1980s Travel Shots – Backpacking the world in 85-87

Akha village near Tha Ton, northern Thailand. 8 March 1986.

With an American and German couple, Evi and I took a songthaew 16kms [from Tha Ton] to a Karen village. Left our packs behind to be put on the boat that we would meet at 1.30 in a village by the Maekok river.

Walked 1.5km to a Lisu village. The people dressed very colourfully. However, we weren’t the first visitors as “Hello, one baht” testified. Took a few nice shots anyway. A few kilometres back along the road was an Akha village. Went up their main street and we were surrounded by women all selling bracelets, necklaces with turquoise beetles and hand-woven colourful pipes with ganja.

North of Chiang Mai, Thailand. 11 March 1986

On our hill-tribe trek we met a “witch doctor” with matted hair metres long. Our guide said he had the Guinness world record for the longest hair.

I checked Google and found some references to him – Hoo Sateow – and his brother Yee. Apparently he did have the record and there is an interesting video of him from around 1997: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGHADMTWfyE 

It looks like the same home and village we visited. A news report stated that Hoo died a year before his brother in 2001 aged 91.