Myanmar/Burma

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Caught a public bus from Chiang Rai bus station- so small no room to squeeze my legs in so had to sit sideways on the seat. Fare was a mere 39 baht for the hour and a half journey to Mai Sai. On arrival at the bus station there we all had to get a songthaew to the border costing another 15baht. 19 people plus 3 sacks of produce were crammed into that van- good job it was nonly a few kms and I hung onto the back outside,



Filled in a departure card at immigration and then stood in an almost non-moving queue as both the people in front of me had overstayed their Thai visa so had to fill in paperwork and pay fines. When it was my turn I was stamped out with no problems and walked across to Burmese immigration. The officials there were the pleasantest I have ever met anywhere in the world- other countries could learn from them



My passport was taken and I was given a "passcard" - when I returned I would have to hand it back and reclaim passport.



I entered Myanmar and first thing to come across is a barrage of people selling dodgy cigarettes- £8 for 200. Then pirate dvds and Viagra were also on offer . However the people didn't give too much hassle when I turned down their kind offers. I expected far worse to be honest



Immediately after that was a huge market selling clothes fake designer stuff and electronics. It sprawled out like a rabbit warren. I noticed a couple of tuk tuk drivers offering tours. The one who was showing me pictures of where I could visit and the cost was under £4 go to all these places- was probably open to negotiation but everyone seemed so poor compared to Thailand it didn't feel right to try and barter him down.



So off we go on the rickety old tuktuk. The main street was paved but the side streets were dirt roads although quite passable. First stop was a building called Tachileik Township Dhammayon but I have no idea what it was meant to be although it seemed empty but was probably very nice in its heyday.



Then up past a golf course ( strange to see such a posh well kept course in a poverty stricken town) to a hilltribe village- was unimpressed and wouldn't have gone there if I realised beforehand. The best bit was it had clean toilets.............. Also views of the mountains surrounding the city



Following on was a visit to the golden pagoda place- an old lady who spoke excellent english guided me round explaining the whys wherefores etc and it was very interesting. She didn't request and payment for her services but did have a basket of stuff she was selling so I bough a currency and stamp collection pack Strangely it seemed to be the very old people and the kids that could speak English a bit. None the people I met inbetween that age range seemed to.



Then there was a visit to a very large beautiful temple which I believe is Chinese and presented quite a few photo opportunities. After that the tuktuk driver pointed to picture of a gem factory on his card but I declined the offer and went back to the market. Had spent a good hour an a half sightseeing so stopped in a tea shop which seemed to be very popular and drank some tea before wandering round the market before heading back over the bridge to Thailand.



No problems going over immigration although did have to walk over a disinfectant mat similar to when mad cow disease was sweeping Britain. Obviously the Thai officials think that diseases may be carried over the border on people's feet



One think I did notice that on the bus on the way back the police boarded at a checkpoint , looked at everyone's paperwork and searched their bags except for me ( I was the only westerner on the bus) One man obviously didn't satisfy their requirements as he was removed off the bus but the police and taken in the checkpoint office and we continued without him





All in all a very interesting day

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Comments

[jane]

nice
sounds like you had a great day , are you getting a sun tan , oh and some rest