Visiting with the Akha women

I had seen the Akha women in their full dress at the Night Market and other touristy spots. But I thought it was mainly to attract the attention of the buyers. I had NO IDEA that the outfit was still worn by some on average days in the village until I visited the Chinese village of Mae Salong. My first afternoon in town, I started walking the 3 km out to an Akha village. I never got there as I had so many interesting encounters with Chinese and Akha folks along the way. It's only a percentage of the Akha women you see in full traditional garb. More common is a mix of partial traditional and partial contemporary dress, like the woman below in the very commonly seen headscarf worn by many Akha women.

I was invited to join an Akha woman at her small fire. It was COLD up in the mountains. We had an amazing time sitting together, sharing in pantomime and silence. I was sad to have to refuse her multiply mimed invitation to come to her house, sleep at her house, wake up at her house, and have breakfast at her house. But I had learned in the excellent Hilltribe Village Museum in Chiang Rai that if you cross over the threshhold of their home, it's considered extremely rude to not accept and eat/drink all that is offered. And it was pretty clear that there was no bottled water around, as all the Thai's consume. If it meant a couple of days of traveller's diarrhea only, it may have been worth it. But I've met too many travellers who have dealt with so much worse..... It was hard to say no, but it didn't seem worth the risk.