Hill Tribe Women, near Mae Hong Son, Golden Triangle, Thailand, (1999).
The Mae Hong Son loop in the Golden Triangle of Northern Thailand (aka the road of 1864 curves) is one of the most famous road trips in SE Asia. It’s normally a grueling 7 day trip but my friend and I did it in about 3 days in a rented jeep. The Golden Triangle was traditionally a major heroin producing/trafficking route and in 1999 it was very wild and rugged.
Accommodations were basic in the extreme. I remember we stayed in one place that was basically an open tree house in the jungle over a creek with about 20 kinds of bugs sharing our room which cost 40 baht (about $1).
Our jeep broke down at night in the mountains and we had to abandon it and walk until we found some Thai campers who eventually gave us a ride back to Mae Hong Son in the middle of the night after some drunk soldiers tried to abduct my friend. Good times!
There are 6 hilltribes in SE Asia (Karen, Hmong, Lahu, Akha, Yao and Lisu). They are frequently stateless indigenous people who navigate the mountains of Burma, Thailand, Laos, China and Vietnam. The woman on the left is Lisu and the woman on the right is Akha or Lahu.
Shot on Fuji Provia 400 35mm film.
