Akha
Compared to the long-neck Karen, the Akha tribe is the next most easily identifiable hill tribe. What easily sets them apart is the women wear very fancy head pieces.

What I’ve been told is that the women will wear all of the silver that the family owns. The richer the family, the more fancy the hat. The hat usually consists of a silver box, with strands of either silver balls or plate-shaped silver pieces. The women of the tribe I stayed with only wore the hats occasionally, and they weren’t nearly as fancy as can be seen in this google image search

image: Akha woman from the village I stayed in

When looking at pictures of the Akha tribe, you’ll notice many of the hill tribe grannies have serious black teeth issues. Maybe they don’t have toothbrushes, perhaps? The reason is because of the betel nut. These nuts have a slight ‘pick me up’ and mildly addictive properties, and will stain the teeth and lips red. It’s really not much different than coffee, no? The grannies then use other chemicals to stain their teeth black to hide the red. It’s a false belief that the nuts themselves cause the black stain.

image: betel nut chewing hill tribe granny

I had earlier mentioned I got to stay with the Akha tribe. While there, one of our guides carried a guitar and she would play this really nice Akha song every day. The tune was stuck in my head for years. I hope you like it. It’s about a girl who’s reminded of a man who once loved her, but has since married another woman.