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  • HOME
  • ABOUT
  • THE FAMILY ALBUM
  • ONCE UPON A TIME IN ROMANIA
    • ▸Bucharest, 1989: The days of Revolution
    • ▸I’ve also lived under communism
    • ▸Portraits of transition
    • ▸”Cabernet cu pepsi”
    • ▸Romania, 1990: Beyond the headlines
    • ▸“Mineriada” – My story
    • ▸Memorial of pain
  • WORK IN PROGRESS
    • ▸Barbershop
    • ▸Melancholic Identities
    • ▸Faces
    • ▸Fragmentary world
    • ▸Two
    • ▸Buddhist monks
    • ▸About windows and walls
    • ▸Mediterraneo
  • STORIES
    • ▸Alone, together
    • ▸Life and death in Varanasi
    • ▸Trans-Siberian – An experience of becoming
    • ▸Boxing in Havana
    • ▸Moving out of Escobar shadow
    • ▸One night at Htee Thein monastery
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – I misteri
    • ▸Easter in Sicily – La pasquetta
    • ▸Stalin’s Museum in Gori
    • ▸Havana: Between magic and decay
    • ▸Muay Thai for a day
    • ▸Cuban billboards
    • ▸Seeking a geisha
    • ▸Belfast’s murals: Behind and beyond
    • ▸Riding the Yangon’s ring train
    • ▸Bazar-Barakholka-Vernisazh
    • ▸An unexpected trip to Dhobi Ghat
    • ▸A different way to look at death
    • ▸Cannes under siege
    • ▸Inside the Guru’s kitchen
    • ▸Tibetan refugees
    • ▸The Golden Triangle: A Mecca of tribal diversity
    • ▸Bullfighting: Barbaric or art ?
    • ▸Crafts and traditions in Morroco
    • ▸Glastonbury with God
  • TRAVEL
    • Cuba
      • ▸The show must go on (part 1)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 2)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 3)
      • ▸The show must go on (part 4)
    • France
      • ▸Paris
      • ▸Paris. Again
    • Greece
      • ▸Mount Athos
      • ▸Postcards from Santorini
      • ▸Athens
      • ▸Mykonos – The picture-perfect Island
    • Germany
      • ▸Berlin
    • Vietnam
      • ▸Four days in Hanoi
      • ▸Cruising through the misty Halong Bay
    • India
      • ▸Portraits of Kashmir
      • ▸Rishikesh – Spiritual marketplace
      • ▸Life on the Sidewalk
    • Ireland
      • ▸The capital of pubs
      • ▸Ireland in ten days
    • Israel
      • ▸Israel in black & white
    • Colombia
      • ▸Colombia
      • ▸Paisas, coffee and much more
      • ▸Streets of Bogota – From Dystopia to Hope
      • ▸Life along the magical Magdalena River
      • ▸A non-touristy guide to Cartagena’s Caribbean paradise
    • Myanmar
      • ▸Min-ga-la-ba Myanmar
      • ▸Up and down on the hills of Shan State
    • Japan
      • ▸Tokyo
      • ▸Springtime in Kyoto
    • Portugal
      • ▸Life at the edge of Europe
    • Russian Federation
      • ▸The unexpected Moscow
      • ▸White Nights in St. Petersburg
    • Italy
      • ▸Rome
      • ▸Random Sicily
      • ▸Vedi Napoli e poi mori
      • ▸Venice
      • ▸Vanishing Venice
    • Morocco
      • ▸Sunset, camel rides and tea in Erg Chebi
      • ▸Medinas: Morocco’s hidden cities
      • ▸Morocco outskirts
      • ▸Djemaa El Fna encounters
      • ▸Surf and hippies
      • ▸The road of the One thousand kasbahs
      • ▸Amazigh – Berber – Free men
    • Georgia
      • ▸Postcards from Georgia
      • ▸The Many Faces of Tbilisi
    • Nepal
      • ▸Kathmandu Valley
    • Romania
      • ▸Romania to go
      • ▸Maramures
      • ▸Tara Motilor
    • Jordan
      • ▸Bedouin Trails
    • Turkey
      • ▸From Turkey with love
      • ▸Ballooning Cappadocia
      • ▸Where East meets West
      • ▸Street life, Istanbul-style
    • Mexico
      • ▸Finding Mexico City
    • Malaysia
      • ▸Transit KL
    • UK
      • ▸London
      • ▸Grab your kilt and bring your pipes
    • Sweden
      • ▸Stockholm
    • Spain
      • ▸Off-season Andalusia
    • Thailand
      • ▸Bangkok, year 2555
      • ▸Life in Pai
      • ▸Thailand
    • Laos
      • ▸Luang Prabang – The City of ultimate Zen
    • Poland
      • ▸Why I love Poland
    • Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania
      • ▸Neighbors, but not relatives
      • ▸Patarei – A little slice of Hell
    • Findland
      • ▸A sunny day in Helsinki
    • Denmark
      • ▸Copenhagen
  • SINGLES
  • CONTACT
  • MY BOOKS
  • MY VIDEOS
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Golden Triangle – A mecca of tribal diversity

 

South East Asia’s Golden Triangle is being considered one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the world. A term coined by the CIA, the “Golden Triangle” refers to the border regions between Thailand, Burma and Laos and when instead of money, gold was used by Chinese traders to pay for opium grown there. The history of the opium poppy in the Golden Triangle can be traced back to various nomadic tribes for whom the poppy was an integral part of their cultural traditions. In an effort to stamp out the drug trade, the Thai government made poppy-growing illegal in 1959 and brought in crop-substitution programs for farmers.

These photos were taken in January 2012 while touring in Laos and Thailand. The largest ethnic diversity I found has as reference the town of Mae Salong. Here lives a population originated from China and a distinctive Chinese culture pervades the entire town, whether it is in the faces, language or food. Here I visited two villages where the Akha community lives. With alleged roots in Tibet, the Akha are the most spiritually colorful and distinctive people but also unfortunately among the most down-trodden and poorest of the hill tribes. On the way out to the border with Burma I met a Karen community that celebrated something like “Thanksgiving”. The Karen people are a very diverse ethnic group originated from Burma. In Ban Rak Thai I met a remarkable Chinese community established here from Yunnan province after the Chinese Civil War, and at only a few kilometers I caught a funeral ceremony of the Hmong people – diligent and independent people, fond of wearing their silver ornaments during ceremonies. Although not classified as “Hill Tribes” one of the most impressive community as a lifestyle, appearance, and destiny is the Palong people – the very photogenic “long-neck” women – which I found in Huay Phu Keng, a village situated near the border with Burma.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Golden Triangle – A mecca of tribal diversity

 

South East Asia’s Golden Triangle is being considered one of the most ethnically diverse regions on the world. A term coined by the CIA, the “Golden Triangle” refers to the border regions between Thailand, Burma and Laos and when instead of money, gold was used by Chinese traders to pay for opium grown there. The history of the opium poppy in the Golden Triangle can be traced back to various nomadic tribes for whom the poppy was an integral part of their cultural traditions. In an effort to stamp out the drug trade, the Thai government made poppy-growing illegal in 1959 and brought in crop-substitution programs for farmers.

These photos were taken in January 2012 while touring in Laos and Thailand. The largest ethnic diversity I found has as reference the town of Mae Salong. Here lives a population originated from China and a distinctive Chinese culture pervades the entire town, whether it is in the faces, language or food. Here I visited two villages where the Akha community lives. With alleged roots in Tibet, the Akha are the most spiritually colorful and distinctive people but also unfortunately among the most down-trodden and poorest of the hill tribes. On the way out to the border with Burma I met a Karen community that celebrated something like “Thanksgiving”. The Karen people are a very diverse ethnic group originated from Burma. In Ban Rak Thai I met a remarkable Chinese community established here from Yunnan province after the Chinese Civil War, and at only a few kilometers I caught a funeral ceremony of the Hmong people – diligent and independent people, fond of wearing their silver ornaments during ceremonies. Although not classified as “Hill Tribes” one of the most impressive community as a lifestyle, appearance, and destiny is the Palong people – the very photogenic “long-neck” women – which I found in Huay Phu Keng, a village situated near the border with Burma.

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