(Apologies in advance for the volume of emails, today and tomorrow–I’m trying to get the Akha trip written up before I leave for India, and I’ve only got a day and a half. I’m going to try getting the Akha photos up on the website, too–probably tomorrow.) ———————————- Sometime in the afternoon, I asked how [...]

Well. I now have the world’s best drop spindle. Laceweight, perfectly balanced, gorgeously decorated, spins forever–oh yes, and solid silver. 97%, a bit higher than sterling. I arrived at the silversmith’s in the early morning, along with Asaw, my new guide. (Chatree, my guide from the previous day, was off with another tour group that [...]

Well. I have now eaten dog. It was sort of inevitable, really; I walked into the village in the middle of a ceremonial…no, wait, I’d better tell the story in sequence. I got to the silversmith’s late this morning because I lost some electronics and spent the morning searching for it. We haggled for awhile, [...]

Well, it turns out I didn’t go to Akha Hill House, after all…which is a good thing, since I’ve since been told that it’s a notorious drug hangout. I freely confess to a vivid curiosity about opium growth/production, but since I’m not even slightly interested in trying the stuff, I’m just as happy to skip [...]