Ban Huai Hom Karen Village ‘Taste the local Arabica coffee.’

If you’re looking for a small and peaceful community to chill out, relax yourself from stress, then this one probably suits your need.

Ban Huai Hom Karen Village is a village in Mae Hong Son, which is inhabited by Karen people and under tha care of Mae La Noi Royal Project Development Centre.

You will never believe how beautiful the village is. As soon as you arrive at it, you will feel that it looks like scenes from some movies like The Lord of The Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring or The Hobbit. Yes. Huai Hom Karen Village is  surrounded with hills, trees, and grass, all natural. The little houses of the villagers are scattered around. These are the reason. You will totally fall in love with it. The scenery is green The air is fresh. Everything looks perfect.

What can you if you go there?

Well, you can do many things. First, you can just take a time for yourself, wandering around, taking a sightseeing and taking selfies. Plus, you can observe the lifestyles of the villagers. You will see how they dres, how they live, and how they make their living. These villagers lives their lives simply. They still follow their original tradition. They are also pretty friendly, truely. If you see them, you don’t have to feel awkward at all. Just try to talk to them, although you may not understand their language. Even their children are cute and can be friends of tourists.

Next, you can feast your eyes and nose with coffee plantations. See how villagers grow their coffee plants and, of course, taste a cup of fresh coffee. The village has been being well-known for a unique taste of Arabica coffee all along.  The coffee is produced organically, from growing to packaging. The perfect quality is therefore guaranteed.

‘Sheep fur fabirc’ can also be found at the village. It all started when Queen Sirikit visited her people at Ban Huai Hom Karen Village. Her Majesty wanted the villagers to ‘weave fabrics from sheep fur’ as an alternate career. Therefore Her Majesty tried to help the villagers by telling authorities to import some exotic sheeps. With that, the villagers have always got quality sheep fur and created many beautiful patterns on their weaved fabrics. These fabrics are developed into many types : scarf, table cloth, and lots more. See for once in your lifetime.

Lastly, you can spendd some nights at the village. Sounds nice, doesn’t it? There are some shelters available for tourists. Each one can contain about 10-20 people. Each person will be charged 150 Baht for a service fee. Beside of shelthers, there are also delicious local dishes in affordable prices. Moreover, if you want a local tour guide to take you around, you can hire one for about 200 Baht.

How to get there

Ban Huai Hom Karen Village is located in Mae La Noi County, Mae Hong Son Province.

To get there, you can just follow the Highway No.108 (Chiangmai-Mae Hong Son). Try to head for Mae La Noi by passing Mae Sariang. After you reach the 132nd kilometre, turn right to the path No.1266. From that point, you will have to drive for another 30 kilometres just to go all the way up to the mountaintop.

Nearby Places 

• Mae La Noi Royal Project

This interesting agricultural tourist attraction is only about 6.91 kilometres away. By going there, you will be stunned by organic vegetable plantations from the royal project of Queen Sirikit and King Bhumibol, lifestyles of mountain people, and descending rice plantations. This is a very beautiful place.

• Tham Kaew Komol

Tham Kaew Komol is one of the most beautiful in Thailand with crystal calcite in the cavern. Kaew Komol cave was discovered in 1993 during an exploration of the area. From then, the Department of Mineral Resources turned it into a tourist attraction and in 1995, it became Kaew Komol Cave National Park. Originally, it was called Crystal Calcite Mae La Noi Cave, the calcite mineral or calcium carbonate is crystallized on the cave walls. The color is white as snow.