Joe Louis meets the Karen tribe

Three travelmates and I rented a narrow guided boat to tour Inle Lake. It was a fixed cost per boat and so the more people we brought (up to six), the cheaper the overall price became. The boat zipped along the lake around fishing boats as well as other tour boats. It made stops to popularized tourist traps throughout the day before returning us back to the pier.

One such stop was to visit women from the Karen tribe. I was actually excited to meet women from the Karen tribe. I first heard about them while staying in northern Thailand. They are largely known for the metal rings they wear around their necks and never remove. Although the Karen people have lived in Burma for hundreds of years, many have fled to Thailand as refugees to escape the military rule in present day Myanmar.

In Chiang Mai, every hostel, activity center, and tourist site had the iconic image of a woman with a stretched out, jewelry clad neck. Treks come with additional side trips and homestays at Karen villages. I was curious about the tribe, but never actually went to visit. The whole thing seemed propped up. I understand that they are real cultural people with a long history, but these trips, catered to tourists, sounded like they would only scratch a surface. It felt like visiting a zoo and peering into a cage before moving on.

If the Thai villages sounded touristy, the Inle Lake visit was laughable. We met two young Karen girls with rings around their neck. They were very nice and smiled a lot while posing for pictures. They showed us around the room, which also served as a gift shop. They answered any specific questions about the rings. It was a very congenial experience, but also very superficial. I’m not sure what I expected. Later on I learned that the specific tribe of Karen people that wear rings isn’t native to the Inle Lake region. Go figure.

See what other bloggers are saying about the Karen women:

“Perhaps the most extreme example comes at the house of the Karen women who lengthen their necks with metal rings. Three women at the end of the house will happily pose for photographs before some friendly assistants will walk you through the shop, pointing at the purchasable items apparently made by the women. I’m not sure the Karen people traditionally lived on Inle Lake so I’m not sure what they’re doing here. It feels as authentic as the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas.”
–Time Travel Turtle

“The heavy neck rings don’t actually stretch the neck out, but the weight of them depress the collar bones and shoulder blades causing permanent physical damage that after a point cannot be repaired.  One of the Karen women explained to us that the girls are started with the rings when they are 5 or 6 years of age.”
–There and Back Again