Nu Poh

Last weekend I went to Nu Poh refugee camp to attend a friend's wedding. Actually, the official wedding (when the signed the papers) was two weeks ago, but this was the wrist tying and reception (where everyone was invited as opposed to the last event which was just family). On Friday a friend from University joined me in Mae Sot, and we took a very very windy 4 hour song thaew ride to Umphaung, where we spent the night before continuing another couple of hours in the morning to Nu Poh camp. On the way back, we lucked out, and got a ride in the back of a pickup truck, which knocked an hour off the journey, although we did pass through a rain shower on the way back...

(example of a song thaew - pickup truck with benches in the back where various people, boxes, and chickens cling as we fly through the mountains)

The camp doesn't look much different than a closely populated village. It was established in 1994, and was closed to new arrivals over five years ago, so it has a settled look and feel. Shops, school, libraries, gardens, and other other evidence of being settled are abundant. Unfortunately, it seems that they will remain there for quite a while, as well.

Here are a few photos.

Wedding venue - groom's parent's house.

The bride (wearing scarf) and groom (wearing hot pink longyi)

the food! there were more plates than could be counted - spreads like this located in several places, and refills constantly pouring in from the kitchen (all this food, and all the people, inside the bamboo hut pictured above... I began to wonder what the fail rating of a bamboo floor is...)

bamboo huts with teak leaf roofs

a typical street

fire extinguisher (bags of water hung from eaves) and closet

shop

Happy new parents! My friends, who got married last year, and their 8 week old :)
She lives in the camp now, while her husband still lives in Mae Sot (working with one of our partners). I was happy to see her after a long while, and happy to meet their new son for the first time!

the ride home