doi Mon Lan, I experienced many things that I had never experienced before: I travelled along a dangerous road, met new people from the village, saw many beautiful places, and most importantly, I learned how the villagers live in the mountain. I was truly impressed with these experiences. It was a great trip that I will never forget. I hope that I will have a chance to visit the village again.
