The waterfall of death

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Okay. So last Sunday after visting Myawaddy I decided to rent a motorbike to ride the 50 kilometers to the waterfall near Mae Sot. Probably not the smartest of ideas. I rented the motorbike from Bai Fern one of the guesthouses. They rented out all of their "good" motorbikes so I was left with the one ratchety old Hondas. After a brief lesson I was on my way. The way there was fine. I made it to the waterfall although it seemed a lot further then I thought. The waterfall was really pretty (see pictures below) and frequented bu Thai toursist. I actually saw two as I stopped at a smaller one on the way back from teh larger one, whose name is something like Charoen. The ride was nice- I went through many villages and along many windy roads.

When I wished to leave I seemed to have trouble starting the motorbike. Someone had to help me. On the way back I stopped at a gas station to get water. Lo and behold I started the motrobike in first gear rather than neutral and turned the throttle too hard and went plummeting at full speed into the mechanics house. It was not fun and actually quite a scary experience. Luckliy the bike toppled over so it would stop and I was only left hugely embarassed being laughed at as a a "farang" (foriegner). I had a few cuts and bruises but luckliy nothing was broken. They were nice and helped fix the bike so I could at least get it home although the break handle was missing.

I left it in my driveway afraid to drive it until the next morning. I borrowed someone's bike to go to dinner as I didn't want to try to start the thing. The next morning I couldn't start it... apparently there is this choke thing you have to activate to start the bike in the morning..... who knew? I had to go to the guesthouse to explain the situation in the 95 degree heat.. oh yeah my backpack broke during this whole ordeal too - the cheap 15 dollar imiation North Face one I bought in Vietnam. The guy who runs the guesthouse is so nice. I had to give hime a lift bacl to my house on my crotchety old bicycle so he could try to start the bike. Then we had to go to the repair shop together. the repairs for everything were only 50 Baht (a little more than a dollar) but untold psychological trauma and permanent fear of motorbikes.

I think I'll stick to the bicycle. At least it served as a good story for English class.

I will be visiting Mae La Camp this weekend. Dot Lay Moo called me and asked if Saturday was good to go see the camp and speak with the health workers there. Of course I said yes - it is really difficult to get into the camps as foreigners as the Thai government does not allow tourists in, so I will go whenever is good for him. I wanted to go to Sukkothai this weekend but I will wait.. I will go to Bangkok next week. I am counting down the days. I am a big city boy at heart. Friday I will attend the border meeting on Avian Influenza to learn more about what is being done in the border region, specifically in the camps. This whole week is a series of meeting run by the NGOs in the area. Tomorrow is the meeting to discuss the Burma Border guidleines for treatment of disease, Thursday is the malaria meeting and Fri. is the Ai meeting which I will be attending,

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Photos

Scenic Tak province
The motorbike ride to the watefall.

The larger of the waterfalls

The smaller one
On the way back before the "accident"

Me and Khian Ray Lun
One of my English students.

Me and Wah Wah Win
Another one of my English students. Why won't they smile? They asked to take the pictures.

Comments

[Eric at AFT]

Thanks Seth!
Seth, thanks for sharing your stories. Everyone here at the office enjoys reading your adventures... Keep it up! --E.D.