The Myanmar Experience

Heyhey! I'm getting better at blogging. I left off in BKK prior to an epic public transportation journey that left me with a few hours of sleep over two and a half days. I woke up at 4:30 am intent on catching the 5:30 am 3rd class train from BKK to Chiang Mai. Figured that would be a neat way to see the country side without pushing too close to my visa expiration date. All was well and good until I discovered the 5:30 to be full. I was offered the VIP trains at WAY too much money for my standards. So I sat down for a coffee and a re-think. I found a well-versed Thai information assistant who showed me how to get from BKK to Lopburi (the little city overrun by MONKEYS I'd heard about on my flight from Tokyo) and Lopburi to Chiang Mai, all on the 3rd class train. Shweet! I was in. So from 9:30am to noon, I watched the Thai country side roll by with the rest of the everyday Thai riders. Once I got into Lopburi, I had until midnight for my connecting train.

Stashed my bags at the station and set out to see some sights and chase some monkeys. In search of some grub, I saw my first monkey. Little buddy was just strolling down the sidewalk. And like spotting poison oak while hiking through the forest, you see one, you start to see all the rest...I looked around to discover that it was no myth, the monkeys really DO rule the town. They were EVERYWHERE! Hanging out on the buildings, jumpings around the power and phone lines, scavenging through trash cans, generaly monkeying about. What a riot! One even jumped on my leg as I was squatting to take a photo of a mother and baby pair. Goofy little creatures, to be sure. I decided not to chase or antagonize any of them, as I found myself to be greatly outnumbered and already under their close supervision. In addition to being home to a bunch of monkeys, Lopburi has more motobike repair shops and hairdressers than anywhere I've seen. Seriously, if you're looking fora motobike in Thailand, I suggest Lopburi. I wandered through a few ruins of 13th century temples, ate some street food, and got really really tired before sleeping an hour and a half on the train station bench.

A long, uncomfortable 12 or 13 hours later, I'd given myself maybe a collective 2 hours of creative sleep. I say creative because 3rd class Thai trains are equipped with benches built from Thai bodies...just a little to small. I can't imagine what a tall person would on this ride, probably not take it. The trip was made better by the super friendly Thais I met who shared advice and gave me workable Thai language lessons. Anyway, arrived in Chiang Mai really tired and made my way to the bus station. Figured I'd eat before pushing on to the north so I settled in a little noodle soup shop. While enjoying my tasty lunch, I was approached by a Frenchman named Marc who wanted to know what he should expect to pay for a ride to the city center. I'd just come from there and was happy to share my insight but also offered him a seat. He and I shared the same mentality for arriving in a new city. Simply ignore the insistant touts from taxi and tuktuk (crazy fast taxi-motobike hybrid, named for the unmistakable sound made by their aging engines) drivers, find a quite place to sit, grab a beer or a meal and prepare for the city. In talking with him, I decided I could use a rest so we'd split a taxi to the city and find a cheap place to crash.

Following a shower and a few cups of espresso, I felt rejuvinated and ready to explore Chiang Mai with Marc. He and I wandered the Sunday market, which sprawled across the city center in every direction. I picked up a compass, which has turned out to be indispensible and a Beer Chang T-shirt. Again, Beer Chang is the cheap thai beer that provided the majority of my carbs and hydration through the island experience. For 10 or 15 baht (about 30 cents) here and there we sampled little bits of street food ranging from fried crickets to sushi rolls. After a beer and great travel information swap (he was making the SE asian tour in the opposite direction as me) with Marc, I turned in.

Caught the bus bright and early (actually, it was still dark and freakin cold!) to Mae Sai. Five more hours on a bus and I was dropped into the northern border town of Mae Sai. I made my way to the border, paid my $10 US to enter Myanmar, and crossed the Mae Sai river into a wild new land...

Tachileik, the Myanmar border town opposite Thailand's Mae Sai, is a far cry from the heavily touristed cities to the south. I was told by Roger (name changed for his protection), a self-described rock 'n' roll muslim, that Thailand gripes about a tourist drop to 6 million while Myanmar sees only 200,000. Most of those simply hop the border to shop, gamble, buy sex, or renew visas. I knew once I'd stepped across the border that i was going to spend at least one night in Burma. Found myself a guesthouse, talked down the price enough to pay for my dinner and coffee, and learned just enough Burmese to be dangerous. Right away I nailed down "hello," "thank you," and "no thank you, I don't want it." These proved to be invaluable as I could ellicit laughs from children to touts alike.

I spent the days wandering the surrounding rural areas, poking around temples, snaking on interesting food, and chatting with Roger. A 42-year-old physics major and soon to be father of two, Roger told me about his experiences in 1988 when the mandalay university was shut down for two years as a results of political unrest. He was lucky not to be photographed during demonstations. Some of his friends who did not share in this luck have yet to turn up. Fluant in English, French, and Burmese, Roger now makes his living as a guide. He and I met up at least once a day for coffee and a meal and he would share his enthusiasm for and knowledge of his country's past. Quite a character, Roger was.

A few highlights of Myanmar: strolled through the mafia run druggie areas to get to the Akha village where I was followed by a giggling pack of kids. walked through an open gate to a golden statue of the 13th centurey Burmese king and was subsequently accosted by a uniformed guard (who had been nowhere in sight at first) demanding what soundsed like "money money police!" I just smiled and tossed out the two pleasantries I'd learned and some Germanospanishitalian gibberish as I kept walking toward the gate and down the street...like an ignored crying baby, he gave up. I learned later that I really wasn't supposed to be there but also that he had no right to demand money. walked around a massive government teak stock yard surrounded by the stench of corruption. climbed to the top of a big ol' golden stucca (sp?), or religious tower. tried a few betel nuts for the second time and decided that they taste like lysol. bought a carton of camel lights for $13 bucks to sell to travellers in Laos as camel lights are nowhere to be seen in se asia and I can make enough money to recover my cost of living in Myanmar. Aaaand, I got my ass kicked in street futbol by a bunch of little kids. All in all, it was a good venture and I'm glad I did it.

Currently in Chiang Rei. Signing off because it's time to figure out where I'm sleeping tonight and how little I can pay to do so!

Cheers!

Three weeks in sixty minutes!

My little hole-in-the-wall bangkok (BKK) internet cafe is closing in 30 minutes, my keyboard sticks, and i have lot to fill in. thus, no edits will be made.

I left off at bottle beach. it was rainy for a few of the days, but when it rains in paradise...you're still in paradise. our little travel crew of six took a 4x4 taxi from the north of ko pha ngan to thong sala for a boat ride. that taxi ride cost maybe 3 dollars and was far more exciting than anything disneyland or six flags could legally call a ride! the term "road" simply means "dirt that is devoid of jungle growth."

I arrived on the next island south, ko tao, with the intention of sunning myself for a few days seeiwhile kyle ended his trip. that plan was swept under by the collective enthusiasm for diving that I saw on every new SCUBA diver's face. seriously, EVERYONE I spoke with about diving said "get your open water cert here, it is incredible." it took a sample dive in my resort's pool (I was staying free with a friend who was enrolled in the dive course) and the slow, deliberately-spoken english of a french man named oscar "it will sound cliche when i say, but you must do the diving. it will change your life," and I was hooked. four days later, I had disco danced on the sea floor at 23 meters, I had busted my camera, I had seen a sea turtle (which is apparently so rare it takes some people 20 dives to see one), I had made an amazing group of friends, I had partied with a whole island, I had air-guitared to Guns 'n' Roses Paradise City on my knees in the surf, I had swam over a shark, I had eaten one of the most amazing buffets of my life, and I had gathered heaps of travel tips and suggestions from my friends who had come from the northern loop.

----> fast forward to a several-day stop over in Bangkok. a dodgy little camera shop in pantip plaza said they would try to fix my camera. 2000 baht (~60 bucks) if fixed, no pay if not. a three day wait was made better by the fact that I acted as gatekeeper for three friends who were ending their trips from Bangkok. Made even better by my introduction to Alex Tuptim, a connection through my aunt and uncle. Alex is half thai, which means he has the know-how to get tour some of bangkok's least accessible treasures, AND negotiate through foreigner overpricing. we had drinks on a patio 64 floors up the world bank tower (I think) overlooking 10 million people, strolled the lesser known side streets, and watched the madness that is bangkok and kaosan road. A Slovenian woman I'd met on Ko Pha Ngan and I spent her last day touring through BKK on a 12 epic adventure that included a railyard ghetto pad thai meal and an entire day using local thai buses. we found that a laugh and a smile overcomes all language barriers...and that knowing just a few words in thai opens you up to a flurry of activity as everyone wants to get a word in. just smile, nod, and repeat what they say was my approach.

the camera wasn't fixed, so I bought a new one. blessing in disguise as the Canon Ixus 70 (similar to the SD 1000) is lightyears ahead of my old steadfast SD 450. I met up with Aunt Vicki and Uncle Jim and their friends for a delicous serloin meal with REALLY good wine! big step up from street food and Beer Chang. as a side note, I will never tire of street food, nor will beer chang ever lose its place in my heart.

From BKK, headed to Kanchanaburi on the river kwai for some rest. a silly roundabout ride on a tour office-organized van ride later and I realized two things. one: i probably wouldn't get rest because i met new fun people on the van. two: never, ever, rely on tour offices, unless absolutely necessary.

On kanchanaburi: central thailand, made (in)famous for the death railway bridge over the river kwai. made memorable for me after meeting Sonni, the 21 year old Aussie who'd miraculously used up his nine lives, but is still going. The two of us rented motobikes and headed to "the three hillside temples" as told by a guy at our guesthouse. After nearly killing myself (sorry mom, but it was only nearly), I very quickly became a skilled motobiker and we clocked in dozens of kilometers in rural kanchanaburi. the three temples (wats) included Wat Tham Mongkon Thong...a big dragon body snaking up a hill whose tail ends in a cave with buddhas aplenty. We bonged the big bells and gongs on a mountainside mini-wat, played with bats in a cave, and climbed to the top of the peak.

Had we not pushed on to the top of that peak (it was a mountain, we were halfway up, why not get to the top?) we wouldn't have seen the massive wat off in the distance. bearings set, we hit upon a largely deserted chinese wat, conveniently at the end of the chinese new year. for 35 baht (a little more than a buck) we each had our past deeds sent skyward with candles, AND were given a braclet and blessing for a year's worth of good luck. beat THAT catholic church! we made short work of jeoparizing that spiritual cleansing by closing down the local thai nightclub that evening.

The next day I held a tiger cub. that's right, I actually HELD and played with a tiger cub! This and diving have been the greatest experiences of my trip thus far. The so-called tiger temple is really just a tourist ploy to make big bucks and I have several complaints about it, BUT, I held a tiger cub. Sonni, the israeli, and I naturally did what the little guided tour group lazies wouldn't dream of doing and wandered around the grounds. we stumbled across an asian black bear, two lions who had been abused as young cats, and many very unhappy tigers. all were in concrete and iron prisons and all broke my heart. I was very conflicted as the feeling of a tiger on my lap mixed with the reality of their situation...but I only have a few moments more for this post.

That night, I pursuaded an American girl to join me on my moto and make a day trip out of Erawan falls, some 60 km outside kanchanaburi. really great ride on a really bad bike. bought some road side tamarinds (the same type that Sonni had, without announcement and much to my amusement, knocked out of a tree on our guesthouse grounds for a quick snack), and hiked to the top of the famous seven-tiered waterfall. not one to pass up a new experience, I spotted a little cave beside a pool. torch in teeth and camera in case AND ziplock, I wiggled prone through a tight two meters before illuminating a cavern decorated in drippy stalactites. neat stuff, that cave. I guess Molly the American didn't mind my company because she agreed to spend the next few days with me in Sangklaburi.

On Sangklaburi: I'd gotten word from two trustworthy travellers back on Ko Tao that sangklaburi was the "real thailand" that so many people sought. turns out it's largely burmese as the Mon and Karen groups of myanmar have been settled there for over 100 years. anyway, Molly and I were two of maybe 10 farang (light-skinned foreigners) in this city who were not volunteering or working at one of the many schools, social rehabilitation centers, or refugee camps. in fact, EVERYWHERE we went, we were watched and smiled at. We took the opportunity to learn Thai from anyone we could, just as an ice breaker. We informally toured Baan Unrak (www.baanunrak.org) for a first-hand understanding of the social situation of the Mon and Karen Thais. A weaving and sewing center produces incredible pieces and provides funding for the children's and women's center. Anywhere else in SE Asia I will bargain until I am happy. I felt I wasn't giving enough when I bought the few items I did.

The trek east wasn't all humble, though, as Molly and I tore off on the moto to three pagodas pass and a nearby waterfall park that was entirely deserted. the three pagodas are more historically significant in their location, and certainly not their...grandeur. The park, however, was amazing. through bamboo jungle and spongy roots and mineral deposite shaped rock, a series of low, wide waterfalls made for a refreshing retreat.

Currently, I am in BKK and about to close down my browser. tomorrow morning, I rise early to catch the 5:50 3rd class train from Hualamphong station to Chang Mai. I expect to sleep there one night, wake early to make the trek north to Mae Sai simply to cross into Myanmar. I was teased at three pagodas (the border there is closed) and now I want that Myanmar stamp in my passport. From there, I'm tentatively thinking about a night or two in Chang Rei before heading to Chiang Khong on the Mekong River. That shall mark the next chapter: Laos.